Read the following stories and put the verbs in the correct tenses There are two passive voice verbs! H OSPITAL GHOSTS A few years ago, while I …………………… (work) as an engineer at a hospital in Mobile, Alabama, a strange thing ………………………… (happen) to me I ……………………… (be) in the hallway of a unit during the second shift, at about 8:30 pm At this hour, the families and friends visiting the hospital usually …………………………… (begin) to leave I ……………………… (notice) an elderly couple walking towards me, but I ……………… really ………………… (not pay) too much attention to them because I ………………… busy …………………… (write) The woman …………………… (pass) me by, but the man ……………………… (stay) I ……………………… (look) up at him, and he ………………… (say): "You know son, I ……………………… (be) a radar operator in the Navy in the War We always ………………………… (use) to make our plots in pencil in case something changed That's why they ………………………… (make) erasers You know, life …………………… (write) in pencil, too." I ……………………… (think) about the profoundness of this statement for just a second, then ……………………… (look) up to say something to the old man Both he and his wife …………………………………………… (vanish) L ULLABY My mother ………………… (be) always afraid of the first house she and my father ……………………… (move) into together The upstairs ………………… (be) always cold, especially the room that eventually …………………… (become) mine One afternoon, when I …………………… (be) just a baby, my mother …………………… (put) me down for a nap She …………………… (go) down to the kitchen, but ………………………… (turn) the baby monitor on She …………………………… (can) hear my soft breathing through the monitor as she ………………………….… (make) lunch But then she …………………… (hear) a humming and then the voice of a young girl singing The melody ……………………… (be) the most disturbing she ………………… ever ………………… (hear), with a hidden anger behind it My mother immediately ……………………… (run) up the stairs, and ………………………… (find) me in my room sleeping peacefully Next to the cot ……………………… (lie) the monitor, …………………………… (smash) to pieces We ………………………… (move) out about a month later L ITTLE MARY This …………………… (be) a true story about Mary She ……………………… (be) a little girl who ………………………… (die) in a fire at Singleton Community Center in Bartlett, Tennessee Mary ……………………… (go) to school at Singleton One day there …………………… (be) a terrible fire in the lunch room Everyone ……………………… (get) out except for Mary The city …………………………… (cannot) find her parents Ever since there ……………………………… (be) a little girl in a white dress who …………………………… (ask) people to use the phone, she …………………… (tell) them, "I ……………………… (need) to call home" then she ……………………………… (disappear) Many ……………………………… (see) her just walking the halls and sometimes crying on the steps of the stage I …………………………… (have) an encounter with her, too My friend and I …………………………… (play) cards in the hallway It …………………… (be) nice and warm inside although it ………………………… (snow) outside Suddenly it …………………………… (get) cold even though no windows or doors ………………….……………… (open) When I ………………………… (turn) around I ……………………… (see) a little girl standing there only about a foot away from me, then she …………………………………… (disappear) Answer Key Hospital Ghosts • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • was working happened was began noticed did not pay was … writing passed stayed looked said was used make is written thought looked had vanished Lullaby • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • was had moved was became was put went turned could was making heard was had … heard ran found lay smashed moved Little Mary • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • is was died went was got couldn’t has been asks tells need disappears have seen have had were playing was was snowing got had been opened turned saw disappeared