A2 Complete the story online exercise for - Free Printable

Explanation:
We need to fill in the blanks using either the simple past or the present perfect form of the verbs given in parentheses.

Let’s go step by step:

1. “______ you ever ______ to Australia?”
→ “Ever” with a question usually uses present perfect.
Subject = *you*, verb = *be* → Have you ever been to Australia?
✔ Blank 1: Have
✔ Blank 2: been

2. “I ______ there about five years ago.”
→ “Five years ago” is a finished time in the past → use simple past.
Verb = *go* → went
✔ Blank 3: went

3. “First, I ______ in Sydney.”
→ Past event (part of the trip), simple past. Verb = *stop* → stopped
✔ Blank 4: stopped

4. “I ______ the Opera House while I ______ there…”
→ Two past actions happening at the same time. First action (seeing) happened *while* the second (being there) was ongoing. But both are completed → use simple past for both.
Verb = *see* → saw
Verb = *be* (I) → was
✔ Blank 5: saw
✔ Blank 6: was

5. “…but I ______ across the Harbour Bridge yet.”
→ “Yet” signals present perfect (unfinished time up to now).
Verb = *walk, not* → negative present perfect: haven’t walked
✔ Blank 7: haven’t walked

6. “I ______ already ______ to Brisbane…”
→ “Already” + past experience → present perfect.
Verb = *be* → have been
✔ Blank 8: have
✔ Blank 9: been

7. “…but I still ______ to Cairns.”
→ Still (not done yet) → present perfect negative.
Verb = *be, not* → haven’t been
✔ Blank 10: haven’t been

8. “I ______ from my friend last week that Cairns is beautiful.”
→ “Last week” = specific past time → simple past.
Verb = *hear* → heard
✔ Blank 11: heard

9. “______ you ______ of Ayers Rock?”
→ Asking about experience (no time specified) → present perfect.
Verb = *hear* → Have you heard
✔ Blank 12: Have
✔ Blank 13: heard

10. “I ______ there yet because it’s pretty far from Sydney.”
→ “Yet” again → present perfect negative.
Verb = *go, not* → haven’t gone
✔ Blank 14: haven’t gone

11. “When I ______ in Australia last time, I ______ up the Gold Coast.”
→ “Last time” = finished past → simple past for both.
Verb = *be* (I) → was
Verb = *travel* → travelled (or traveled — both OK; British spelling likely here)
✔ Blank 15: was
✔ Blank 16: travelled

12. “I ______ to surf in Surfer’s Paradise.”
→ Past experience during that trip → simple past.
Verb = *learn* → learnt (or learned)
✔ Blank 17: learnt *(Note: In the worksheet, blank 14 is labeled as (learn), but numbering seems off — let’s match positions carefully. Looking back: after “I ______ there yet”, next is “When I ___ in Australia last time…”, so blank 12,13,14,15,16,17 — actually the worksheet shows blanks numbered 1–16, and the sentence “I ______ to surf…” is blank 14? Wait — let’s re-map based on original line breaks.*

Let me renumber exactly as shown in the problem (to avoid miscount):

Line-by-line with blanks:

1. ____ you ever ____ to Australia? → (1. be) → Have / been
2. I ____ there about five years ago. → (2. go) → went
3. First, I ____ in Sydney. → (3. stop) → stopped
4. I ____ the Opera House → (4. see) → saw
5. while I ____ there → (5. be) → was
6. but I ____ across the Harbour Bridge yet. → (6. walk, not) → haven’t walked
7. I ____ already ____ to Brisbane → (7. be) → have / been
8. but I still ____ to Cairns. → (8. be, not) → haven’t been
9. I ____ from my friend last week → (9. hear) → heard
10. ____ you ____ of Ayers Rock? → (10. hear) → Have / heard
11. I ____ there yet → (11. go, not) → haven’t gone
12. When I ____ in Australia last time → (12. be) → was
13. I ____ up the Gold Coast. → (13. travel) → travelled
14. I ____ to surf… → (14. learn) → learnt
15. It ____ fun! → (15. be) → was
16. But I ____ never ____ parasailing. → (16. try) → have / tried

Wait — blank 16 says: “But I ____ never ____ parasailing.” → present perfect: have never tried
So:
- Blank 16a: have
- Blank 16b: tried

But the worksheet labels only one number per pair — e.g., blank 7 has two slots but labeled “7. (be)” meaning two words for one number. So each number may require 1 or 2 words.

Let’s list all blanks with correct answers matching the numbering:

1. (be) → Have, been
2. (go) → went
3. (stop) → stopped
4. (see) → saw
5. (be) → was
6. (walk, not) → haven’t walked
7. (be) → have, been
8. (be, not) → haven’t been
9. (hear) → heard
10. (hear) → Have, heard
11. (go, not) → haven’t gone
12. (be) → was
13. (travel) → travelled
14. (learn) → learnt
15. (be) → was
16. (try) → have, tried

Yes — that fits.

Now verify tense logic:
- Present perfect used with: ever, already, yet, never, (unspecified time)
- Simple past used with: five years ago, last week, last time, when I was…

All consistent.

Final Answer:
1. Have, been
2. went
3. stopped
4. saw
5. was
6. haven’t walked
7. have, been
8. haven’t been
9. heard
10. Have, heard
11. haven’t gone
12. was
13. travelled
14. learnt
15. was
16. have, tried