4

UNI T
Past Perfect and
Past Perfect Progressive
Nature vs. Nurture

1 Grammar in the Real World

A Have you ever reconnected with someone from your past? Read the
article about twins who lived apart for many years. What surprised the
twins when they reconnected?

B Comprehension Check Answer the questions.

1 What was surprising about the twins’ adoption?
2 What characteristics and interests did Elyse and Paula
have in common?
3 What is the nature versus nurture debate?

C Notice Underline the verbs in each sentence.

1 Both girls knew that their parents had adopted them as infants.
2 She had been doing research on her birth mother when she made
a surprising discovery.
3 Even more surprising, she learned that she had been part of a secret
scientific study.

Which event happened first in each sentence? What event followed?

Write the verbs. What do you notice about the form of the verbs?

1 First: Then:

2 First: Then:

3 First: Then:

42
 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

Twins, especially identical1 twins, have always fascinated scientists.

Identical twins develop from one egg, have identical DNA,2 and are
usually very similar in appearance and behavior. There have been many
studies of identical twins raised in the same family. There have also been
5 a number of studies of identical twins separated at birth and raised in
separate families. These studies have provided interesting information
about the impact of nature (genetics) and nurture (the environment) on
the development of the individual. However, some of the studies have
been controversial.3
10 Take the case of Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein. Elyse and Paula
were identical twins separated at birth. Both girls knew that their parents

The SCIENCE
had adopted them as infants, but neither girl knew about her twin.
When Elyse grew up, she longed to meet her biological mother, so

of TWINS
she contacted the agency that had arranged the adoption. She had
15 been doing research on her birth mother when she made a surprising
discovery. She had an identical twin. Even more surprising, she learned
that she had been part of a secret scientific study. At the time of the
adoption, the agency had allowed different families to adopt each twin.
The agency had told the families that their child was part of a scientific
identical: exactly the same
1

20 study. However, it had never told the families the goal of the study: for
2
DNA: the abbreviation for
deoxyribonucleic acid, a chemical that scientists to investigate nature versus nurture.
controls the structure and purpose of
every cell When Elyse and Paula finally met as adults, they were amazed.
3
controversial: causing or likely to They had many similarities. They looked almost identical. They had both
cause disagreement studied film. They both loved to write. Together, the twins discovered
4
dominant: more important, strong, 25 that the researchers had stopped the study before the end because the
or noticeable
public strongly disapproved of this type of research.
Although that study ended early, many scientists today make a strong
case for the dominant4 role of nature. Schein and Bernstein agree that
genetics explains many of their similarities. However, recent research
30 suggests that nurture is equally important. It is clear that the nature
versus nurture debate will occupy scientists for years to come.

Nature vs. Nurture 43

 2 Past Perfect
Grammar Presentation
The past perfect is used to describe Elyse finally met her sister, Paula. Paula had been
a completed event that happened married for several years. (First, Paula got married;
before another event in the past. Elyse met Paula at a later time.)

2.1 Forming Past Perfect

Form the past perfect with had + the Elyse and Paula did not grow up together.
past participle of the main verb. Form They had lived with different families.
the negative by adding not after had. They were available for adoption because their
The form is the same for all subjects. birth mother had given them up.
"Had she talked about the study to anyone at the time?"
"No, she hadn’t."
"What had you heard about this study before that time?"
"I’d heard very little about it."

Irregular Verbs: See page A1.

2.2 Using Past Perfect with Simple Past

A Use the past perfect to describe later time earlier time

an event in a time period that She learned that she had been part of a secret study.
leads up to another past event later time earlier time

or time period. Use the simple The twins discovered that they had both studied
past to describe the later event psychology.
or time period.

B The prepositions before, by, earlier time later time

or until can introduce the later Their mother had known about the study before her death.
time period. earlier time later time

Sue hadn’t met her sister until last year.

earlier time later time

Studies on twins had become common by the 1960s.

C The past perfect is often used reason

to give reasons or background She was late. She had forgotten to set her alarm clock.
information for later past events. background information later past event

He had never taken a subway before he moved to

New York.

44 Unit 4 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

Data from the Real World

In writing, these verbs are commonly The twins had not gone to the same school as children.
used in the past perfect: come, have, The family thought that they had made the right
leave, make, and take. decision.
Had been is the most common past Psychologists praised the study because the
perfect form in speaking and writing. researchers had been very careful in their work.
The researchers had not been aware of each other’s
work on twins until they met.

Grammar Application
Exercise 2.1 Past Perfect

Complete the sentences about twins who met as adults. Use the past perfect form of the
verbs in parentheses.
1 Two separate Illinois families had adopted (adopt) Anne Green and Annie Smith
before the twins were three days old.

