118 The simple present and the present continuous

Put the verbs in brackets into the correct present tense.

I Mrs Jones: My daughter never ___________ (write) to me so I never ___________ (know) what she
(do). ___________ Your son (write) to you, Mrs Smith?
Mrs Smith: Yes, I ___________ (hear) from him every week. He ___________ (seem) to like writing
letters.
2 These apples ___________ (cost) 40p a bag. You ___________ (think) that is expensive? ~
It ___________ (depend) on the size of the bag.
3 I ___________ (see) my solicitor tomorrow (/ have arranged this)', I ___________ (change) my will.
~
You always ___________ (change) your will. Why you ___________ (not leave) it alone?
4 You ___________ (look) very thoughtful. What you ___________ (think) about? ~
I ___________ (think) about my retirement. ~
But you're only 25. You only just ___________ (start) your career. ~
I ___________ (know); but I ___________ (read) an article which ___________ (say) that a sensible
man ___________ (start) thinking about retirement at 25.
5 My next door neighbour always ___________ (knock) on my door and ___________ (ask) me lend
her lOp pieces. ~
What she ___________ (do) with them? ~
She ___________ (put) them in her gas meter. I really ___________ (not mind) lending her a few l0p
pieces but what ___________ (annoy) me is that she ___________ (know) how many she
___________ (need) each week but never ___________ (take) the trouble to bring the right number
home. ~
6 What she ___________ (do) if she ___________ (run out) of them when you are away? ~
Oh, she ___________ (borrow) from her other neighbour, Mr White; but this ___________ (take)
longer because he always ___________ (want) her to stay and chat and she ___________ (find) quite
hard to get away from him.~
7 How much she ___________ (owe) you now? ~
I ___________ (not know); I ___________ (not keep) an account. Anyway she ___________ (leave)
next week; she ___________ (get) married. I ___________ (try) to think of a suitable wedding
present, ~
8 Why you ___________ (not offer) to cancel her debt? ~
That ___________ (sound) rather a mean sort of present. Anyway she probably ___________ (not
realize) that she ___________ (owe) me money. ~
9 My brother ___________ (say) that people who ___________ (owe) him money always
___________ (seem) forget about it, but people he ___________ (owe) money to always
___________ (remember) exactly.
10 I ___________ (not think) your brother ___________ (enjoy) the party. He ___________ (keep)
looking at his watch. ~
Oh, I'm sure he ___________ (enjoy) it. He always ___________ (enjoy) your parties. But I
___________ (know) he ___________ (want) to be home early tonight because he ___________
(expect) an important telephone call.
11 Jack: How much longer you ___________ (stay) in England?
Paul: Only one more day. I ___________ (leave) tomorrow night. I ___________ (go) to Holland for
two weeks.
12 Jack: And you ___________ (come) back to England after that or you ___________ (go) home?
Paul: It ___________ (depend) on my father. But if he ___________ (agree) to let me go on studying
here, I'll certainly come back. And I ___________ (expect) he will agree.
13 Paul: By the way, Jack, Ann ___________ (see) me off at Victoria tomorrow. Why you ___________
(not come) too? You could have coffee with her afterwards. (Paul is advising/inviting Jack to come
and see him off.)

