UNIT 3

Scanning,
Past tenses, Telling Past Activities & Using Wh-question
OBJECTIVES:
1. To improve the skill of reading quickly for Specific Information
2 To learn more about Past Tenses
3. To tell Past Activities
4. To review Wh-questions

A. Reading: SCANNING
DEFINITION: Scanning is reading quickly to get specific information, i.e. the information you have in your
mind and you want to get from the text you are reading.

SCANNING TECHNIQUES: When you are scanning, move your eyes quickly over the passage until you find
the specific pieces of information you need. It is not necessary to read the whole passage carefully. Pay
special attention to the words capitalized or written in a special way: bolded, italicized, underlined, etc.

Sample Paragraph
Scan the article as quickly as you can and tick the information that is mentioned (V). Do not read it
carefully word by word.

With fast food chains becoming more popular and people’s attempts to make meals
more quickly and cheaply, livestock is now raised differently than it was in days gone by.
Many domestic animals will never breathe fresh air outside nor eat off the land. Chickens
that live indoors their entire lives are fed grains which include antibiotics to help them grow
5 faster until they are deemed large enough to butcher. Cattle farms are not what they used to
be either. Cows usually start life in fields before they are sold to the meat production
industry. Huge factory-like structures can house thousands of these large animals, but this
can have huge implications for food safety because such cattle live in their own manure. The
cattle are given growth hormones in their ears to help them grow faster. Once they are
10 sufficiently fattened up, they are sent to slaughterhouses, where they are processed into
cuts of meat and what’s left is sent to the grinder. After that, the processed meat is made
into burger patties and shipped to fast food restaurants for everyone to enjoy.

1. The first fast food restaurant

2. Animals kept for profit
3. A domestic fowl
4. Feeding methods
5. A building to house animals
6. A hygiene issue
7. A health problem related to the ears
8. A machine that minces meat

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B. Structure

I. PAST TENSES
The past tenses are of three types: Simple Past, Past Continuous, and Past Perfect.

1. Simple Past
FORMS: Subject Verb 2 (object + adverb)

Examples: I/You/We/He/etc. liked (didn’t like) studying in the library.

Did I/you/we/he/etc. like growing flowers?

Markers: ago, yesterday, last …., in/on/at + definite time.

Usage: To talk about something that happened once in the past, and this tense emphasizes that the action
is finished.

2. Past Continuous
FORMS: Subject be Verb-ing (object + adverb)
Examples: I was (not) writing a paper
You/We/They were (not) studying in the library.
He/She/It was (not) sleeping on the sofa.

Was I/He/She/It doing something wrong?

Were you/we/they working really hard?

Markers: when/while + past sentence.

Usage: to show that an ongoing past action was happening at a specific moment of interruption, or that
two ongoing actions were happening at the same time.

3. Past Perfect
FORMS: Subject had Verb 3 (object + adverb)
Examples: I/You/We/They had (not) learned English for six years.
He/She/It had (not) slept since 8 p.m.
Had I/you/we/he/etc. submitted the assignment?

Markers: when, after, before.

Usage: to talk about something that happened before another action in the past, which is usually
expressed by the past simple

Exercise
Write the PAST VERBS of the words in the brackets below. Are they regular or irregular verbs?

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1. My mother …… (buy) some meat in the market yesterday.
2. Did you …… (come) to the meeting last night?
3. In the past, elementary schools did not …… (teach) English.
4. My father …… (teach) me how to ride a bike when I was 5 years.
5. She …… (watch) a horror movie last night.
6. I …… (invite) him to my party, but he …… (decide) not to come.
7. Dann …… (burn) his hand while he …… (cook) dinner.
8. I …… (study) English when the phone …… (ring).
9. When Helen …… (arrive), we …… (discuss) our homework.
10. I …… (fall) down the stairs when I …… (be) in the library.