2 When the girls met, they were fascinated by their similarities. For example, they
(live) near each other before the Greens moved away.

3 As children, both Anne and Annie (go) to the same summer camp.

4 Anne (not / go) to college, and Annie

(not / attend) college, either.

5 Both (marry) for the first time by the age of 22.

6 Anne (get) divorced and (remarry).

Annie (not / get) divorced and was still married.

7 Both Anne and Annie were allergic to cats and dogs and
never (own) pets.

8 Both (give) the same name – Heather – to their daughters.

9 Both previously (work) in the hospitality industry.

10 Anne (work) as a hotel manager. However, Annie

(not / work) in hotels; she (be) a restaurant manager.

Nature vs. Nurture 45

 Exercise 2.2 Past Perfect and Simple Past

A Read the article about a famous twin study. Underline the simple past forms.
Double underline the past perfect forms.

The University of Minnesota is the birthplace of one of the most

important twin studies in the world. It started in 1979. Thomas
J. Bouchard had already been on the faculty1 of the university
for some time when he began his study of identical twins.
Bouchard read an article about a set of twins who had been
separated at birth. The twins had recently met and had found
many similarities. They found out that they had lived near
each other for years. Bouchard was amazed by the twins’
story and decided to start the Minnesota Twins Reared Apart
Study. Bouchard began to study sets of twins that had been
separated at birth. Over the years, the Minnesota Twins Reared
Apart Study has studied around 10,000 sets of twins. The study
continues today.

1
faculty: the people who teach in a department in a school

B Pair Work Compare your answers with a partner. Discuss the reason for each
of your answers.
In line 3, had been refers to the first event. Dr. Bouchard joined the faculty
before the twin study. The twin study began later. The study is the second event,
so started is in the simple past.

Exercise 2.3 More Past Perfect and Simple Past

A Listen to an interview with twins who are actors. Complete the sentences
with the verbs you hear.
Claudia Today, I’m interviewing Alex and Andrew Underhill. They appear in the Spy Twins
movie series based on the books of the same name. How did you get the part in
the first Spy Twins movie?

Alex A friend had seen the advertisement in the newspaper and later
(1)
us about it. We
(2) (3)
any acting before then, but we to try out anyway.
(4)

46 Unit 4 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

Claudia How many twins were at the audition?

Andrew When we got there, we that about five other sets

(5)
of twins for the audition.
(6)

Alex We also noticed that all the twins were wearing matching outfits. Until that
audition, we never the
(7) (7)
same clothes in our whole lives. We decided to run out to the nearest shopping
mall to buy some matching clothes. The audition just
(8)
when we .
(8) (9)

Claudia you the Spy Twins novels

(10) (10)
before your audition?

Andrew Yes. The third book when we

(11)
to the first audition.
(12)

Claudia What’s it like being twins? Are you two close? Do you do the same things?

Alex Yes, in lots of ways.

Andrew We definitely think the same way.

Alex Right! Once, we took the same test

in school. Of course, we were in the
same grade, but we had different
teachers. We had exactly the same
answers correct, even though we

(13)
in the same classroom!

Claudia Wow! I guess you’re a lot alike in many

ways! Well, thanks, Alex and Andrew.
It’s been great talking with you.

B Listen again and check your answers.

Nature vs. Nurture 47

 C Use the time line to complete the sentences about Alex and Andrew. Use the
past perfect form of the verbs in the box.

build decide graduate make record start

1995 The twins are born.

2002 The twins audition for the first Spy Twins movie.

2004 They record their first pop song and make a TV movie.

2005 The twins start a fashion company for young men’s clothing.

2006 to 2012 The twins make three more Spy Twins movies.

2013 They graduate from high school; they start college.

2014 The twins decide to stop acting.

2017 They graduate from college.

2017 to
They work as fashion designers for their clothing company.
present

1 By 2012, Alex and Andrew had made four Spy Twins movies.

2 Before 2004, the twins (not) a pop song.

3 By 2016, the twins to stop acting.

4 The twins (not) a fashion company yet in 2004.

5 The twins from high school by 2015.

48 Unit 4 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

3 Past Perfect with Time Clauses

Grammar Presentation
The past perfect is often used with By the time Elyse discovered her sister, people
time clauses for events that occurred had forgotten about the twin study.
in an earlier time period leading up
to a later event or time period.

3.1 Order of Events

A Use time clauses to show two Elyse had moved by the time the researchers called her.
separate past time periods. Use
the past perfect to signal an event
that occurred in an earlier time
period.

The time words after, as soon as, After they had met, they noticed their many similarities.
before, by the time, until, and Until Elyse started her research, she hadn’t known about
when can introduce the time the twin study.
clauses.

