present perfect

I- Match the two halves of these sentences.

(1)   My little brother started school                (a) all day

(2)  The Prime Minister hasn´t been abroad     (b) when he was six

(3)   I caught a cold                                          (c) in the 19^th century                                                                                                   

(4)  My father has been asleep in bed              (d) since January

(5)  The Red Cross started                              (e) several minutes ago

(6)  The dentist has asked us to wait               (f) when we went out in the rain

(7)  The last bus left                                       (g) for a few minutes

II- Choose the correct form of the verbs.

(1)   My sister has been/was interested in Medicine ever since she has been/was a child.

(2)  How long have you studied/did you study before you have qualified/qualified?

(3)  Where have you first met/did you first meet your husband?

(4)  Is this the first time you´ve cooked/you cooked pasta?

(5)  We have wanted/wanted to go to the theater last night, but there haven´t been/weren´t any seats.

(6)  Oh, dear. What can we do? I´m sure something dreadful has happened/happened; we´ve been waiting/we waited over an hour and he hasn´t/hasn´t been phoning yet.

(7)  We have posted/posted the parcel three weeks ago. If you still haven´t received/didn´t receive it, please inform us immediately.     

III- Alex wants to go to an art college and is being interviewed by Tom Smith,

     one of the lecturers. Complete the questions which Tom asks him.  Read

     the whole conversation before you start.

Tom: Right, Alex, let´s find out something about you. You´ve obviously not a

        teenager, so when (1)…………………………..school?

Alex: Five years ago, actually.

Tom: And where (2) ………………………………..since then?

Alex: Well, I´ve had several jobs.

Tom: What (3)…………………………………first?

Alex: I worked in a café for about a year. I needed to save some money.

Tom: Why (4)………………………………….money?

Alex: I wanted to travel a bit before I started studying.

Tom: Where (5) …………………………………………to go?

Alex: Well, the Middle East, Latin America, Australia –

Tom: Good Lord! And (6) ………………………………………..all those places?

Alex: No, not yet. I´ve been to Brazil and Peru so far. And I spent some months in Turkey.

Tom: What (7)……………………………………………….there?

Alex: I stayed with some friends near Izmir. It was wonderful.

Tom: You´re very lucky. And now you want to come to college. (8)………………………………

        Some pictures to show me?

Alex: Um, yes. I have a portfolio here.

Tom: Where (9)……………………………………..this work?

Alex: Mostly in Turkey.

Tom: Why (10)…………………………………………..any in South America?

Alex: I didn´t have time really. And I was travelling light, I just did some pencil

        sketches.

Tom: (11)…………………………………………………….them here with you?

Alex: They´re at the back of the portfolio.

Tom: Well, Alex, I´m very impressed. When (12) ………………………………interested in

        painting and drawing?

Alex: I think I always have been.

Tom: I can believe that. Will you come with me? I want to show this work to my

        colleagues right away.

Alex: Of course. Thank you very much.

IV- Fill the gaps in these sentences with a suitable verb. Use either the present

      perfect or past simple.

(1)   Bill ………………………………away from work all this week.

(2)  Glenda ……………………………..hard when she was a student.

(3)  Pippa ………………………………….rather unfriendly recently.

(4)  Eric…………………………………….the door before I rang the bell.

(5)  How long ………………………………………Neil………………………………..his present job?

(6)  ……………………………………..Tina……………………………………her parents since she got married?

(7)  Why …………………………………you ………………………………your coat on? It´s not cold.

(8)  Jock ……………………………………to me about his problems last night.

(9)  Fred……………………..his map. We´ll have to go back for it.

(10) Jane ………………………………………..more money in her last job, but she enjoys this one more.

V- Read the following passage and put the verbs in the correct form: present perfect or past simple.

Then and now


TWENTY YEARS ago few people (1) …………….(realize) that computers were about to become part of our daily lives. This short period of time (2)…………………………(see) enormous changes, in business, education and public administration. Jobs which (3)………………………(take) weeks to complete in the past, are now carried out in minutes. Clerks who (4)…………………………..(spend) all day copying and checking calculations are now freed from these tedious tasks. In offices, the soft hum and clicking of word processors (5)……………………………….(replace) the clatter of typewriters. Schoolchildren (6)………………………….(become) familiar with hardware and software as their parents (7)……………………………(be) with pencils and exercise books. Computerisation of public records (8)……………………………….(enable) government departments to analyse the needs of citizens in detail. Some of us may wonder, however, whether life (9) …………………………….(really/improve) as a result of these changes. Many jobs (10)……………………..(disappear), for the example, when intelligent machines (11) ……………………….(take) over the work. Employers complain that clerical staff (12) ………………….(become) dependent on calculators and cannot do simple arithmetic, There are fears that governments (13)…………………………………(not/do) enough to ensure personal information held on computers is really kept secret. Certainly, many people may now be wondering whether the spread of computers (14)…………………..(bring) us as many problems as it (15)…………………………..(solve).