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14 You ___________ (see) that man at the corner of the street? He is a private detective. He
___________ (watch) No. 24. ~
How you ___________ (know) he___________ (watch) No. 24? ~
Because whenever anyone ___________ (come) out of, or ___________ (go) into, the house he
___________ (make) a note in his little book.
15 What all those people ___________ (do) in the middle of the street? And why they ___________
(wear) such extraordinary clothes? ~
They ___________ (make) a film. Most of the crowd are local people who ___________ (work) as
extras. ~
16 It ___________ (sound) great fun. You ___________ (think) I could get a job as a film extra? ~
I ___________ (not know) but I ___________ (see) Ann over there; when they ___________ (finish)
this scene I'll ask her if they still ___________ (take) on extras. ~
17 Ann ___________ (act) in the film? ~
She has a small part. She ___________ (not act) very well. I ___________ (imagine) she got the part
because she ___________ (know) the director.
18 My brother ___________ (live) next door and his two children ___________ (come) and
___________ (see) me every day. The boy ___________ (not bother) to knock at the door; he just
___________ (climb) in through the window; but the girl always ___________ (knock).
19 Tom: We ___________ (move) into our new house tomorrow.
Bill: But why you ___________ (leave) your present house? It ___________ (suit) you all.
Tom: Yes, I ___________ (know) it ___________ (do); but the Council ___________ (pull down) all
the houses on this side.
They ___________ (widen) the road. They ___________ (say) it's a bottleneck.
20 If you ___________ (ask) a friend if she ___________ (like) your new dress she usually
___________ (say) 'Yes'; so you ___________ (not know) whether she really ___________ (think) it
___________ (suit) you or whether she merely ___________ (be) polite.
21 If you ___________ (want) a candid opinion you'd better ask my sister. She never ___________
(tell) white lies; she always ___________ (say) exactly what she ___________ (think).
22 Your sister's frankness (annoy) people? ~
Yes, it ___________ (do). The average person ___________ (not want) a truthful answer; he
___________ (want) you to say something agreeable.
23 I ___________ (hear) that you have bought a new house. ~
Yes, but I ___________ (not live) in it yet. They still ___________ (work) on it, and the work
___________ (take) longer than I expected. ~
24 I ___________ (think) repair jobs always ___________ (take) longer than one ___________
(expect). What they ___________ (do) now? ~
They ___________ (put) in new electric points. They ___________ (seem) competent electricians but
they ___________ (smoke) at their work and this ___________ (slow) them down.
25 They always ___________ (hammer) next door. ~
Yes, that house ___________ (keep) changing hands and the new owner always ___________ (begin)
by putting in a new fireplace, and their fireplace is just on the other side of this wall so we
___________ (hear) everything. The wall ___________ (shake), too.
26 Ann ___________ (stir) something in a saucepan and Mary ___________ (stand) beside her
holding a cookery book.
Mary: It ___________ (say) 'simmer', and you ___________ (boil) it, Ann.
Ann: I ___________ (not think) it ___________ (matter) if you ___________ (cook) it quickly; but I
___________ (not know) why it ___________ (not get) thick. It usually ___________ (thicken) at
once.
27 The hall ___________ (be) painted at the moment, so it ___________ (not look) its best.~
But where are the painters? They ___________ (stop) work at 3.00? ~
No, they are in the kitchen. They ___________ (have) a tea break.
28 What the word 'Establishment' ___________ (mean)? My dictionary ___________ (not give) an
explanation. ~

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It roughly ___________ (mean) the government and people who ___________ (have) power and
authority.
29 If we ___________ (say) that Mr Brown ___________ (belong) to the Establishment we also
___________ (imply) that he ___________ (accept) the existing system. He ___________ (not try) to
overthrow it. ~
30 All rich men ___________ (belong) to the Establishment? ~
Middle-aged rich men probably ___________ (do) but rich young men like pop singers
always___________ (jeer) at the Establishment. The word ___________ (be used) chiefly in a
pejorative sense.
31 The house opposite the college ___________ (be pulled) down. That's why we ___________ (use)
the back entrance at present. If you ___________ (go) out by the front door you ___________ (get)
covered with dust.
32 Tom: I ___________ (smell) something burning!
Jack: So ___________ (do) I. I ___________ (think) it ___________ (come) from the kitchen. Ann
probably ___________ (iron). She usually ___________ (iron) and ___________ (watch) TV at the
same time and if she ___________ (get) very interested in a programme she ___________ (forget)
that she ___________ (press) a hot iron on to somebody's shirt. Mother ___________ (think) of
selling the TV set.
33 Mrs Jones: What you ___________ (look) for, Tom?
Mr Jones: I ___________ (look) for the garage key. I always ___________ (look) for the garage key,
because nobody ever ___________ (put) it back on its hook.
Mrs Jones: I always ___________ (put) it back on its hook. Why you ___________ (not try) your
pockets?
(I advise you to try your pockets).
34 Imagine that you ___________ (travel) by train, in a crowded compartment. One of the
passengers ___________ (read) a newspaper; another ___________ (do) a crossword puzzle; another
___________ (look out) of the window. Suddenly the train ___________ (stop) with a jerk and your
suitcase ___________ (fall) off the rack on to somebody's toes.
35 This is a story about an invalid who ___________ (spend) most of the day in bed. He has a
powerful telescope and he ___________ (amuse) himself by watching the activities of the people in
the opposite houses. One day when he ___________ (watch) No. 24 he ___________ (see) a murder
being committed.
36 The cashier used to do the accounts and I used to check his figures now the computer
___________ (do) it all. ~
And who ___________ (check) the computer? ~
No one. The computer ___________ (not need) a second opinion. ~
And what ___________ (happen) if the computer ___________ (make) a mistake?
The computer never ___________ (make) a mistake.

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