118 The simple present and the present continuous
Put the verbs in brackets into the correct present tense. I Mrs Jones: My daughter never ___________ (write) to me so I never ___________ (know) what she (do). ___________ Your son (write) to you, Mrs Smith? Mrs Smith: Yes, I ___________ (hear) from him every week. He ___________ (seem) to like writing letters. 2 These apples ___________ (cost) 40p a bag. You ___________ (think) that is expensive? ~ It ___________ (depend) on the size of the bag. 3 I ___________ (see) my solicitor tomorrow tomorrow (/ have arranged this)', I ___________ (change) my will. ~ You always always ___________ (change) your your will. Why you you ___________ (not (not leave) it alone? 4 You ___________ (look) very thoughtful. What you ___________ (think) about? ~ I ___________ (think) about my retirement. retirement. ~ But you're only 25. You only just ___________ (start) your career. ~ I ___________ (know); but I ___________ (read) an article which ___________ (say) that a sensible man ___________ (start) thinking about retirement at 25. 5 My next door neighbour always ___________ (knock) on my door and ___________ (ask) me lend her lOp pieces. ~ What she ___________ (do) with them? ~ She ___________ (put) them in her gas meter. I really ___________ (not mind) lending her a few l0p pieces but what ___________ (annoy) me is that she ___________ (know) (know) how many she ___________ ___________ (need) (need) each week week but never ___________ (take) (take) the trouble trouble to bring bring the right number number home. ~ 6 What she ___________ (do) if she ___________ (run out) of them when you are away? ~ Oh, she ___________ (borrow) from her other neighbour, Mr White; but this ___________ (take) (take) longer because he always ___________ ___________ (want) (want) her to stay stay and chat and she ___________ (find) quite hard to get away from him.~ 7 How much she ___________ (owe) you now? ~ I ___________ (not know); I ___________ (not keep) an account. Anyway she ___________ (leave) (leave) next week; week; she ___________ ___________ (get) married. married. I ___________ ___________ (try) (try) to think of a suitable wedding present, ~ 8 Why you ___________ (not offer) to cancel her debt? ~ That ___________ ___________ (sound) rather a mean mean sort of present. Anyway she probably ___________ (not (not realize) that that she ___________ ___________ (owe) me money. money. ~ 9 My brother ___________ (say) that people who ___________ (owe) him money always ___________ (seem) forget about it, but people he ___________ (owe) money to always ___________ (remember) (remember) exactly. 10 I ___________ (not think) your brother ___________ (enjoy) the party. He ___________ (keep) (keep) looking at his watch. watch. ~ Oh, I'm sure he ___________ (enjoy) it. He always ___________ (enjoy) your parties. But I ___________ (know) he ___________ (want) to be home early tonight because he ___________ (expect) an important telephone call. 11 Jack: How much longer you ___________ (stay) in England? Paul: Only one more day. I ___________ (leave) tomorrow night. I ___________ (go) to Holland for two weeks. 12 Jack: And you ___________ (come) back to England after that or you ___________ (go) home? Paul: It ___________ (depend) on my father. But if he ___________ (agree) to let me go on studying here, I'll certainly come back. And I ___________ (expect) he will agree. 1 - 118 The simple present and the present continuous
13 Paul: By the way, Jack, Ann ___________ (see) me off at Victoria tomorrow. Why you ___________ (not come) too? You could have coffee with her afterwards. (Paul is advising/inviting Jack to come and see him off.) 14 You ___________ (see) that man at the corner of the street? He is a private detective. He ___________ (watch) No. 24. ~ How you ___________ (know) he___________ (watch) No. 24? ~ Because whenever anyone ___________ (come) out of, or ___________ (go) into, the house he ___________ (make) a note in his little book. 15 What all those people ___________ (do) in the middle of the street? And why they ___________ (wear) such extraordinary clothes? ~ They ___________ (make) a film. Most of the crowd are local people who ___________ (work) as extras. ~ 16 It ___________ (sound) great fun. You ___________ (think) I could get a job as a film extra? ~ I ___________ (not know) but I ___________ (see) Ann over there; when they ___________ (finish) this scene I'll ask her if they still ___________ (take) on extras. ~ 17 Ann ___________ (act) in the film? ~ She has a small part. She ___________ (not act) very well. I ___________ (imagine) she got the part because she ___________ (know) the director. 18 My brother ___________ (live) next door and his two children ___________ (come) and ___________ (see) me every day. The boy ___________ (not bother) to knock at the door; he just ___________ (climb) in through the window; but the girl always ___________ (knock). 