UNIT Proficiency

7
Describing past events

How Was It? Storytelling

LISTENING: A memorable vacation

A. Before you listen, think about a vacation that you really enjoyed. Where did you go?
What did you do?
B. Ellen wants to ask Tom some questions about his recent trip. Read the questions below.
1. When was Tom’s trip? 5. How did Tom get there?
2. Where did Tom go? 6. How long was Tom’s trip?
3. Who did Tom go with? 7. What did Tom do there?
4. Who did Tom visit? 8. What was the highlight of the trip?

C. Listen to Ellen and Tom discuss Tom’s summer vacation. Answer the questions in
exercise B above.

D. Tom mentions several specific things that he did in Florida. Listen again and complete the notes.
1. Flew to Florida
2. _______________________________ on the beach
3. Ate _______________________________________
4. _________________ to ________________ for a day
5. Met ___________________________
6. Got back on the plane

GRAMMAR: Asking questions in the past

“Be” verb (was/were) Other verbs (did)

Were you a good student in high school? Did Tom go to Florida?
What was the travel destination? Where did Tom spend a lot of time?
Who was Tom’s travel partner? Who did Tom meet?
When was the trip? When did Tom travel there?
How long was the trip? How long did Tom stay there?
What were Tom’s activities? What did Tom do there?

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SPEAKING: When was the last time you…
A. Answer the following questions in complete sentences. Be careful with your pronunciation of
the past tense verbs.
Examples: When was the last time you...
1. moved to a new house or apartment?
I moved to a new apartment with my family about two years ago.
2. washed a car?
I don’t remember the last time I washed a car
When was the last time you...
1. moved to a new house or apartment? 7. failed a test?
2. washed a car? 8. arrived late to a class or appointment?
3. fixed something? 9. helped a friend?
4. visited your grandparents? 10. paid for your friend’s meal?
5. competed in a contest or sporting event? 11. returned something you bought at a store?
6. performed
 on stage in front of an 12. waited
 for someone for more than
audience? 30 minutes?

SPEAKING: Vacation interview

A. F
 ind out about one of your partner’s most memorable vacations or trips. First, write the questions
you need to ask. Next, interview your partner and take brief notes (key words only) of the answer.

Questions Answers Questions Answers

(travel destination) (weather)
Where did you go?
Where___________________________? How_____________________________?

(travel partner) (activities)

Who____________________________? What_____________________________?

(time) (activities)
When____________________________? What_________________________next?

(length) (activities)
How long_________________________? What_____________________after that?

(form of travel) (highlight)

How_____________________________? What_____________________________?

(accommodations) (low point)

Where____________________________? What_____________________________?

(price) (other)
How much________________________? What else _________________________?

B. Report: Using your notes, give a short report of your partner’s trip to the rest of the group.
Speak in complete sentences.
Example:
My partner went to Los Angeles. She went with her parents about 4 years ago. She was there
for 5 days. They traveled by car, and they stayed in a hotel. The hotel was $100 a day. She...

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SPEAKING: Follow up questions

A. C
 omplete one of the sentences below and read that sentence to your group members.
Do not tell the details to your group members until they ask you questions.
two days a
• I had the worst date of my life ___________________ ago.
• I had an interesting weekend ____________________ ago.
was a chair
• I’ll never forget the time when I ________________________________.

B. Listen to your partner’s opening sentence. Ask questions to get the details of the story.
Take turns asking questions until everyone in your group has asked two questions.
• Who...? • Where...? • What...?
• How long...? • How much...? • Why...?

LISTENING: A good date?

6 7 8 2

was 4 5 1

A. Diana is telling Ellen about her date with Sam. Listen and put the events of the story
in the right order.

B. Listen again. Try to understand more information about each picture.

C. Work with a partner. Using only the pictures, tell the story of the date. Use the simple past.
Say at least two sentences for each picture.
Partner A: Explain what happened in the odd-numbered panels (1, 3, 5, and 7).
Partner B: Explain what happened in the even-numbered panels (2, 4, 6, and 8).
D. Why might the following statements be false? Explain with a partner.
• Diana enjoyed the date.
• Diana is in love with Sam.

