Exercise 1

Put the verbs in brackets into the appropriate present tense.

1. "Why is he leaving?" "Because he is playing football at 6:30 this evening."
2. Dancers at the ballet school have been training for the performance since last November.
3. You don't really expect me to eat this stew! It smells awful!
4. I have been training to complete that jigsaw for over three months now!
5. "Why are you feeling Annie's forehead?" "I think she's got a temperature."
6. The place looks like a bombsite! What were you doing all day?
7. Come on John! You have known me since high school! You don't really believe I would do such a terrible thing.
8. The opposition party appears to be making ground in the opinion polls.
9. Randall kicks the ball into the net and it is a goal!
10. He studies most of the year, but now it's summer, he is working in a shop.
11. You are always leaving the bathroom tap running.

Exercise 2

Fill in the blanks with have been to, have been in or have gone to in their correct form.

1. Mrs Bates has gone Cologne. She won't be back for at least three weeks.
2. Nick has been in Wales for three years now, studying for his degree.
3. Why don't you ask Clare about the tropics? She has been to Thailand.
4. He has gone to visit his father. I'm afraid you've just missed him.

Exercise 3

Put the verbs in brackets into the Simple Present or Present Continuous.

Terry Poole (0) is an engineer who (1) works for an international aid organisation. Although he normally (2) works in Indonesia, at present he (3) is supervising a project in Rwanda which (4) involves the coordination of local people, aid workers and engineers like himself. Although he (5) enjoys the experience, he (6) doubts the project will be finished soon.

Exercise 4

Put the verbs in brackets into the Present Perfect or Present Perfect Continuous.

Stonehenge (0) has been the subject of archaeological debate for many years. No one (1) has yet explained satisfactorily why or how it was built, although teams of experts (2) have excavated the site for years and a team of American scientists (3) has recently started working in the area with sophisticated new equipment. Popular theories (4) has suggested that Stonehenge was built as a temple, but no one (5) has managed to work out how the stones were transported here. A group of students from Bangor University (6) have been discussing the possibility of re-enacting the journey from Wales, where such stones are to be found, overland to Stonehenge and sponsors (7) has come forward with offers of financial assistance. The British Museum (8) has also announced a forthcoming exhibition of artefacts from the Stonehenge period which they (9) have been gathering over the last five years from all over Northern Europe.