C. SPEAKING
I. Wh-Questions
Forms:
I. Asking the subject:

a. Who came here yesterday? John/I did

b. What made the noise? The washing machine

II. Asking other than subject:

a. Whom did you meet last week? My friend

b. What did you make? A cake
c. Why did he go to the store? To buy some medicine
d. Where were you born? In Bogor
e. When will you leave? Next week
f. Whose book is this? Mine/John’s
g. Which book are you reading? English
h. How do you go to school? By bus
i. How much money do you need? A lot
J. How many people are there in the hall? Twenty people

Practice having an interview. Ask your partner the following questions.

1. What’s your name?

2. Where do you live?
3. What are you?
4. How long have you been here?
5. Where do you live now?
6. When did you come to Bogor?
7. What’s your telephone number?
8. Whom do you live here with?
9. How many brothers/sisters do you have?
10. Ask other questions.

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II. TELLING PAST ACTIVITIES OR EXPERIENCE

When you are telling any past activities, you will put your sentences in the past tenses, i.e. past simple,
past continuous, and past perfect. These tenses tell the listeners that the actions or conditions or
activities happened sometime in the past.

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 UNIT 3: EXERCISES
Scanning,
Past Tenses, Telling Past Activities & Using Wh-Questions

A. Reading: SCANNING
Exercise 1
Read the following text and answer the questions that follow. (3 ponts)

Coral is a limestone formation formed in the sea by millions of tiny animals. Coral formations
may look like large domes, small irregular crusts, or tiny organ pipes. The living coral-forming
animals become the color of the coral: beautiful shades of tan, orange, yellow, purple, and green.
Most coral-forming animals feed at night on plankton and other small organisms. Poison cells
5 released from their tentacles paralyze these small creatures before they are captured. In addition,
hair-like structures around their mouths assist in gathering nutrients.
When these animals die, they leave limestone “skeletons” that form the foundations of
barriers and ridges in the sea called coral reefs. The reefs are mostly found in warm, shallow
tropical seas because they cannot live in water colder than 18 C coral reefs throughout the South
10 Pacific, in the Caribbean Sea, in the East Indies and in the Indian Ocean. They also form around
Madagascar, along the Florida coast, and along the tropical coast of Brazil.
There are three kinds of coral reefs: (1) fringing reefs; (2) barrier reefs; and (3) atolls.
Fringing reefs extend from the shore into the sea. Barrier reefs follow the shoreline and form a
barrier between the water near the shore and the open sea. An atoll is a ring-shaped coral island
15 in the open sea.
Choose the best answer.
1. Where in the passage does the author describe how coral-producing animals find food?
A. Line 1 B. Lines 3-4 C. Lines 4 D. Lines 5-6
2. Where in the passage does the author explain why and where coral reefs are formed?
A. Lines 2-3 B. Lines 7-8 C. Lines 9-11 D. Lines 12-13
3. Where in the passage does the author describe the different kinds of reefs?
A. Lines 8 B. Lines 9 C. Line 12 D. Lines 15

Exercise 2
Read the passage and answer the questions that follow. (3 points)

With fast food chains becoming more popular and people’s attempts to make meals
more quickly and cheaply, livestock is now raised differently than it was in days gone by.
Many domestic animals will never breathe fresh air outside nor eat off the land. Chickens
that live indoors their entire lives are fed grains which include antibiotics to help them grow
5 faster until they are deemed large enough to butcher. Cattle farms are not what they used to
be either. Cows usually start life in fields before they are sold to the meat production
industry. Huge factory-like structures can house thousands of these large animals, but this
can have huge implications for food safety because such cattle live in their own manure. The
cattle are given growth hormones in their ears to help them grow faster. Once they are
10 sufficiently fattened up, they are sent to slaughterhouses, where they are processed into

5
 cuts of meat and what’s left is sent to the grinder. After that, the processed meat is made
into burger patties and shipped to fast food restaurants for everyone to enjoy.

Choose the correct answers.