E. What mistakes do you think Sam made? Tell your partner.

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GRAMMAR: Introduction to past progressive

A. Read the following information about Ann and answer the questions.
Ann went to bed last night at 11 p.m. She woke up at 7 a.m. At 6 a.m., her
sister, Sarah, woke up to get ready for school.
1. What did Ann do at 11 p.m.? __Ann went to bed
____________________________
2. What did Sarah do at 6 a.m.? __She woke up
____________________________
3. What was Ann doing at 6 a.m.? ___________________________
she woke up to get readyfor school

Ann attended her biology class yesterday. The class started at 1 p.m. and finished
at 1:50 p.m. At 1:30, Ann’s mother called her. Ann didn’t answer the call.

4. What did Ann do at 1 p.m.? _______________________________

5. What did Ann’s mother do at 1:30?_________________________
6. What was Ann doing at 1:30? _____________________________

GRAMMAR: Past Progressive

I was playing a computer game with my friend. You were sleeping in class.
She was reading a book. We were talking about politics.
He was helping his neighbor. They were fixing their car.
It was raining hard.

Questions Negative
Was she going to the bank? He was not wearing his seatbelt.
Was it snowing? I wasn’t looking at her.
Were you talking about me? We were not fighting.
Were they playing baseball? They weren’t paying attention.

A. Complete the sentences using the past progressive grammar.

was getting
Example: What were you doing at 6 a.m. this morning? I _______________ ready for school.
(get)

1. What was she doing at 1:30 p.m. yesterday? was taking

She _______________ a math class. (take)
2. Why didn’t you go camping last weekend? was raining
It ____________ the entire weekend. (rain)
3. What ____ doing at 10 p.m. last night? (do) We ________
were you ______ were driving
home after the movie. (drive)

4. Were your friends in high school last year? They __________

weren't attending
high school. (attend, not)
were attending a university. (attend)
They ______________
was she ________
5. _____ sleeping when you called? (sleep) No, she ____________.
wasn't sleeping (sleep, not)

She ____________ was taking a shower. (take)

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B. Reminder: Spelling (present participle)

Most verbs → add -ing
walk → walking play → playing sleep → sleeping
Verbs ending in a silent e → remove e and add -ing
ride → riding come→ coming
Verbs ending in ie→ change ie to y and add -ing
die → dying tie → tying
Verbs with last syllable stressed and ending in consonant-vowel-consonant→ double the final
consonant and add -ing Begin→ beginning stop→ stopping spin→ spinning

C. Complete each sentence with the past progressive. Be careful with the spelling.
arriving
1. We were (arrive) ______________ at the station when I got a call from my mother.
lying
2. He was (lie) ______________when he said he didn’t know about the money.
dancing
3. We were slow (dance) ______________ when he told me that he loved me.
enjoying
4. We were (enjoy) ______________ the movie until someone’s baby started to cry.
shutting
5. When we arrived, they were just (shut) ______________ the door.
tying
6. I was (tie) ______________ my shoe when I noticed some money on the ground.
running
7. She was (run) ______________as fast as she could.
sking
8. Steven was (ski)______________ all day.
looking
9. Sally was (look) ______________ for her dog.
writing
10. I was just (write) ______________ him an email when he called me.
D. Editing: Correct the mistakes in each sentence. Rewrite the entire sentence.
1. An earthquake happened at night while I was sleep.
→ An earthquake happened at night while I was sleeping.
2. I woke up because my bed was shakeing.
→_________________________________________________________________
3. I thought my roommate was try to wake me up.
→_________________________________________________________________
4. My whole bed moving. I realized it was an earthquake.
→_________________________________________________________________
5. I went outside. Other people were come out of their houses too.
→_________________________________________________________________
6. Then the earthquake stopped. We waiting for about 20 minutes before we went inside.
→_________________________________________________________________

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E. What was Ann doing? Write complete sentences in the past progressive.

1 2 3

4 5

1. at 6 a.m. this morning? She was sleeping at 6 a.m. this morning.

