Answer the following with reference to context:
a. You are not strong, and you need a good rest'
1. Who says these words and to whom?
2. Why did the person being spoken to need a good rest'?
3. What had this person been planning to do during the holidays?
b. In the flickering light the immense trees of the grove looked as though they were carrying the vast darkness or
their heads.
1. Where was the light coming from?
2. Where was the grove?
3. Who was in the grove at this time and what they were doing?
Answers
Answer:
We use the past continuous to talk about the past:
for something which happened before and after another action:
The children were doing their homework when I got home.
Compare: The children did their homework when (= after) I got home.
This use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of a story:
The other day I was waiting for a bus when …
Last week, as I was driving to work, …
for something that happened before and after a specific time:
It was eight o'clock. I was writing a letter.
Compare: At eight o'clock I wrote (= started writing) some letters.
to show that something continued for some time:
My head was aching.
Everyone was shouting.
for something that happened again and again:
I was practising every day, three times a day.
They were meeting secretly after school.
They were always quarrelling.
with verbs which show change or growth:
The children were growing up quickly.
Her English was improving.
My hair was going grey.
The town was changing quickly.
We do not normally use the past continuous with stative verbs. We use the past simple instead: