What had they been doing?

Use the words from the box in the Past Perfect Continuous to complete the sentences.

eat fight

repair run

revise swim

try wait

watch sit

read 

Example:

• Jenny's eyes were tired.

• She had been reading all evening.

1.	Amanda was hot and sore. She __________ in the sun.
2.	Jane had oil on her hands. She __________ a friend's motorbike.
3.	Tom was hot and out of breath. He __________ in the park.
4.	Ben's clothes were dirty. He __________ with Jason.
5.	Sue was angry. She __________ for Mike for twenty minutes.
6.	Jane was nervous. She __________a TV programme about crime.
7.	Jenny had a stomach ache. She __________ sour grapes.
8.	Sue was tired. Sue __________ for exams all night.
9.	Mike was cold. He __________in an unheated pool.
10.	Sasha fell asleep. He __________to learn the past Perfect Continuous.

Activity

About You

Talk about the last time	you felt very tired
	your feet ached
	you were very wet

What had you been doing? How long had you been doing it? For example:

• Last Thursday evening I felt very tired because I had been playing basketball for two hours.

• Last night my feet ached because I had been standing in the cinema queue for an hour.

• Last Sunday I was very wet because I had been walking in the rain around town for hours.

Exercise 216

Who's guilty?

Inspector Soames is investigating the murder of Henry Farthing. He has discovered that shots were heard at 9.13 last Saturday night. He has asked everyone in Henry Farthing's block of flats what they had been doing before they heard the shot.

Look at picture the and write what they said they had been doing.

• THE PARKERS We had been having our supper.

• BILL JONES My wife and I had been watching television.

THE WILSONS _______________________

1. MARY WELLS _______________________

2. THE COOKS ______________________

3. THE BAXTERS ______________________

4. MAX PIM _______________________

5. THE WOODS _______________________

6. Sarah GREEN ______________________

8. ALF BROWN _______________________

Do you know who the murderer was? Write your reason.

I think the murderer was ________________________________because he / she said that he / she _________________________________, but he /she _____________________________________.

Exercise 217

Read the situations and complete the sentences.

1. We played tennis yesterday. Half an hour after we began playing, it started to rain.

We had been playing for half an hour when it started to rain.

2. I had arranged to meet Tom in a restaurant. I arrived and waited for him.

After 20 minutes I suddenly realized that I was in the wrong restaurant.

I _____ for 20 minutes when I ______.

3. Sarah got a job in a factory. Five years later the factory closed down.

At the time the factory _____, Sarah _____ there for five years.

4. I went to a concert last week. The orchestra began playing. After about ten

minutes a man in the audience suddenly began shouting.

The orchestra _____ when _____.

4. They drove along the road. After half an hour they understood that they

were lost.

They _____ when they _____.

6. I felt very cold. I stood outside for over two hours.

I _____ when I _____.

7. He began working as a newspaper reporter. Then he became a

businessman.

He _____ as a newspaper reporter before he _____.

7. Last Friday Norma, our secretary, began typing letters. After about twenty

minutes our boss asked her into his office.

Norma, our secretary, _____ for about twenty minutes when our boss

_____.

9. Jim took driving lessons. Three months later he got a driving licence.

Jim _____ for three months before he _____.

10. This time make your own sentence:

I began walking along the road. I _____ when _____.