19 Tom: We ___________ (move) into our new house tomorrow. Bill: But why you ___________ (leave) your present house? It ___________ (suit) you all. Tom: Yes, I ___________ (know) it ___________ (do); but the Council ___________ (pull down) all the houses on this side. They ___________ (widen) the road. They ___________ (say) it's a bottleneck. 20 If you ___________ (ask) a friend if she ___________ (like) your new dress she usually ___________ (say) 'Yes'; so you ___________ (not know) whether she really ___________ (think) it ___________ (suit) you or whether she merely ___________ (be) polite. 21 If you ___________ (want) a candid opinion you'd better ask my sister. She never ___________ (tell) white lies; she always ___________ (say) exactly what she ___________ (think). 22 Your sister's frankness (annoy) people? ~ Yes, it ___________ (do). The average person ___________ (not want) a truthful answer; he ___________ (want) you to say something agreeable. 23 I ___________ (hear) that you have bought a new house. ~ Yes, but I ___________ (not live) in it yet. They still ___________ (work) on it, and the work ___________ (take) longer than I expected. ~ 24 I ___________ (think) repair jobs always ___________ (take) longer than one ___________ (expect). What they ___________ (do) now? ~ They ___________ (put) in new electric points. They ___________ (seem) competent electricians but they ___________ (smoke) at their work and this ___________ (slow) them down. 25 They always ___________ (hammer) next door. ~ Yes, that house ___________ (keep) changing hands and the new owner always ___________ (begin) by putting in a new fireplace, and their fireplace is just on the other side of this wall so we ___________ (hear) everything. The wall ___________ (shake), too. 26 Ann ___________ (stir) something in a saucepan and Mary ___________ (stand) beside her holding a cookery book. Mary: It ___________ (say) 'simmer', and you ___________ (boil) it, Ann. 2 - 118 The simple present and the present continuous
Ann: I ___________ (not think) it ___________ (matter) if you ___________ (cook) it quickly; but I ___________ (not know) why it ___________ (not get) thick. It usually ___________ (thicken) at once. 27 The hall ___________ (be) painted at the moment, so it ___________ (not look) its best.~ But where are the painters? They ___________ (stop) work at 3.00? ~ No, they are in the kitchen. They ___________ (have) a tea break. 28 What the word 'Establishment' ___________ (mean)? My dictionary ___________ (not give) an explanation. ~ It roughly ___________ (mean) the government and people who ___________ (have) power and authority. 29 If we ___________ (say) that Mr Brown ___________ (belong) to the Establishment we also ___________ (imply) that he ___________ (accept) the existing system. He ___________ (not try) to overthrow it. ~ 30 All rich men ___________ (belong) to the Establishment? ~ Middle-aged rich men probably ___________ (do) but rich young men like pop singers always___________ (jeer) at the Establishment. The word ___________ (be used) chiefly in a pejorative sense. 31 The house opposite the college ___________ (be pulled) down. That's why we ___________ (use) the back entrance at present. If you ___________ (go) out by the front door you ___________ (get) covered with dust. 32 Tom: I ___________ (smell) something burning! Jack: So ___________ (do) I. I ___________ (think) it ___________ (come) from the kitchen. Ann probably ___________ (iron). She usually ___________ (iron) and ___________ (watch) TV at the same time and if she ___________ (get) very interested in a programme she ___________ (forget) that she ___________ (press) a hot iron on to somebody's shirt. Mother ___________ (think) of selling the TV set. 33 Mrs Jones: What you ___________ (look) for, Tom? Mr Jones: I ___________ (look) for the garage key. I always ___________ (look) for the garage key, because nobody ever ___________ (put) it back on its hook. Mrs Jones: I always ___________ (put) it back on its hook. Why you ___________ (not try) your pockets? (I advise you to try your pockets). 34 Imagine that you ___________ (travel) by train, in a crowded compartment. One of the passengers ___________ (read) a newspaper; another ___________ (do) a crossword puzzle; another ___________ (look out) of the window. Suddenly the train ___________ (stop) with a jerk and your suitcase ___________ (fall) off the rack on to somebody's toes. 35 This is a story about an invalid who ___________ (spend) most of the day in bed. He has a powerful telescope and he ___________ (amuse) himself by watching the activities of the people in the opposite houses. One day when he ___________ (watch) No. 24 he ___________ (see) a murder being committed. 36 The cashier used to do the accounts and I used to check his figures now the computer ___________ (do) it all. ~ And who ___________ (check) the computer? ~ No one. The computer ___________ (not need) a second opinion. ~ And what ___________ (happen) if the computer ___________ (make) a mistake? The computer never ___________ (make) a mistake.
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