B With before and after, the past Elyse moved before she met her twin. or
perfect is not always necessary Elyse had moved before she met her twin.
because the order is clear. In this
case, the past perfect emphasizes
the earlier time period.

C In time clauses with when, the When Paula met Elyse, she had already learned about
use of the past perfect in the the research. (She learned about the research. She met
main clause usually shows a good Elyse some time later.)
amount of time between events.

D The use of as soon as with the As soon as the researchers had learned about the public’s
past perfect shows that one event reaction to the study, they stopped it.
happened very soon after the (The scientists learned about the public’s reaction to the
other. study. They stopped the study very soon after that.)

The use of the simple past in both When Paula met Elyse, she learned about the research.
clauses shows that one event (She learned about the research very soon after she
happened very soon after the other. met Elyse.)

Nature vs. Nurture 49

 Grammar Application
Exercise 3.1 Order of Events TWIN WORLD by Cory Daniels
A Read the blog entry about twin
studies. Underline the past perfect
B efore her twins were born, Kim Lee had read a lot about twin
studies. After she had done a little research, Kim found an early
reading study for twins. She contacted the researchers and learned
form of the verbs.
that she had to wait until the twins were four years old. When she
enrolled the twins in the study, she hadn’t known that the twins
B Pair Work Discuss why the past needed to give a DNA sample. As soon as Kim learned this, she
perfect is used in each case in A. Then took the twins out of the study. Kim thought that taking a DNA
find a sentence with a time clause that sample was an invasion of her children’s privacy.
describes two events that happened at
the same time or almost the same time.
What is the form of the verbs in this sentence?

Exercise 3.2 Time Clauses

Complete the article about siblings1 who were separated as children. Circle the correct time
word. Write the simple past or past perfect form of the verbs in parentheses. Sometimes
more than one answer is possible.

T
1
sibling: a brother here are many stories of non-twin brothers and sisters who are separated for one
or sister
reason or another and meet again as adults. Here are a couple.
2
family tree:
a drawing that
shows all the Glenn Mint and Bruce Mathews are brothers. They had never met until / after
(1)
members of a
family, usually
Glenn started (start) working at the same company as Bruce. Bruce was surprised
(2)
over a long period because the new employee looked just like him. They started asking each other questions.
of time, and how
they are related to Before / After they met, each man (know) that he had a sibling.
each other (3) (4)
Before / As soon as Glenn (discover) Bruce’s birth date,
(5) (6)
he knew Bruce was his long-lost brother.

Quin Mara, 82, knew that she was adopted and that she had siblings, but she had never

met them. After / Until a relative (find) a family tree,2 Quin

(7) (8)
learned the names of her siblings and started looking for them. Until / By the time she saw
(9)
the family tree, she (not / know) that she was the youngest
(10)
of nine children. As soon as / Before she (discover) that,
(11) (12)
she began to look for her brothers and sisters. She was very happy because five of her

siblings were still alive. Before / After she (meet) them, she
(13) (14)
didn’t know that they had spent the last several decades looking for each other.

50 Unit 4 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

Exercise 3.3 Combining Sentences

Read the story about how environment affects personality. Combine

the sentences with the time words in parentheses. Use the past perfect
for the earlier event and the simple past for the later event.

1 
Diego and Shannon were married for a few years.
Then they decided to have a baby.
(when) When Diego and Shannon had been married
for a few years, they decided to have a baby.
2 Diego and Shannon did not think much about the nature versus
nurture debate. Then their first child, Mario, was born.
(until)

3 Diego and Shannon didn’t have much experience with music. Then they became parents.
(before)

4 Three-year-old Mario saw an electronic keyboard in a shop. Then he asked his parents to buy
him one.
(after)

5 Diego and Shannon heard Mario playing the keyboard. Then they realized their son’ s
musical talent.
(as soon as)

6 Diego and Shannon realized Mario’ s talent. Then they enrolled him in piano classes.
(as soon as)

7 Diego and Shannon enrolled Mario in piano classes. Then Mario became an excellent musician.
(after)

8 Mario took a few years of piano classes. He started composing music.

(by the time)

Nature vs. Nurture 51

 4 Past Perfect Progressive
Grammar Presentation
The past perfect progressive Living with a roommate was hard for me in the
emphasizes the ongoing nature of a beginning. I had been living alone for years.
past activity or situation leading up to
a more recent past time.

4.1 Forming Past Perfect Progressive

Form the past perfect progressive She knew Boston well when I visited her. She’d been living
with had + been + -ing form of the there for years.
verb. Form the negative by putting When my brother visited me, I had not / hadn’t been living
not between had and been or using there long.
the contraction hadn’t.

