English Course · Level 3 (B1) · Week 2 of 12

In the News

Grammar: Narrative tenses · past simple, past continuous and past perfect

This week's plan

Day	Learn	Listen / Watch	Practise
Day 1	Words: Crimes · Sentences 1–2	BBC 6 Minute Grammar: “Narrative tenses” (podcast)	Exercise 1
Day 2	Words: Police and the law · Sentences 3–4	BBC 6 Minute English: “Rage bait: How online anger makes money” (podcast)	Exercise 2
Day 3	Words: The news · Sentences 5–6	BBC 6 Minute Grammar: “The past perfect” (podcast) + British Council: “Past perfect” (grammar)	Exercise 3
Day 4	Words: Storytelling verbs · Sentences 7–8	British Council: “How to spot fake news” (reading)	Exercise 4
Day 5	Words: Story linkers · Sentences 9–10	BBC 6 Minute English: “The criminal trade in ancient objects” (podcast)	Write & Speak
Day 6	Review all 30 words + 10 sentences	BBC 6 Minute English: “The world of Agatha Christie” (podcast)	Redo mistakes
Day 7	Free day ☺	BBC 6 Minute English: “Mystery flying objects” (podcast)	Tick your tracker

30 minutes a day: review, learn, listen, practise, speak. Day 7 is a free day. Tap a resource to find it.

30 words to learn

Set 1 · Crimes

theftسرقة
burglarلص منازل / حرامي
pickpocketنشّال
robberyسطو / سرقة بالإكراه
steal – stole – stolenيسرق
break intoيقتحم / يكسر ويدخل

Set 2 · Police and the law

witnessشاهد
arrestيقبض على
suspectمشتبه به
report a crimeيبلّغ عن جريمة
fineغرامة
courtمحكمة

Set 3 · The news

headlineعنوان رئيسي / مانشيت
articleمقال
journalistصحفي
according toوفقًا لـ / حسب
fake newsأخبار كاذبة / مضروبة
go viralينتشر بسرعة / يبقى تريند

Set 4 · Storytelling verbs

happenيحدث
noticeيلاحظ
realiseيدرك / ياخد باله
manage toينجح في / يتمكّن من
run awayيهرب
chaseيطارد

Set 5 · Story linkers

suddenlyفجأة
whileبينما
as soon asبمجرد أن
by the timeبحلول الوقت الذي
luckilyلحسن الحظ
in the endفي النهاية

10 sentences to memorise

1While I was waiting for the bus, someone stole my phone.بينما كنت أنتظر الحافلة، سرق أحدهم هاتفي.
2When I got home, I realised I had lost my wallet.عندما وصلت إلى البيت، أدركت أنني كنت قد فقدت محفظتي.
3By the time the police arrived, the burglars had run away.بحلول وقت وصول الشرطة، كان اللصوص قد هربوا.
4The thief had broken into three flats before they arrested him.كان اللص قد اقتحم ثلاث شقق قبل أن يقبضوا عليه.
5A witness saw the suspect leaving the building.رأى أحد الشهود المشتبه به وهو يغادر المبنى.
6Luckily, nobody was hurt.لحسن الحظ، لم يُصَب أحد.
7The video went viral after a journalist shared it.انتشر الفيديو بسرعة بعد أن نشره أحد الصحفيين.
8I didn't recognise him because he had grown a beard.لم أتعرّف عليه لأنه كان قد أطلق لحيته.
9It was raining and people were running to the station.كانت السماء تمطر، وكان الناس يركضون إلى المحطة.
10According to the article, the police are still looking for the suspect.وفقًا للمقال، ما زالت الشرطة تبحث عن المشتبه به.

Grammar: Narrative tenses · past simple, past continuous and past perfect

To tell a story we use three tenses:

past simple = the main events (he ran away) · past continuous = the background (it was raining) · past perfect (had + past participle) = something that happened BEFORE another past event (the train had left).

