Answer:
Let's talk about Sarah and Tom Miller, two people who live in a small town in the countryside together with their parents. Mr. Miller works at a bank and Mrs. Miller is a housewife. She not only looks after the house, but she also makes sure that the huge garden is is always nice and tidy. At the moment, Sarah and Tom are at school, Mr. Miller is having a meeting, and Mrs. Miller and her neighbour, Mrs. Evasson, are sitting in the garden, drinking some coffee. Every Wednesday, Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Evasson meet, but one week ago Mrs. Evasson didn't visit. She wasn't feeling well and went to the doctor's.
In the afternoon, Tom usually plays football with his best friend Peter, but today they are riding their bikes because Peter wants to try out his new one. Two days ago it was Peter's birthday and he had a party with all his friends. He got a new racing bike from his parents, some books and computer games and lots of sweets. Tom was at Peter's birthday party too and he and the other guests had a lot of fun. While his guests were watching, Peter blew out the candles of his birthday cake and made a wish. All his friends wanted to know what he wished for, but Peter didn't tell anybody.
While Tom was at Peter's birthday, his sister Sarah stayed at home. She read all afternoon and finally finished the book at 7:00pm. Sarah is a real bookworm and she often reads two books a month. At the moment she is reading a book called "Paula's Dream" which tells the story of a girl called Paula who wants to become a nurse.
Explanation:
The text above uses four verb tenses: simple present, present continuous, simple past, and past continuous. We must pay attention to the context to know when to use each verb tense. The simple present is usually employed when describing habits, routines, or activities that are common. The present continuous is used to express actions that are happening at the moment of speaking. The simple past refers to an action that is already over and that took place at a specific time in the past. Finally, the past continuous refers to actions that started and finished in the past, but that lasted for a while.