4.2 Using Past Perfect Progressive

A Use the past perfect progressive He looked tired because he had been
for an action or situation that working all night.
continued up to an event or My eyes were sore because I hadn't been wearing my
situation in past time. This can contacts.
show a reason or give background
information.

B With some verbs such as live, play, The twins had lived in different cities before they
teach, wear, and work, use either discovered each other. or
the past perfect or past perfect The twins had been living in different cities before they
progressive. The meaning is discovered each other.
similar.

52 Unit 4 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

Grammar Application
Exercise 4.1 Past Perfect Progressive

Complete the story about brothers who

reconnected after many years. Use the past perfect
progressive form of the verbs in parentheses.
Mark and Peter were brothers. Their parents
could not take care of them. One family adopted
Mark, and another family adopted Peter. Mark
and Peter had been dreaming (dream) of
(1)
finding each other since 2015. When they finally
met, they were surprised by how much they had
in common. For most of their adult lives, their jobs
had been related, even though they (not / work) in
(2)
the same business. Mark (make) furniture, and Peter
(3)
(sell) furniture. Mark
(4) (5)
(interview) for jobs in furniture stores and decided to take a new position at Mark’s
store. Peter (talk) to a friendly customer when he
(6)
saw a man who looked like him walk into the store. Peter quickly stopped what he
(do) and introduced himself. That first day, Peter
(7)
and Mark talked for hours. They found out that they
(8)
(not / live) in the same city, but they had attended schools in the same district for most
of their childhood. They (cross) paths for many years
(9)
without ever meeting. They had never expected to have so much in common.

Nature vs. Nurture 53

 Exercise 4.2 Past Perfect Progressive, Past Perfect, or Simple Past?

A Complete the interview with a woman who found her three siblings after many years.
Use the past perfect progressive, the past perfect, or the simple past form of the verbs in
parentheses. Use contractions when possible. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.
Vijay Tell us how you found your family.

Paula I 'd been looking (look) for my sister all my life. I

(1) (2)
(not / have) much luck, though. Then one day, I turned on the TV. A talk show was
on. The host of the show was interviewing three siblings – two brothers and a half
sister.1 Different families (adopt) the siblings many
(3)
years before.

Vijay And?

Paula They (talk) about me before I turned on the program.

(4)
The siblings had recently reunited, and they (search) for
(5)
a fourth sibling for the past several months. I called the TV station, and we all finally
(meet).
(6)
Vijay So, you (look) for a sister all your life, and you found
(7)
three siblings!

Paula Yes, it was wonderful! We all met at one of the network offices the following week.
After we (speak) for a while, it was obvious to me that
(8)
they (look) for me all their lives, too.
(9)

1
half sister: a sister who is biologically related by one parent only

B Pair Work Discuss these questions with a partner.

■ Choose a sentence in A in which you can use either the past perfect or the past perfect
progressive. Why are both possible here?
■ In which sentence in A is only the past perfect correct?

C Over to You Do an online search for twins, siblings, or other family members who
reunited after many years. Write five sentences about their experiences. Use the past perfect
and the past perfect progressive.

54 Unit 4 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive

5 Avoid Common Mistakes

1  se the past perfect or past perfect progressive to give background information for
U
a past tense event.
had
I have never seen my sister in real life, so I was nervous the first time we met.
had been dreaming
I have dreamed about meeting her, and I finally did.

2 Use the past perfect or past perfect progressive to give a reason for a past event.
had been crying
Her eyes were red and puffy because she cried.

3 Use the past perfect (not the past perfect progressive) for a completed earlier event.
arranged
They had been arranging a time to meet, but both of them forgot about it.

4  se the past perfect (not present perfect) to describe a completed event that happened
U
before a past event.
had
I have visited her in Maine twice before she came to visit me.

Editing Task
Find and correct seven more mistakes in the paragraphs about sibling differences.
had
I have never really thought about sibling differences until my own children
were born. When we had our first child, my husband and I have lived in Chicago for
just a few months. We have not made many friends yet, so we spent all our time with
our child. Baby Gilbert was happy to be the center of attention. He depended on us
5 for everything.
By the time our second son, Chase, was born, we have developed a community
of friends and a busier social life. We frequently visited friends and left the children
at home with a babysitter. As a result of our busy schedules, Chase was more
independent. One day I had just been hanging up the phone when Chase came into
10 the room. Chase picked up the phone and started talking into it. I thought he was
pretending, but I was wrong. He had been figuring out how to use the phone!
When my husband came home, he was tired because he worked all day. When I
told him about Chase’s phone conversation, though, he became very excited. Gilbert
has never used the phone as a child. At first, we were surprised that Chase was so
15 different from Gilbert. Then we realized that because of our busy lifestyles, Chase had
learned to be independent.

Nature vs. Nurture 55