Past continuous: Practice Questions

Select the sentence that correctly uses the past continuous to describe an action in progress at a specific time in the past.

Use the past continuous to set the scene for a sudden event during a Geography field trip:
"While the teacher ______ (explain) the rock formations, a group of monkeys suddenly ______ (steal) our snacks."

Identify the sentence that correctly employs the past continuous to set the background scene in a narrative about a Science experiment (SE):

Complete the following sentence with the correct past continuous form of the verb:

Last night, while I ___ (review) my notes for the upcoming speech in the school assembly, the power suddenly went out.

During a Geography field trip described in a student's diary, a sudden weather change occurred. Choose the past continuous form that correctly sets the background scene:

"While we ___ (record) the humidity levels at the base of the mountain, a heavy fog suddenly rolled in from the sea."

Complete the sentence with the past continuous form of the verb in brackets: "At noon yesterday, the students (have) ______ lunch in the canteen."

Complete the sentence using the past continuous form of the verb in brackets:
"At 8:00 p.m. last night, while my brother was studying, my sister and I (play) ______ a board game together in the living room."

Complete the sentence to describe a sudden interruption during a geography field trip using the past continuous:
"The students (sketch) ______ the different rock formations at the beach when a heavy rainstorm suddenly forced them to seek shelter."

(a) Fill in the blanks with the past continuous form of the verbs in brackets to describe what was happening when the teacher entered the classroom. (3 points)
When Miss Lee walked in, the students were very noisy. Peter (1. draw) ______ on the whiteboard. Two girls (2. whisper) ______ in the corner, and some boys (3. throw) ______ paper planes across the room.

(b) Use the word 'while' to combine the following two sentences into one. Ensure you use the past continuous for both actions. (2 points)
Sentence 1: I was reading a book.
Sentence 2: My brother was playing the piano.

A junior secondary student wrote a narrative describing a laboratory incident for an English cross-curricular project. Read the paragraph and complete the tasks that follow.

"At 2:30 p.m. yesterday, our class was working on a physics experiment. While Clara (1. record) the voltage in her notebook, David and Samuel (2. connect) the wires to the power pack. Outside the window, a heavy storm (3. rage). Suddenly, a bright spark (4. jump) from the main switch and (5. trip) the circuit breaker."

(a) Complete blanks 1, 2, and 3 using the correct past continuous forms, and blanks 4 and 5 using the correct simple past forms. (5 points)

(b) Combine the following two simultaneous background actions into a single sentence using 'while' and the past continuous: (2 points)
Action 1: Mr. Lee was demonstrating the use of the multimeter.
Action 2: The students were drawing circuit diagrams.