Ex. 1 Completa il brano con il past simple dei verbi tra parentesi.

I got some money for my birthday  last week so on Saturday I went shopping and bought some new clothes – some jeans and a shirt. They were in sale in a sale and they had 30% off the normal price. I saved over 50 euros. I also tried on some  boots, but I didn’t buy them because they weren’t very comfortable. I also took back some gloves that were a birthday present for my sister. They didn’t fit me very well, so I exchanged them for another pair. I wore my new jeans and shirt yesterday for the first time. I felt good in them!

Ex.2 Completa l’ articolo con il past simple dei verbi nei riquadri.

Inventions that changed the world: the cash  machine

The world’s first cash machine appeared at a branch of Barclays Bank in north London in June 1967. The cash machine was the first and the last invention of John Shepherd-Barron. ‘In those days, it wasn’t possible to get money when the bank was closed.

One day, I suddenly had the idea of having a machine similar to a drinks machine that dispensed cash, not drinks. It was a very simple idea,’ explained Mr Shepherd-Barron.

The chief executive of Barclays Bank at the time liked the idea and immediately signed a contract with Mr Shepherd-Barron. The first machines paid out a maximum of £10 a time. ‘But we didn’t spend much in those days and that was enough for the weekend,’ Mr Shephard-Barron remembers.

At the time of the invention of the cash machine, plastic cards didn’t exist, so costumers inserted paper cheques into the machines. But these were fragile and difficult to read, so the banks developed the plastic cash card.

Another by-product of the cash machine was the PIN ( Personal Identification Number). Mr Shephard-Barron originally wanted a six-digit number, but his wife, Caroline, didn’t agree. ‘During breakfast one morning, she said four numbers was the maximum she could remember so, because of my wife, four digits became the world standard,’ he laughs.

 

 

Ex.3 Completa il dialogo con il tempo adatto dei verbi tra parentesi .

A= I’m thinking of selling some of my things. I need some money.

B= Really? What are you going to sell?

A=Oh-some of my clothes and DVDs. As many as I can!

B=That reminds me of that guy in Australia a few years ago who sold everything he had on eBay.

A=Why did he do that?

B= He wanted to start a new life after he broke up with his  wife. He didn’t want to have anything that reminded him of her.

A= What did he sell?

B= Everything. His house, everything inside it, his car and his motorbike. I think he also included a trial at his job as a sales assistant and even an introduction to his friends.

A=And did the people buy things?

B=Yes, they did. Apparently there were several hundred offers.

A=And how much money did he get?

B= I think he got about $300.000. He used some some of the money to go travelling and then he bought an island and built himself a house there.

A= How old was he ?

B=I think he was in his early 40s at the time.

A= Well, I don’t need to sell everything, luckily!

 

Ex.4 Completa il brano con una parola in ogni spazio.

If you ask people to name a famous female pilot, many will say ‘Amelia Earhart’ .

Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean and the first person to fly across both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. But another female pilot is much less well known. This is Geraldine Mock- the first woman to fly solo around the world. Mock made her historic flight in 1964, when she was 38. She flew from west to east, over huge oceans and deserts. She did not have the Global Position System (GPS), of course, so she had to have excellent skills in navigation. Thirty days after her departure from Ohio ,she returned to find herself famous. There were  crowds of people at the airport waiting for her and they gave her a great welcome. Later, she set more aviation records, and she wrote a book about her achievements. Mock showed women that they could do things apart from raising a family. She was the mother of three children, but she also had a natural talent for flying and a longing  for adventure. At a time when there were not many female aviators, Mock had the courage not only to learn to fly, but to set world records.

Ex.5 Completa le frasi con I verbi nel riquadro. Usa le forme didn’t + verbo o did+ verbo  per dare enfasi.

1)    We didn’t watch all of the film, but we did watch most of it.

2)    I didn’t read the first book in the series, but I did read the second or third.

3)    She didn’t pass her economics exam, but she did pass all the others.

4)    I didn’t see Bruce last night, but I did see Brad and Sheila.

5)    We didn’t go out on Friday, but we did go out on Saturday night.