«كان قد + فعل» في العربية = had + التصريف الثالث في الإنجليزية: كان القطار قد غادر = The train had left. أكثر خطأين: استخدام الماضي البسيط لكل شيء (✗ When I arrived, the film already started)، أو استخدام had مع التصريف الثاني (✗ I had went). استخدم الماضي التام فقط عندما ترجع بالقصة إلى حدث أقدم.

Tense	Form	Use	Example
Past simple	verb + -ed / irregular	main events, one after another	He saw the police and ran away.
Past continuous	was / were + -ing	background, an action in progress	I was walking home when it started to rain.
Past perfect	had + past participle	an earlier past action	When I got there, the shop had closed.

✗ When I arrived, the film already started. ✓ When I arrived, the film had already started.

When the police arrived, the thieves ran away. (= after the police came) · When the police arrived, the thieves had run away. (= before the police came)

Negative: hadn't + past participle (I hadn't eaten). Question: Had you met her before?

Exercises

Exercise 1 · Choose the correct answer.

1) I (walked / was walking) home when I saw the accident.
2) When we arrived, the match (already started / had already started).
3) She (was reading / had read) the news when the lights went out.
4) They (didn't / hadn't) eaten anything all day, so they were very hungry.
5) As soon as he saw the police, he (ran / was running) away.
6) By the time I noticed, someone (stole / had stolen) my wallet.

Show the answers

1) was walking 2) had already started 3) was reading 4) hadn't 5) ran 6) had stolen

Exercise 2 · Complete with the past perfect.

1) By the time I got to the bank, it ___ (close).
2) She was upset because she ___ (fail) her exam.
3) We ___ never ___ (see) snow before we went to Europe.
4) When we got home, we saw that the burglar ___ (break) the window to get in.
5) I ___ (not finish) my work when my manager called.
6) ___ you ___ (meet) her before the party?

Show the answers

1) had closed 2) had failed 3) had … seen 4) had broken 5) hadn't finished 6) Had … met

Exercise 3 · Join the sentences with the word in brackets.

1) I was cooking. The phone rang. (while)
2) He finished his homework. Then he went out. (after)
3) We got to the station. The train left before that. (by the time)
4) She saw the police. She ran away immediately. (as soon as)
5) I was walking in the street. I met an old friend. (when)

Show the answers

1) While I was cooking, the phone rang. 2) After he had finished his homework, he went out. / After he finished his homework, he went out. / He went out after he had finished his homework. 3) By the time we got to the station, the train had left. 4) As soon as she saw the police, she ran away. 5) I was walking in the street when I met an old friend. / When I was walking in the street, I met an old friend. / While I was walking in the street, I met an old friend.

Exercise 4 · Translate into English.

1) بينما كنت أقود السيارة، رأيت حادثًا.
2) عندما وصلنا، كان الفيلم قد بدأ.
3) قبضت الشرطة على اللص أمس.
4) لم أكن قد زرت الأقصر من قبل.

Show the answers

1) While I was driving (the car), I saw an accident. / I saw an accident while I was driving. 2) When we arrived, the film had (already) started. / The film had (already) started when we arrived. 3) The police arrested the thief yesterday. / The police caught the thief yesterday. 4) I had never visited Luxor before. / I hadn't visited Luxor before. / I had never been to Luxor before.

Do each exercise in pencil first, then open the answers to check.

Write & Speak

Write & Speak — Write a short news story (120–150 words) about something surprising that happened — real or imagined. Use the past continuous for the background, the past simple for the main events and the past perfect for earlier events. Then tell the story aloud like a news reporter.

Example: Last Thursday evening, Ahmed Samir, a 32-year-old engineer from Nasr City, had a very strange experience. He was sitting in a café in Downtown Cairo and chatting with a friend when a young man grabbed his phone from the table and ran away. Ahmed chased him down the street, but the thief had already disappeared into the crowd. Luckily, a woman at the next table had filmed everything on her phone. She shared the video online and it went viral in a few hours. Thousands of people commented, and some of them recognised the thief. The next morning, the police arrested a 19-year-old suspect near Ramses Station. He had stolen four other phones in the same week. In the end, Ahmed got his phone back. “I had almost given up,” he said, “but social media helped me.”