Unit 25: Modals in the past
Who stole Dan's cake?
Select a unit
- 1 Go beyond intermediate with our new video course
- 2 Reported speech in 90 seconds!
- 3 If or whether?
- 4 5 ways to use 'would'
- 5 Let and allow
- 6 Passive voice
- 7 Unless
- 8 Mixed conditionals
- 9 The zero article - in 90 seconds
- 10 The indefinite article - in 90 seconds
- 11 The. That's right - the! Learn all about it in 90 seconds
- 12 The continuous passive
- 13 Future perfect
- 14 Need + verb-ing
- 15 Have something done
- 16 Wish
- 17 Word stress
- 18 Different ways of saying 'if'
- 19 Passive reporting structures
- 20 The subjunctive
- 21 When and if
- 22 Inversion
- 23 Phrasal verbs
- 24 The future
- 25 Modals in the past
- 26 Narrative tenses
- 27 Phrasal verb myths
- 28 Conditionals review
- 29 Used to - review
- 30 Linking words of contrast
Session 3
Get up-to-date with the latest news and understand it too with Lingohack. Listen to and watch authentic BBC World News bulletins and learn key words and phrases that help you make sense of the news.
Activity 1
Lingohack
Today's Headlines:
More EU money for Greece
Russian athletes' doping confirmed
Friendly robots at Paris event
Watch the video and complete the activity

Eurozone finance ministers have agreed to unlock another $11.5bn worth of bailout funds to Greece. After marathon talks that ended in the early hours of this morning in Brussels it was also agreed to phase in debt relief in two years' time – a key demand of the Greek government and the International Monetary Fund. The 19 ministers said the deal had been made possible by Greece's continued economic reforms.
Fourteen Russian athletes have tested positive, now samples taken at the Beijing Olympics have been re-analysed. In just three weeks a decision is due on Russia's participation in the Rio games. Athletes from 11 other countries have also now returned 'positives'. The IOC has said up to 31 athletes could be banned from Rio.
Now, we've tended to see robots as a threat, especially to jobs, as they become more and more capable, but at Europe's biggest robotics event all the talk is about something called 'a cobot'. The idea is that collaborative robots will work with humans rather than replace them.
To do
Try these questions to test your ability to use the words from this Lingohack video.
Use the words from Lingohack
3 Questions
Use one of the words or phrases from this Lingohack to complete the sentences. You may have to change the form of the word.
Help
Activity
Use one of the words or phrases from this Lingohack to complete the sentences. You may have to change the form of the word.
Hint
What form of the word do you need?Question 1 of 3
Help
Activity
Use one of the words or phrases from this Lingohack to complete the sentences. You may have to change the form of the word.
Hint
How many words?Question 2 of 3
Help
Activity
Use one of the words or phrases from this Lingohack to complete the sentences. You may have to change the form of the word.
Hint
Small parts of something to be studied by scientists.Question 3 of 3
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Next
Want to learn more words from BBC news reports? Check out our other Lingohack videos.
End of Session 3
Are there mistakes you make in your English all the time that you wish you could stop saying? Then join us in Session 4 for our series called... Stop saying...!
Session Vocabulary
bailout funds
money offered by governments to save a failing economy or businesssamples
small parts of something to be studied by scientistscollaborative
involving people working together