Complete the story with the Past Simple or the Past Perfect of the verbs between brackets: Harriet Quimby was born in 1875 and was raised on a farm in Arcadia, Michigan, in the USA Nobody _ 1(think) she would be so brave and adventurous when she was a schoolgirl However, people who _ 2(know) her well, could notice that she (become) very ambitious from the moment she _ (watch) John Moisant’s flight at the Belmont Park sports event in October, 1910 It is said that she _ 5(get) her driving licence as first female driver in New York, before she 6(start) to dream of becoming a pilot John Moisant's experimental all aluminium plane She realised she _ 7(learn) very little to be able to fulfil her dream of flying She _ (want) to be the first woman to get a Raymonde de Laroche from France pilot licence in the USA (be) the first woman to get a pilot licence in the world the year before By the time Harriet 10(get) her licence, she _ 11(write) seven screenplays for 12 pioneer filmmaker D.W Griffith Besides, she (be) a photographer, a reporter and a theatre critic for a famous women’s magazine Her work as a journalist and a theatre critic _ 13(bring) her into contact with many interesting people One of them was a flying instructor By the time she _ 14(meet) him, she 15 (already decide) that he would teach her how to fly an aeroplane Soon after she 16 (start) her training, she (set) her first record flying She _ 18(earn) a pilot 17 licence in 1911 and shortly after that she _ 19(become) the first woman to make a night flight At the same time, she (begin) to write articles about her experience for many American 20 magazines Harriet 21 (never use) a compass when she (make) 22 the twenty two mile crossing across the English Channel Although the weather 23(be) perfect on Sunday, it _ 24 (change) the next morning Even so, she 25 (choose) to take off and cross the channel However, she _ (never fly) under 26 pouring rain That is why she _ (get) lost Harriet 27 country she _ (land) in France but she _ 29(not know) which 28 be) in 30( The day before Harriet _ 31(land) in France, the Titanic _ 32 (sink) So, she _ 33(not be) on the front page news the next morning Unfortunately, she 34 (die) very young If Harriet _ (not try) to break the speed record of 58 miles per hour 35 over water, she would not have died at the age of 37 If she _ 36(see) the thousands of women in command of airplanes, military combat airplanes, space vehicles and executive aviation positions nowadays, she would have been happy KEY - * contracted forms should be accepted especially if students dramatise the text 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 thought knew became had watched had got started had learned/learnt wanted had been got had written had been brought met had already decided had started set earned became began had never used made had been changed chose had never flown got landed did not know was landed had sunk was not died had not tried (hadn’t tried) had seen Sources (H Quimby’s biography and pictures): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Quimby http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/quimby.htm Face2Face Intermediate – 4B, p.146,C.U.P, 2008