PAST CONTINUOUS

1. Morphology: past of verb TO BE (was/were) and verb + -ING.

• Yesterday at 10 o’clock I was working.

• They were finishing their essay last monday at midnight

Meaning: only dynamic/progressive verbs can take past continuous form:

• Yesterday at 10 o’clock I was working (speaking, listening, correcting, writing etc.)

• !! Yesterday at 10 0’clock I was wanting a pizza (I wanted a pizza).

Present continuous expresses an action currently in progress. Past continuous, on the other hand, expresses an action that was happening some time ago, in the past. At that time the action was in progress, but not anymore.

Past simple vs past continuous. Compare:

• When my friend arrived, we had dinner: 1. We were waiting for my friend.

2. My friend arrived.

3. We had dinner together.

When my friend arrived, we were having dinner: 1. We started having dinner.

2. My friend arrived.

3. Dinner continued.

Use: We often use past continuous at the beginning of a story to set the scene and to say what was happening.

On April 1^st I was staying with some friends in the country. It was a sunny day and we were sunbathing in the garden…

Very often these actions in progress are interrupted by a short completed action (past simple):

…when suddenly my mobile rang. It was a woman. She said she was a journalist.

Tips: You can imagine past continuous as a long sequence of time (a line) set in the past:

[_____________________________________]

Yesterday at 6 o’clock I was driving home

Any interruptions (completed past actions) that happened within the time I was driving home are written in past simple.

[___x1_______________x2__________x3___]

Yesterday at 6 o’clock I was driving home when…

X1. My mobile phone rang.

X2. I saw a car accident.

X3. I stopped at a traffic light.

….

X4. I stopped to fill in some petrol

X5. I turned on the radio

X6. I turned left

…

You can link past continuous and past simple actions using WHEN.

However, sometimes actions happen at the same time, they are parallel actions:

[_______________________________________]

Yesterday at 6 o’clock I was driving home

[_______________________________________]

I was listening to the radio

You can link this sort of sentences using WHILE indicating that two actions happen simultaneously

Yesterday at 6 0’clock I was listening to the radio while I was driving home.

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UNIT 2. INNOVATION

GREAT MINDS

Lead-in.

1. Who is the greatest of all time for each category:

1. 1. sports personality
   2. musician
   3. politician
   4. scientist

1. Which of these qualities are necessary to become a great person? Rank them in order of importance. Discuss your ideas with a partner.

1. 1. get good results at school / university
   2. start young
   3. believe you can make a difference
   4. have a lot of money
   5. think differently from the rest
   6. have gifted parents

Example:

A: I think the most important thing is to have a lot of money.

B: Really? Why’s that?

A: Well, it’s much easier to achieve great things if you’re rich.

B: Yes, but…

Listening.

1. Listen to an interview about Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. Which qualities in Exercise 2 are mentioned?

1. Are these statements TRUE or FALSE? Listen again and check your answers.

1. 1. Steve Jobs invented the personal computer with Steve Wozniak.
   2. When they met Steve Jobs was 30 and Steve Wozniak 18.
   3. They both wanted to change the world.
   4. Steve Wozniak chose the name “Apple”.
   5. Steve Jobs was pushed out of Apple.
   6. Steve Jobs never returned to Apple.
   7. Steve Jobs changed the colour of computers.

1. Which of the events refer to:

Steve Jobs Apple Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak

a. introduced the iPod

b. invented the personal computer

c. met Steve Wozniak

d. produced brightly-coloured computers

e. returned to Apple

f. started Pixar

g. was pushed out

h. was valued at $100 million

1. Write the letters a-h from Ex. 3 in the correct place on the graph of Steve Jobs’ life.

1. Work wth a partner. Use the graph in Ex. 4 to help you re-tell the story of Steve Jobs.

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TALKING ABOUT PAST EVENTS

3. Listen to these five situations and write a sentence to describe each one. Use the verbs and nouns in the boxes to help you.

Verbs		Nouns
Break downBrush Drive Have lunch Ring Sleep Start to rain Walk		Alarm clockCar Doorbell Mobile Teeth Road

Ex: 1. He was having lunch when the doorbell rang.

– He was having lunch à context or circumstances.

– The doorbell rang à interruption or main event.

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