Olly English
Olly is preparing your space...
B1 · ReadingLoading page content...
Olly is preparing your space...
Loading exercise...
Keep practising with related reading and grammar units at your level.
All B1 questions for “Gardner Museum Heist: Past Continuous & Simple – B1 Practice”, each with the correct answer and a short explanation. Try the interactive exercises above, then check your answers here.
1. I _______ when the light went out.
Answer: was reading
Use past continuous for the background action that was happening.
2. They _______ to the radio when they heard the news.
Answer: were listening
'They' takes 'were' in the past continuous.
3. While she _______, she found a hundred-dollar bill.
Answer: was running
Use 'while' followed by the past continuous.
4. What _______ when I called you yesterday?
Answer: were you doing
In questions, the auxiliary 'were' comes before the subject.
5. I was walking home when I _______ a famous actor.
Answer: saw
'Saw' is the short action that interrupts the walk.
6. The phone rang while we _______ dinner.
Answer: were having
'Have dinner' is a long action in this context.
7. He _______ his leg while he was playing football.
Answer: broke
The injury is a sudden, finished event.
8. I _______ my keys as I was leaving the house.
Answer: dropped
Dropping the keys is the main event interrupting the background.
1. _____ their night shift, the men rang the bell at the side entrance. Rick _____ that their uniforms looked strange. He _____ their faces when they ordered him to open the door. Once inside, the thieves quickly tied up the guards. While one thief _____ a Rembrandt out of its frame, the other _____ to look for more treasures. They moved through the galleries. They _____ to stay quiet, but they accidentally _____ a silent alarm. The thieves escaped with 13 paintings. The FBI believes that the suspects _____ for the right opportunity for years. While the people of Boston _____ St. Patrick's Day, the museum was losing its most valuable art. Today, the empty frames still hang on the walls.
Answer: were working, noticed, was studying, was cutting, stopped, were trying, tripped, were waiting, were celebrating
1. Which option does not belong?
Answer: I watched TV when he was arriving.
We usually use Past Continuous for the background ('watching TV') and Past Simple for the interruption ('arrived').
2. Which option does not belong?
Answer: What was you doing at 8 PM?
'You' always takes 'were', even in the past.
3. Which option does not belong?
1. _____
Answer: He called while I was having a meeting.
Use 'while' + past continuous for the background action.
2. _____
Answer: I met John while I was walking.
'While' replaces 'During' when followed by a verb form.
3. _____
Answer: They were eating when the lights went out.
'When' introduces the interrupting action.
4. _____
Answer: He arrived while we were having dinner.
Use 'while' with the continuous form to show the background.
5. _____
Answer: As I was driving, I heard a loud noise.
'As' is similar to 'While' and is followed by the continuous tense.
6. _____
Answer: The cat jumped on the table while we were eating lunch.
1. Write a sentence using 'while'.
2. Write a sentence using 'when'.
3. Write a sentence using 'was'.
4. Write a sentence using 'were'.
5. Write a sentence using 'suddenly'.
6. Write a sentence using 'thinking'.
7. Write a sentence using 'working'.
8. Write a sentence using 'as'.
9. Write a sentence using 'happening'.
10. Write a sentence using 'saw'.
1. Write your story here (60-80 words):
Answer: He was seeing a ghost last night.
'See' is a stative verb and is rarely used in the continuous form.
4. Which option does not belong?
Answer: While I had a bath, the phone rang.
'While' is almost always followed by the Past Continuous ('was having').
5. Which option does not belong?
Answer: They played when it was starting to rain.
The rain 'started' (Past Simple) while they 'were playing' (Past Continuous).
6. Which option does not belong?
Answer: I was thought about you.
The past continuous is 'was/were' + verb-ing ('thinking').
Transform the noun 'lunch' into the background action 'were eating lunch'.