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Unit 6: Great achievers
Past simple

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  1. 1 Nice to meet you!
  2. 2 What to wear
  3. 3 Like this, like that
  4. 4 The daily grind
  5. 5 Christmas every day
  6. 6 Great achievers
  7. 7 The Titanic
  8. 8 Travel
  9. 9 The big wedding
  10. 10 Sunny's job hunt
  11. 11 The bucket list
  12. 12 Moving and migration
  13. 13 Welcome to BBC Broadcasting House
  14. 14 New Year, New Project
  15. 15 From Handel to Hendrix
  16. 16 What's the weather like?
  17. 17 The Digital Revolution
  18. 18 A detective story
  19. 19 A place to live
  20. 20 The Cult of Celebrity
  21. 21 Welcome to your new job
  22. 22 Beyond the planets
  23. 23 Great expectations!
  24. 24 Eco-tourism
  25. 25 Moving house
  26. 26 It must be love
  27. 27 Job hunting success... and failure
  28. 28 Speeding into the future
  29. 29 Lost arts
  30. 30 Tales of survival

Session 1

Welcome to Unit 6! You're going to meet lots of interesting and exciting people - and learn about the past simple tense. In Session 1, Emma does a pub quiz about some great achievers. Join her team and see if you know the answers. Then, listen to the after-quiz conversation and hear examples of the past simple tense in action.

 

Sessions in this unit

12345

Session 1 score

0 / 16

  • 0 / 6
    Activity 1
  • 0 / 10
    Activity 2
  • 0 / 0
    Activity 3
  1. Activity 1
  2. Activity 2
  3. Activity 3

Activity 2

How did you do?

Now the quiz is over, let's eavesdrop on another team discussing the quiz. Listen out for any past simple verbs they use.

Listen to the audio and complete the activity

Show transcript Hide transcript

Man
Yes, so what did you think of that quiz?

Man 2
It was quite easy.

Woman
Easy? I didn't like it - I found it hard – it was all about sport! Did you know that Vanessa Mae competed in the Sochi Winter Olympics?

Man 2
No, I didn’t. But I knew that Usain Bolt won the hundred metres in 2012.

Woman
I think everybody knows that one.

Man
Never mind, do you know what score we got?

Man 2
I'm not sure but I would be surprised if we won – look, that team finished first. They looked very confident during the questions.

(Everyone chats)

Man
Sshh, look we've got the scores now… look! We scored the highest so I think we got the top prize!

Man 2
No way! Brilliant. So what prize do we get?

Woman
A box of chocolates!

Man
Great – last time we didn't win anything.

Woman
Yeah, but it is quite a small box.

Man
One each, do you think?

Woman
I'll have all of them!

Man
Cheer up – it's the winning that counts! 

 

To do

Did you hear any past simple verbs? Listen again if you like, and do the activity. Read the transcript if you want extra help.

 

What did they say?

10 Questions

Choose the correct past simple words to complete the dialogue.

Congratulations you completed the Quiz
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
x / y

Next

Well done. In Session 2, we'll take a closer look at the past simple verbs we heard.

Now it's time for this week’s 6 Minute Vocabulary. Emma said the quiz was interesting… but she’d be surprised if her team won. Go to the next page to learn more about -ed and -ing adjectives with Finn and Catherine.

Session Grammar

View full grammar reference

Session Vocabulary

  • eavesdrop
    secretly listen to someone else’s private conversation

    during
    from the beginning to the end of a particular length of time or activity

    No way!
    (here) Wow! That’s amazing!

    Cheer up!
    this expression means: Don't be sad!

    counts
    (here) is important

View full vocabulary reference

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