Exercise 1 - Fill in the blanks with the past simple or the past continuous: 1. When I ________________ (arrive) the teacher _________ (write) the summary. 2. He _____________________________ (cross) the road when I _________________ (see) him. 3. Why ____________________________ (they / shout) at you when I _______________ (wake up)? 4. They ________________________ (fix) the computer when I ______________ (open) the door. 5. __________________________ (Mary / break) her leg while she _______________________ (skate)? 6. I ________________________ (sleep) when she __________________ (knock) on the door. 7. When I _______________ (see) Jim at the disco he ________________________ (not / talk) to the DJ. 8. I ____________________________ (watch) a film on TV when the electricity ______________ (go) out. 9. The Titanic ________________________ (not / cross) the Pacific Ocean when it _______________ (strike) an iceberg. 10. Paul ____________________ (not / fall) while he _______________________ (run) away. 11. Carol ________________ (fall) asleep while she _________________________ (read) a book. 12. While my father _________________________ (drive) home, he _______________________ (not / answer) his mobile phone. 13. While I _________________________ (have) a driving lesson it ___________________ (start) to rain heavily. 14. When I ______________ (find) the wallet on the street I ___________ (go) to the police and I _______________ (turn) it in. 15. When Mrs Spencer ___________________ (walk) into the busy office, the secretary ___________________________ (talk) on the phone with a customer, several clerks _____________________________ (work) at their desks and two managers _______________________ (discuss) methods to improve customer service. 16. Last night, Sebastian _________________ (go) at Susan’s house about 9:00 pm, but she __________________ (not / be) there. She _______________________ (study) at a friend’s house. 17. Sam _________________________ (read) the newspaper while he ______________________ (wait) for the bus. 18. Yesterday I _______________ (see) Paul at the party and he ______________________ (not / dance) with Rachel.