________________________________________________
2. at 1:30 p.m. yesterday? ________________________________________________
3. at 4 p.m. last Saturday? ________________________________________________
4. about one year ago? ________________________________________________
5. about five years ago? ________________________________________________

SPEAKING: What were you doing...

A. Interview your partner. Write your partner’s answers in complete sentences with the past
progressive.

What were you doing… Partner’s answer

at 6 a.m. this morning?

at 1:30 p.m. yesterday?

at 10 p.m. last night?

about one year ago?

about five years ago?

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VOCABULARY: Action verbs

A. What were these people doing in the afternoon last Saturday? Put the vocabulary words in the right
sentences. Change the verb form to past progressive.

drive check lock dig serve shut

feed climb lift wash build paint

He was painting a fence. They ____ _______ our car. She ____ _________ a snowman.

He ____ _______ customers. He ____ ________ a box. She ____ _______ her cat.

She ____ _______ the gate. She ____ _______her emails. She ____ _______ to work.

They ____ _______ a hole to He ____ _______ the door.

He ____ _______ a ladder plant a tree.

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SPEAKING: Excuses, excuses

A. Think of a good excuse for each question. Write your answer using the past progressive.

I’m sorry. I was driving.

1. Why didn’t you text me back right away? ________________________________________

2. Why didn’t you do the homework last night? _____________________________________

3. Why didn’t you meet me at the library this morning?_______________________________

4. Why were you late to class today? ______________________________________________

5. Why didn’t you clean your room last night?_______________________________________

6. Why didn’t you go to volleyball practice yesterday?________________________________

SPEAKING: Find someone who...

A. Think of what you did yesterday OR last Saturday. Write down what you were doing on that
day at each time.
B. Find a classmate who was doing the same activity (or a very similar activity) at the same time
and day. Write the student’s name.
Example:
A: I was sleeping at 6 a.m. yesterday. Were you sleeping at 6 a.m. yesterday?
B: Yes, I was.
A: Great! What is your name?

My answer Classmate

6 a.m.

9 a.m.

Noon

3 p.m.

6 p.m.

9 p.m.

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LISTENING: While Pete was sleeping...

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8

A. T
 his story takes place at Pete’s apartment. Pete lives with a roommate, Ron. Look at the
pictures. With a partner, describe what you think is happening in each picture. Guess the
answers to the following questions:

1. Why did Pete go to his room?

2. Why did Ellen and Ann come to Pete’s apartment?
3. Why did the police officer come?
4. What will probably happen next?

B. Listen to the story. Change your answers above if you need to.

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LISTENING: True or False
A. Listen to the speaker describe what is happening in picture 6 on page 90.
Most of the descriptions are correct, but six of the descriptions are incorrect.
1. The speaker said that there were four people dancing, but that isn’t correct.
There were two people dancing in picture #6.
2. The speaker said that ____________________________________, but that isn’t correct.
_____________________________________________________________________
3. The speaker said that ____________________________________, but that isn’t correct.
______________________________________________________________________
4. The speaker said that ____________________________________, but that isn’t correct.
______________________________________________________________________
5. The speaker said that ____________________________________, but that isn’t correct.
______________________________________________________________________
6. The speaker said that ____________________________________, but that isn’t correct.
______________________________________________________________________

SPEAKING: What was happening?

A Refer to pictures 4 and 5 in the story. What were each of the characters doing at the time of
the picture? With a partner, take turns describing what is happening in each picture.
Example: In Picture 4, Carlos was talking on the phone. Tom was playing...

LISTENING: What were you doing yesterday?

A. You will be asked several questions about what you were doing yesterday. Write your
answers below using the following sentence starters:
I was definitely... I was probably... Perhaps I was...
1.___________________________________________________________________________
2.___________________________________________________________________________
3.___________________________________________________________________________
4.___________________________________________________________________________
5.___________________________________________________________________________

B. Share your answers with a partner.

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READING: A Great Day

World Cup Trivia

A. What do you already know about the FIFA World Cup?

A 1. In 2014, Brazil hosted the World Cup. What country hosted the World Cup in 2018?
A. Russia B. Germany C. France D. Japan

