Present tenses: Practice Questions

Complete the sentence using the correct form of the present tense to describe a habitual action:

"Mr. Chan ______ the school bus to work every morning."

A student is describing a current classroom activity:
"Right now, the teacher ___ (show) us how to use a fishbone diagram to understand cause-and-effect relationships."
Which form of the present tenses correctly describes this ongoing action?

In Technology Education (TE), it is important to distinguish between facts and current processes. Choose the sentence that correctly uses the simple present for a general fact and the present continuous for a specific ongoing action.

My father usually ___ the newspaper while he is having breakfast in the morning.

Choose the correct verb form to complete this sentence about a scheduled future event:

"The inter-school speaking competition ______ at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow."

Read the sentence from a Science report about a chemistry experiment:

"The students (1. observe) ______ the reaction in the test tube right now, while the lead scientist (2. record) ______ the temperature every minute."

Complete the sentence with the correct present tenses.

Use the correct present tenses (simple present or present continuous) for the verbs in brackets:
"Look! The cat (chase) ______ a butterfly in the garden, although it usually (sleep) ______ on the sofa at this time of day."

Complete the following dialogue between a student and a librarian using the correct present tenses:
Student: "I (1. search) ______ for the latest journal on Technology Education right now."
Librarian: "The library usually (2. keep) ______ those on the second floor, but we (3. reorganize) ______ the shelves this week."

A student is describing the current implementation of Language across the Curriculum (LaC) in their school. Fill in the blanks with the correct present tenses (simple present or present continuous):

Our school usually (1. adopt) ______ Chinese as the medium of instruction for most subjects. However, this semester, we (2. promote) ______ Language across the Curriculum more actively. Currently, the English teacher (3. guide) ______ us to deconstruct a text about environmental pollution. We often (4. use) ______ a fishbone diagram because it (5. illustrate) ______ the cause-and-effect relationship very clearly.

Read the following dialogue between an English teacher and a student preparing for a Language across the Curriculum (LaC) presentation, and complete the tasks below.

Teacher: "How is your preparation going for the inter-class assembly?"
Student: "Our group (1. plan) the structure carefully. We (2. focus) on renewable energy sources this month because the geography curriculum covers sustainable development right now. Our club members usually (3. meet) twice a week, but currently we (4. rehearse) every afternoon in the drama room."

(a) Fill in blanks 1 to 4 with the appropriate present tenses (simple present, present continuous, or present perfect continuous). (4 points)

(b) Rewrite the following sentence into the present continuous to describe an action occurring at the present moment: (1 point)
"The students analyze the climate data on the interactive whiteboard."

(c) Explain in one sentence why the simple present is used for 'meet' in the dialogue, while the present continuous is used for 'rehearse'. (2 points)