1. According to the writer, animals are not raised as they were in the past __________.
A. because they are now domesticated
B. due to the demands of certain restaurants
C. as a result of people’s growing disapproval of fast food outlets
D. because people can cook more quickly these days
2. To make them ready for slaughtering, some domestic fowl are _________.
A. given enhanced foods C. provided with fresh air
B. tested for bacterial infections D deprived of medication they need
3. The writer is concerned about the buildings cattle are kept in because they _________.
A. are too spacious C. do not have good safety measures for workers
B. make meat production faster D. could cause hygiene issues

Exercise 3
Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow. (6 points)

We now have the ability to add specific qualities to our food through science. However,
the use of genetically-modified foods has upset the apple cart. Many people are reluctant to
alter the natural properties of our food, but that’s just what humans have been doing since
time immemorial. Our ability to cook the meat of the animals we hunted allowed us to grow
5 stronger and helped our brains to develop. Genetically-modified foods or crops can enhance
taste and quality, increase nutrients or improve a crop’s resistance to pests or disease. GM
foods can even be used to help conserve natural resources, for example by requiring less
water or energy to grow. The question is, why are so many people against the use of GM
technology in food?
10 GM foods hold great promise in providing solutions to help feed the growing
population of the world, but there are also potential risks. What effects will GM
technologies have on the environment, biodiversity and the way our eco-systems work? If
we grow crops that are immune to infestations, what will happen to the insects that can no
longer feed on them? There are very grave concerns about the impact this could have on
15 other species further up the food chain. When GM crops are grown in a field, can farmers
guarantee that the genes from the modified organisms won’t get mixed with natural plants
in neighbouring fields? The more GM crop production expands, the more urgent becomes
the need to find answers to these questions.

Read the text above again and decide if these ideas are stated (S) or not stated (N).
1. People have always changed some attributes of food.
2. Using GM technology on crops will make insects immune to pesticides.
3. Using GM ingredients can make food have better flavour.
4. GM crops can potentially combine with unaltered crops.
5. Altering the genes of crops can affect various organisms in the same ecosystem.
6. Mankind’s evolutionary progress was enhanced by eating raw meat.

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Exercise 4
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. (7 points)

Cabbage is a common vegetable native to England and northwestern France but now grown
in many parts of Europe, Asia, and American continents. There are three kinds of cabbage, and
all have the common characteristics of leaves grown very close together, forming a hard, round
head. The three types are white, savoy, and red. While the white and red cabbages have
5 prominent veins in their leaves, the savoy has wrinkled and blistered leaves.
Cabbage seeds are quite small. Farmers usually sow the seed in rows that are about 36
inches apart. After young plants have sprouted, the rows are thinned to allow a space of 18 to
24 inches apart between plants.
Cabbage is biennial. Farmers usually grow it one year, store it during the winter, and replant
10 it in the spring to produce seed. By controlling the temperature to which the plant is subjected
in this way, farmers can produce either heads or seeds.

Choose the best answer.

1. Where was cabbage originally found?

A. All over the world C. In Europe, the Americas, and Asia
B. In France and England D. In Asia

2. What is biennial?
A. Something that is able to fertilize seeds without another plant.
B. A member of the cabbage family.
C. Something that grows over a two-year period, alternating between producing plants
and seeds.
D. Something that cannot survive cold temperatures

3. What is the main difference given in the passage between the types of cabbage mentioned?
A. Taste B. Method of cultivation C. Appearance D. Ability to withstand cold

4. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of cabbage?

A. Loose leaves and soft heads C. Biennial growing season
B. Being grown successfully in many parts of the world D. Small seeds

5. How are the young plants cultivated?

A. A foot and a half to two feet apart, in rows that are three feet from the adjacent rows.
B. In rows that are 10 to 24 inches from nearby rows.
C. In three-foot rows, very close together.
D. No closer than 36 inches from the next plant

6. The word “their” in line 5 refers to ___________.

A. Red cabbages B. white cabbage C. white and red cabbages D. savoy cabbage

7. The part of speech of the “blistered” in line 5 is an/a _________.

A. Noun B. verb C. adverb D. adjective

Exercise 5
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. (6 points)

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 Camphor is a very useful chemical. It is generally used for making motion picture films,
celluloid, and medicines. The camphor tree grows mainly in Japan, China, and Formosa, but
some places in the United States also are home to the camphor. The camphor tree grows tall
and has white flowers and green leaves.
5 The chemical is removed from the branches by steaming. It is almost transparent. The
chemical so obtained is then drained and pressed to remove oil and water. The chemical itself
remains in the form of whitish crystals, which are then treated until they are in liquid form.
Although it has medicinal qualities, it can be extremely poisonous if taken in large doses.

