Tenses Exercise

Fill in the correct word in the blanks and complete the story.

In a forest, there ……………… (live / lives / lived) a goblin named Cruel. One day, he ………………… (meet / met / meets) an old man wandering in the forest. Immediately, Cruel ……………… (leap / leaps / leapt) on to the old man’s shoulders and ………………. (order / orders / ordered) him. ‘Let’s go. Move fast.’ The frightened old man ………………… (obey / obeys / obeyed) the nasty goblin and ……………….. (walk / walks / walked) on. As they ………………. (move / moves / moved) on he ……………… (notice / notices / noticed) that the goblin’s feet were very tender. The old man ……………. (ask / asked / asks) Cruel, ‘Sir, how are your feet so soft and tender?’ Cruel ………….. (reply / replies / replied), ‘I have taken a vow that I will not touch the ground with my feet, till I wash them.’ They soon ……………….. (come / comes /came) to a pool. The goblin ………………. (instruct / instructs / instructed) the old man to wait for him while he ……………… (enter / enters / entered) the pool. The old man ………… (think / thinks / thought) to himself. ‘Now that the goblin has wet feet, he does not need me. Let me run for life.’

Solution

In a forest, there lived a goblin named Cruel. One day, he met an old man wandering in the forest. Immediately, Cruel leapt on to the old man’s shoulders and ordered him. ‘Let’s go. Move fast.’ The frightened old man obeyed the nasty goblin and walked on. As they moved on he noticed that the goblin’s feet were very tender. The old man asked Cruel, ‘Sir, how are your feet so soft and tender?’ Cruel replied, ‘I have taken a vow that I will not touch the ground with my feet, till I wash them.’ They soon came to a pool. The goblin instructed the old man to wait for him while he entered the pool. The old man thought to himself. ‘Now that the goblin has wet feet, he does not need me. Let me run for life.’