Unit 15: Today's News

A. Look at the photos of what people were doing this weekend. Complete the stories. Use the words in the box.

1. My mother has a bandage on her finger. It's not a large wound. but it hurts, She was cutting some vegetables for dinner and cut her finger with the knife.
2. We visited the San Diego Zoo last week. One of the main attractions there is the Panda Trek. There was a huge crowd of people around the exhibit when the pandas came out to eat.
3. I have a very funny story. My uncle is a big man. He is strong and works at a construction site. A worker found a snake under a rock. He showed it to my uncle. Immediately everyone heard a very loud scream. They all turned to see what was happening. Well, my uncle is very afraid of those long retiles!
4. Last night, I looked out my window and saw my neighbor's house on fire. Just before that, We had a really bad storm. The sky turned very dark. There was lots of thunder and rain. And during this time, my neighbor's house was hit by lightning, which caused the fire.

B. Look at the picture. What wasn't/ was happening at the park yesterday? Ude the past progressive.

1. two boys/ playing tennis.

• The two boys weren't playing tennis.
• They were playing volleyball.

2. boy with cap/ sleeping.

• The boy with the cap wasn't sleeping.
• He was riding his bike.

3. father and son/ watching TV.

• The father and son weren't watching TV.
• They were eating sandwiches.

4. mother and daughter/ reading books.

• The mother and daughter weren't reading books.
• They were walking in the park.

5. man with the hat/ eating ice cream.

• The man with the hat wasn't eating ice cream.
• He was selling ice cream to the boy.

C. Look at the photos of what people were doing. Answer the questions. Use short answers.

1. Was he eating pizza?

Yes, he was.

2. Was he taking a test?

No, he wasn't.

3. Were they doing their homework?

No, they weren't.

4. Were they skiing?

Yes, they were.

D. Make sentences using when. Then write questions for the sentences.

1. they/ swim// rain/ start.

They were swimming when the rain started.

What were they doing when the rain started?

2. Ibrahim/ do his homework // mother/ call him for dinner.

Ibrahim was doing his homework when his mother called him for dinner.

What was Ibrahim doing when his mother called him for dinner?

3. the car/ go too fast // traffic light/ turn red.

The car was going too fast when the traffic light turned red.

What was the car doing when the traffic light turned red?

4. we/ watch the news on TV // lights/ go out.

We were watching the news on TV when the lights went out.

What were you doing when the lights went out?

E. READING

Answer the questions.

1. What were the writer's friends doing when they saw the moose?

The writer's friends were playing football when they saw the moose.

2. What were the people in the park doing when they saw the moose?

The people in the park were picking up litter when they saw the moose.

3. What were the children doing when the saw the moose?

The children were sitting in a school bus when they saw the moose.

4. What was the police officer doing when he saw the police?

The police officer was talking on his phone when he saw the moose.

5. What was the moose doing in front of the bakery?

The moose was smelling the bread.

F. WRITING

Write a news article about something you saw or read about. What were people doing when the event happened? Give your article a title, too.

Money Fell From the Sky

People were walking and others were driving along Main street when money started to fall from the sky. Cars stopped. people stopped, Everyone was looking up when someone shouted, "It's not really money!" I was catching one of the bills when I heard this person started to shout. I looked closely at the bill It wasn't money. It was an advertisement. The furniture store at the corner was having a sale. They used this for publicity. Two men were standing on the roof, and they were dropping advertisements onto the street.