A city from the past

spEaking&graMMar there was/there were

1. Look at the picture and talk about Hilltown. What is there in the town now? Name all the places you can see using there is/there are.

2. Study the table and complete the sentences using was/were.

Picture 1

Rule

There was/there were

There was a shop in the city. There were some shops on the street.

There was not (wasn’t) a castle there. There were not (weren’t) any trees here.

Was there a market in the city? – Yes, there was. / – No, there was not (wasn’t). Were there any trees here? – Yes, there were. / – No, there were not (weren’t). 1) There were/was a market. 2) There wasn’t/weren’t a supermarket. 3) There wasn’t/weren’t many cars. 4) There was/were a big park. 5) Were/Was there an airport? 6) There were/was only one shop. 7) There weren’t/wasn’t a train station. 8) There was/were a post-office. 9) There were/was some farmlands. 10) Were/Was there many people on the street? 11) There was/were not any cafes.

3. Look at the picture and answer the questions. Give short answers.

1) Was there a bank fifty years ago? 2) Was there a railway? 3) Were there busy streets? 4) Was there a hospital? 5) Was there a bridge over the river? 6) Was there a town square? 7) Were there many fields? 8) Was there a school? 9) Were there many people? 10) Were there any tall buildings?

4. Look at the pictures 1 (ex.1) and 2. Write sentences using there is/are and there was/were.

Ex.: There wasn’t a cinema or theatre fifty years ago. Now, there is a big cinema here.

Picture 2

verb to be in past simple

5. Study the table and complete the text.

Rule

Affirmative Negative was not (wasn’t)

I/He/She/It was in the cinema. I/He/She/It in the theatre. We/You/ were not (weren’t)were in the cinema. We/You/TheyThey in the theatre.

Interrogative Signal words

Was He/She/It in the zoo? yesterday/the day before We/You/They in the yesterday/last (week, month, year)/ Were zoo? ago (two days ago, etc.)

Stratford, east London, 1)_____ a nice place. The river 2)_____ dirty and the buildings 3)_____ old and empty. But in 2012 Stratford 4) _____ the home of the London Olympics and we 5) _____ surprised because Stratford 6)_____different. The Olympic Park 7)_____new and green, and there 8)_____lots of modern buildings. I 9)_____very excited!

6. Complete the questions with: Who / What / Why / When / Where / How much. The key word or phrase is in the answer in italics.

Ex: When were you here last time? – I was here last month.

1) ____ was the film? – The film was Avatar. 2) ____ was at the museum yesterday? – Joe was at the museum yesterday. 3) ____ was Ann’s party? – Ann’s party was in the garden. 4) ____ were your cousins in Paris? – Our cousins were in Paris in 2015. 5) ____ was in the cage? – A tiger was in the cage. 6) ____ was the CD? – The CD was 10 pounds. 7) ____ was Nick sad yesterday? – Nick was sad yesterday because he lost his bag. 8) ____ was at the zoo on Saturday? – Sarah was at the zoo on Saturday. 9) ____ were Mark and Sandy? – Mark and Sandy were at the club.

7. Complete the text with the correct present or past form of the verb to be.

This 1) ___ Rome, the capital city of Italy. It 2) ___ an ancient city, but it 3) ___ modern at all times. There 4) ___ lots of different restaurants and great museums. Also, you can see some old monuments, like the Colosseum. Even more than 2000 years ago there 5) ___ theatres, markets and schools in ancient Rome. There 6) ___ also baths, places with pools and gyms, like health clubs. The Colosseum 7) ___ an amphitheatre, a place for very unusual but also very popular games.

Today the Colosseum 8) ___ an important tourist attraction and Romans don’t watch sports or games here anymore, they go to modern stadiums, but their design 9) ___ similar to the ancient Colosseum’s. That’s why Rome 10) ___ an ancient and a modern city at the same time.

spEaking

8. Work in pairs. Ask and answer the questions in turns.

1) How old were you in 2015? 2) Where were you yesterday afternoon at three o’clock? 3) What was your favourite place to go when you were small? 4) How many people were there in your class at primary school? 5) Do you think there was the Internet in 1950? 7) Were there supermarkets in Ancient Rome? 8) Were there many buildings in your city ten years ago?