Exercise 1 | Know the Question
Exercise 2 | True or False?
Well, yes actually, I used to do plenty of housework when I was a child and adolescent. My parents were quite strict in that on Saturday mornings the whole family would help out cleaning the house, including myself, and my older brother and sister. I would always do the sweeping while my brother and sister would mop the kitchen floor and hoover the rooms which had carpets in the house.
When I got older, I was always ironing and doing the washing as well, usually on a Sunday night, as school uniforms had to be ready for Monday morning. I’m not sure how these became my jobs but they did, even though I didn’t really enjoy them. I often helped my parents cooking as well, which was great in hindsight, as I learned lots of useful cooking skills. Although I didn’t really like housework when I was younger, I think it was useful for my later life and it made me a more responsible person.
Exercise 3 | Study the Vocabulary
When I got older, I was always ironing and doing the washing as well, usually on a Sunday night, as school uniforms had to be ready for Monday morning. I’m not sure how these became my jobs but they did, even though I didn’t really enjoy them. I often helped my parents cooking as well, which was great in hindsight, as I learned lots of useful cooking skills. Although I didn’t really like housework when I was younger, I think it was useful for my later life and it made me a more responsible person.
1. | (noun) an academic synonym for teenager |
2. | (adjective) when a person or people demand that you follow their rules |
3. | (adjective) all the people or things in a group |
4. | (verb) to clean with a vacuum cleaner |
5. | (noun) understanding of a situation after it has finished |
Exercise 4 | Study the Grammar
A range of grammatical structures can be used to talk about past habits and routines. | |
1. | We can use , such as, always, often, sometimes, rarely, and never, with a tense verb. |
For example: I often helped my parents. | |
2. | We can use with an adverb of frequency and a tense verb. |
For example: I would always do the sweeping. | |
3. | We can use with a present tense verb. |
For example: I used to do plenty of housework. | |
4. | We can use ‘always’ with the . |
For example: I was always ironing and doing the washing. | |
Exercise 5 | Test your Grammar
Examiner: | Did you do used to take lots of photographs? |
Candidate: | Yes, I did, lots in fact. I 1) always taking photographs when I was on holiday. I 2) to love taking photos of places that I went to with my family. I 3) take photos of any places we visited, even if they were fairly boring. My parents 4) get annoyed because I always needed more film for my cameras. That was before digital photography you see and my passion for taking photographs was quite costly! That didn’t put me off though, I was 5) taking photographs – it’s funny really because now me and my family like to look at these pictures and remember those holidays long ago. |