Choose the best answer.

1. The topic of the passage above is ___________.

A. the usefulness of camphor C. the origin of camphor
B. the danger of camphor D. the characteristics of camphor

2. How does the author describe the chemical camphor?

A. Nearly clear in color C. Always in crystal form
B. Eighty percent oil and twenty percent water D. Always in liquid form

3. All of the following are true EXCEPT ___________.

A. camphor can probably be dangerous
B. fewer camphor trees exist in the United States than in other countries
C. camphor is used in medicine
D. camphor is removed from the tree as a liquid

4. The chemical is removed by ___________.

A. boiling the leaves C. baking the branches in a kiln
B. applying hot, moist air to the branches D. placing the branches in a cold container

5. According to the passage, what is camphor commonly used for besides medicine?
A. Film for snapshot cameras C. Fertilizer
B. Poison D. Film for movies

6. Where in the passage is it implied that camphor can be a health hazard if taken in large
quantities?
A. Lines 1—2 B. Lines 5—6 C. Line 7 D. Line 8

B. Structure PAST TENSES (Past Tense, Past Continuous, & Past Perfect)
Exercise 1
Choose the best answer. (15 points)
1. John ___________ a letter from his headmaster yesterday.
A. receive B. has received C. received D. will receive
2. When I came home, my roommate ____________television.
A. watching B. is watching C. has watched D. was watching
3. “So you have finished typing your assignment! When did you do it?”

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 “When you ____________ the meeting.”
A. were attending B. are attending C. have attended D. attend
4. “Last semester I didn’t have to pay my tuition fee.”
“That’s great. I heard you ______________ scholarship from the university.
A. receive B. had received C. receiving D. will receive
5. “I was the first to submit my paper yesterday.”
“You are wrong. I ____________ mine before you did.”
A. have submitted B. submit C. had submitted D. submits
6. ____________ you go to Kate's house last night?
A. Is B. Are C. Does D. Did
7. Valerie wasn't hungry, so she _____________ anything.
A. hasn’t eaten B. ate C. doesn’t eat D. didn’t eat
8. The students ______________ their documents before they applied for the scholarship.
A. had prepared B. have prepared C. are preparing D. will prepare
9. It ____________ almost every day last rainy season.
A. rained B. rains C. is raining D. has rained
10. The engine _____________ smoothly when it suddenly stopped.
A. is running B. was running C. runs D. has run
11. “When did you take English II?”
“I took it last semester after I ____________ English I.
A. have completed B. had completed C. complete D. was completing
12. I saw my brother and my mother when I was waiting for the bus, but they ____________ me.
A. don’t see B. haven’t seen C. didn’t see D. weren’t seeing
13. Lily filled in the application form and ___________ it to the receptionist.
A. will give B. gave C. was giving D. gives
14. We were held up in a traffic jam so the concert ____________. by the time we got there.
A. begins B. has begun C. was beginning D. had begun
15. After he ____________. his clothes, he hung them outside to dry.
A. washes B. was washing C. had washed D. is washing

Exercise 2
Choose the best answer. (11 points)

1. …………….. you finished your assignment?

A. Do B. Did C. Have D. Will
2. Chemical energy sources ________ the most copiously available sources in the world.
A. are B. is C. has been D. was
3. A new experiment _______________ at the laboratory last week.
A. was conducted B. is conducted C. will be conducted D. conducted
4. The soil ______________ before we planted the vegetable seeds.
A. had cleared B. has been cleared C. had been cleared D. was clearing

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5. Sally: __________ taught you English?
Mary: Mr. G.
A. Who B. Who does C. Who is D. Whom does

6. Smith: “………………….. money do you receive from your parents every month?”
Sue: “Rp 1,000,000.
A. How B. How much C. How many D. How long
7. I ____ a new dictionary in the new bookstore yesterday.
A. buy B. am buying C. bought D. have bought
8. Chewing gum developed when an inventive person ___________ to develop something else in 1870.
A. is trying B. tries C. was trying D. has tried
9. When I called him last night, Aldrin ______________ .
A. was studying B. is studying C. has studied D. was studied
10. Mr. Omar_________________ in this university before he moved to Singapore.
A. has taught B. had taught C. is teaching D. will teach

11. ________ Valerie done her homework when Ayesha arrived home?
A. Did B. Had C. Was D. Has

Exercise 3
Complete the conversation with was or were. (8 points)

A: So how 1______ your stay at the Royal Hotel?