2. How many teams can play in the first round of the World Cup?
C
A. 64 B. 53 C. 32 D. 16

3. How many teams can go to the 2nd round?

B
A. 32 B. 16 C. 8 D. 4

4. How many games does each team play in the first round?
B
A. 4 B. 3 C. 2 D. 1

5. How many games does each team play in the second round?
A. 4 B. 3 C. 2 D. 1

D 6. In what round can a game finish with a tie score (both teams have the same number of goals)?
A. 4 B. 3 C. 2 D. 1

7. What team won the 2018 World Cup?

C
A. Brazil B. Germany C. France D. Italy

8. What team has won the most World Cups?

A
A. Brazil B. Germany C. Italy D. Argentina

A Great Day
One of the best times of my life was when South Korea
won a big game in the 2002 World Cup against Portugal.
It was the first time Korea ever hosted the World Cup,
and we all hoped that the South Korea team could do
well. Our team had never made it past the first round
before. We won the first game against Poland, and we
tied the second game with the United States team. To
get to the second round, we had to tie or beat Portugal.
Portugal was one of the strongest teams in the world that

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year. No one expected Korea to make it to the second round.

Of course, it was impossible to get a ticket to the game. I watched the game with my friend in the
City Hall area in Seoul. The city showed the game on a big screen TV. There were thousands of
us there. We all wore our country’s red shirts. As the game went on, we were singing songs and
chanting to support our team. There was so much energy there.

I still remember the winning goal. The score was tied zero to zero. One of our players kicked the
ball to our youngest star, Park Ji-sung. He was close to the goal. The ball bounced off his chest.
He kicked it a little to the left to avoid a defender, and then he scored the goal. It was a beautiful
play. When we saw it, we all went wild! Thousands of people were all jumping and shouting. It
was unforgettable. Our team won and was going to the second round for the first time in Korean
soccer history. Nobody went home after the game. People were out on the streets all night. We
were singing and chanting. Strangers were hugging each other. It was one of the best times of my life.

B. Choose the answer that is most likely correct. Be prepared to explain your reasons
(based on the text) for your answers.

1. Where is the writer from?

C A. Poland
B. Portugal
C. South Korea

2. Why did the writer say “It was impossible to get a ticket to the game?”
A A. All of the tickets were sold.
B. The writer did not have enough money.
C. The writer did not live in Korea.

3. What was the final score of the Korea-Portugal game?

B A. Portugal 0: Korea 0
B. Portugal 0: Korea 1
C. Portugal 1: Korea 2

4. Why didn’t the writer go home after the game?

A A. The writer was happy that his team won.
B. The writer lived too far away.
C. The writer was too angry.

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SPEAKING: This picture reminds me of when I…

A. What is happening in each picture? Take turns describing the pictures to your partner.

B. Which picture reminds you of an experience that you (or someone you know) had?
Tell your partner what happened.
This picture reminds me of when I...

WRITING: Story-Telling

A. Choose an interesting story from your life to tell to your classmates. Here are some ideas:
• A time when something great happened to you
• A time when you were very embarrassed
• A time when something shocking happened to you
• A time when you did or saw something funny

B. Write your story in simple sentences. Look up vocabulary that you need. Be careful with the
verbs. Most sentences should be simple past but try to have a few sentences with the past
progressive.

the best moment of my life was meeting my partner in the least expected place
_________________________________________________________________________________
a vengeful moment I had was when I fell in front of my classmates at school
_________________________________________________________________________________
A moment when I saw something funny was when
_________________________________________________________________________________
I went to the clown circus while in high school.
_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

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_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

SPEAKING: Fluency building

A. With a partner, tell the story that you wrote.

Round 1: Read your story to your partner. Write down how many minutes it takes you
to read the story.
Time to tell the story: _________ minutes and _________ seconds.

Round 2: Get with a new partner. Put your paper away, and try to tell your story. Try to say the
story in the same amount of time as Round 1.

Round 3: Get with a new partner. Tell your story again. Try to say the story 30 seconds faster than
Round 1. Be careful with the verb tenses!

Round 4: Get with a new partner and tell your story. This time, try to say the story 1 minute faster
than Round 1.

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