I.

Make the past perfect:

1. When I arrived at the cinema, the film ____________________ (start).
2. She ____________________ (live) in China before shewent to Thailand.
3. After they ____________________ (eat) the shellfish, they began to feel sick.
4. If you ____________________ (listen) to me, you would have got the job.
5. Julie didnt arrive until after I ____________________ (leave).
6. When we ____________________ (finish) dinner, we went out.
7. The garden was dead because it ____________________(be) dry all summer.
8. He ____________________ (meet) her before somewhere.
9. We were late for the plane because we ____________________ (forgot) our passports.
10. She told me that she ____________________ (study) alot before the exam.
11. The grass was yellow because it ___________________(not / rain) all summer.
12. The lights went off because we ___________________ (not / pay) the electricity bill.
13. The children ___________________ (not / do) their homework, so they were in trouble.
14. They ___________________ (not / eat) so we went to a restaurant.
15. We couldnt go into the concert because we ___________________ (not / bring) our
tickets.
16. She said that she ___________________ (not / visit) the UK before.
17. Julie and Anne ___________________ (not / meet) before the party.
18. I ___________________ (not / have) breakfast when he arrived.
19. He ___________________ (not / use) email before, soI showed him how to use it.
20. You ___________________ (not / study) for the test,so you were very nervous.
Choose the past perfect, or the past simple:
1. We had already eaten when John ______________________ (come) home.
2. Last year Juan ________________________________ (pass) all his exams.
3. When I ________________________________ (get) to the airport I discovered I had
forgotten my passport.
4. I went to the library, then I ________________________________ (buy) some milk and
went home.
5. I opened my handbag to find that I ________________________________ (forgot) my
credit card.
6. When we ________________________________ (arrive) at the station, the train had
already left.
7. We got home to find that someone ________________________________ (break) into the
house.
8. I opened the fridge to find someone ________________________________ (eat) all my
chocolate.
9. I had known my husband for three years when we ________________________________
(get) married.
10. Julie was very pleased to see that John ________________________________ (clean)
the kitchen.
Put the verbs between brackets in the correct tense (past perfect simple or continuous.)
1. I (try) ____________ to get tickets for that play for months before my friend finally got
them.
2. When I arrived at the theater, my friend (pick, already) _____________ up the tickets.
3. He was really angry because he (wait) _______________ for more than half an hour when
I arrived.
4. When the play started, I (already, apologize) _______________ to my friend.
5. We (watch) ____________________ the play when the lights went off.

II. Read the letter and try to explain the idioms in bold.
Dear Mary,
Sorry Lionel and I were such poor company last week-end, but we were both feeling 1) down
in the dumps, especially after finding out that Terry had been 2) keeping us in the dark
about the severity of the company's money problems. I was so angry with him. My own
brother - can you believe it? Believe me, running a family business 3) isn`t all it`s cracked
up to be! Anyway, the morning after you left, I was reading the paper when an advert for a
week in a country cottage 4) caught my eye. It sounded 5) right up our street, so I
mentioned it to Lionel and after a lot of persuading, he finally agreed that we both needed to
6) take things easy for a bit.
We've been here for five days now and I feel so much better. It's right 7) off the beaten track,
so Lionel and I have had enough peace and quiet to talk about the company's problems and
come up with some solutions. I`ll tell you one thing - Terry is going to 8) come down to
earth with a bump when we get back! This place is truly fantastic, and Lonel`s 9) in his
element at the moment as the river near here is excellent for fishing. He got up at 10) the
crack of dawn today and returned at lunch-time with an enormous trout
I`d better go now as we're leaving tomorrow and I haven't started packing yet. I`ll give you a
ring as soon as we get back.
Love, Jane
Match the items with the idioms from the exercise above.
a. to relax
b. to keep sb unaware of sth
c. to be not as good as people say
d. to stop dreaming and start thinking practically
e. isolated and quiet
f. within one's range of interests/knowledge
g. depressed
h. very happy/suited to a situation
i. to get sb's attention
j. very early in the morning
Fill in the gaps with phrases from the list:
kept in the dark, caught my eye, down in the dumps, came down to earth with a bump, all
it's cracked up to be
1. Sam thought he could pass his exam without studying, but he..............................when he
failed.
2. He was..............................about his surprise retirement party.
3. The new restaurant isn`t..............: it may look nice, but the food is awful!
4. I bought Ann some flowers because she looked......
5. The beautiful clothes in the shop window........ so I went in and bought a dress.
Words That Sound Rude But Aren't
Aprosexia, noun, means an abnormal inability to concentrate one's attention. It has nothing to
do with sexy aprons or with sex at all unless, perhaps, sex is the reason you can't
concentrate your attention ;)
Coxcomb, noun, is a foolish, conceited, showy person, vain of their accomplishments,
appearance, or dress; a fop. I am tempted to use the word d*ckhead.
Decocting, verb, isn't male castration. It means boiling in water or other liquid so as to extract
the soluble parts or principles of the substance.

Firkin, noun, is a small cask for liquids, fish, butter, etc. It's a firkin good word. But don't,
whatever you do, confuse a firkin with a merkin.
Formicate, verb, means to crawl like ants. It has nothing to do with "fornicate" unless you
have a particularly kinky sex life.
Futtock, noun, isn't a fat buttock or a swear word. It is one of the middle timbers of the frame
of a ship, between the floor and the top timbers.
Inspissate, verb, means to thicken, condense. So now you can inspissate your pee er, "pea"
soup.
Macerate, verb, means to soften by steeping in a liquid. I macerated once but was told I'd go
blind.
Opisthenar, noun, is the back of the hand. The emphasis in pronunciation on "pis" makes this
word sound a little crude, but only if, like others, you have a dirty mind.
Quakebuttock, noun, is an old word for coward. Perhaps cowards have shaky bottoms?
Repullulate, verb, does not mean to pull again; rather, it means to bud or sprout again.
Rhinocerotic, adjective, is not a sexual attraction to noses. It simply means pertaining to a
rhinoceros.
Yanker, noun, has nothing to do with maceration. It means a big or "thumping" lie.
When I am an old woman I shall wear
purple
With a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't
suit me,
And I shall spend my pension
on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals,
and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I
am tired,
And gobble up samples in shops and press
alarm bells, (nha, nfuleca)
And run my stick along the public railings,
Grilaj, balustrad
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's
gardens,
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more
fat,
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go,
Or only bread and pickle for a week,
And hoard pens and pencils and beer mats
(suport) and things in boxes. Faci provizii
But now we must have clothes that keep us
dry,
And pay our rent and not swear in the
street,
And set a good example for the children.
We will have friends to dinner and read the
papers.
But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me
are not too shocked and surprised,

When suddenly I am old

and start to wear purple!
Jenny Joseph