B: Well, the people 2 _______ very nice, and the facilities 3______ very good. I really liked their business
centre. And the swimming pool 4_______ great, too. So I can’t complain. But …
A: 5 _______ there a problem?
B: Yes, there 6 ______. I couldn’t use the gym!
A: Really? Why not?
B: Because of the strange opening hours. It 7 ________ open from ten to four.
A: I can’t believe it! That’s when you 8 ________at work.
B: Yes, I had a nine to five working day. So … goodbye fitness!

Exercise 4
Fill in the blanks with the correct simple past, past continuous, or past perfect form of the verb in
parentheses.

Alexander Flemming, a Scottish research bacteriologist, 1. (study) _______________ the deadly

staphylococcus when he 2. (make) ____________ his famous discovery in 1928. For examination
purposes, Flemming 3. (remove) ____________ the cover of the bacteria culture with which he 4. (work)
____________. A mold 5. (form) ______________ on the exposed culture. Flemming 6. (notice)
_______________ that in the area surrounding the mold, the staphylococcus 7. (disappear)
________________. He 8. (keep) ___________ a strain of the mold alive and 9. (begin) ___________
testing it on laboratory animals. In 1929, he 10. (publish) _____________ his medical paper in which he
11. (prove) _____________ that a simple soil mold 12. (be) ______ a powerful microbe killer that 13. (not,
injure) ______________ human tissue. For years, chemists 14. (be) ________ unable to extract enough

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pure concentrated penicillin to use in medicine. Then in 1938, a team of Oxford scientist 15. (remember)
_____________ the research paper nine years later. They ultimately 16. (succeed) _____________ in
developing a method for mass-producing penicillin.

C. SPEAKING
1. Asking for Information Using Wh-Questions
Exercise 1
A. Read the following dialogue and act it out. Work with your partner and make your own dialogue.

1. A: What is your name?

B: My name is Robby.
2. A: How do you spell your name?
B: R-O-B-B-Y.
A: Where are you from?
B: I’m from Jakarta.
3. A: Where do you live?
B: I live at Citra Garden.
4. A: How long have you lived here?
B: (a) I’ve lived here for two years.
(b) My whole life.
5. A: Do you live alone?
B: No, I don’t. I live with my family
6. A: What’s your job?
B: I am a secretary.
B: How about you?
A: I am a teacher
7. A: Where do you work?
B: I work at E plus
8. A: What’s your phone number?
B: It’s 541 2519
9. A: Where were you born?
B: I was born in Palembang. I grew up and lived there (for) 20 years.

Note: You can also ask the following questions to your friends.

10. What’s your address?

11. What is your last name?
12. When is your birthday?
13. Where do you go to school?
14. What is your major?
15. How many brothers and sisters do you have?
16. What’s your email address?
17. How often do you go the cinema?
18. What do you do on Sundays?
19. Who is your idol?
20. Which country will you visit if you have a lot of money? Why?

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2. Telling Past Activities or Experience
Work in a group of 3 telling each other about your past activities or experience and ask questions related
to the activities using Wh-QUESTIONS and show your interest using the following expressions.

NOTE: Showing Interest

To show an interest in the conversation, we can:
1. ask an extra question a. A: I spend my weekends on a farm.
B: Mm. What do you do there?
2. repeat some words b. A: I celebrate New Year on a bus.
B: On a bus?
3. use phrases like Really?, That’s c. A: My brother plays in a rock band.
interesting, etc. B: Oh, that’s interesting.
4. use a combination of the above d. A: My birthday party is in a restaurant.
B: In a restaurant? Which one?

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