Simple Present Perfect

1. Look at the following examples and explain the meaning of the verb forms. Study Grammar Reference () p. … first.

a) I don’t know where we are going. I’m afraid, we’ve missed the turning.

b) I’m sorry we are late. We missed the turning and got lost.

c) Let’s have lunch at this café. Oh, wait a little. I’ve left my wallet in the car.

d) Waiter! The bill, please. Oh, sorry! I left my wallet in the car. I’ll go and get it.

e) I see you’ve got a new car. How much did you pay for it?

f) I’m paying for the car by installments. – How much have you paid for it?

g) No one has phoned since I’ve been here.

h) No one has phoned since I arrived.

i) We’ll move house after we have all the repairs done.

j) We won’t move house until we’ve had all the repairs done.

 

Supply the correct form of the verbs given in brackets.

A.

1. Look! I _____________ (to find) an umbrella. Is it yours? – Yes, thank you. Where you ______________ (to find) it?

2. Sharon _______________ (to buy) a new flat. – Really? Where she ______ (to get) the money?

3. I’m sorry, I _____________ (to break) the lock. – How you ___________ (to manage) to do that?

4. Kevin just ______________ (to have) a car accident, but he __________ (not to be) badly hurt.

5. News just ________________ (to come in) of a huge fire in the south of the country. According to first reports, it _____________ (to break out) just after midnight.

6. Look what I ________________ (to do) to my hair. Do you like the colour? – Oh, my God! What you _______________ (to do) that for?

7. You know those beautiful roses we __________________ (to see) in the park all ____________ (to die). – They probably __________________ (not to cover) them for the winter.

8. I wonder if Mary ___________ (to get) home somehow. She __________ (to leave) too late to catch the last train.

9. Here is the news. The Foreign Office ___________________ (to announce) that the four terrorists who ___________________ (to hijack) a British Airways plane in Ankara earlier this morning _________________ (to give) themselves up to Turkish police.

10. John ________________ (to leave) home quite unexpectedly and we ______________ (not to hear) from him since.

11. This is the second time I __________________ (to be) to Hungary.

12. It’s the third time he _____________ (to wake) me up during the night.

13. I _____________ (not to see) anything unusual since I _____________ (to be) here.

14. It’s the first time the computer _____________ (to break down) since I _____________(to have) it.

15. Do you mean to say that Harris is back? Where you ____________ (to see) him?

16. I ______________ (to see) Kevin only once since we _____________ (to be) at primary school together.

17. Kelly _____________ (to lose) a lot of weight since she ______________ (to be) on a diet.

18. We _____________ (not to hear) from David since we _____________ (to get) that letter.

19. They ______________ (to lose) every single game since he _______________ (to start) coaching the team.

20. The police can’t disclose any facts before they ______________ (to finish) the investigation.

21. Don’t even dream of it! You won’t leave before you _____________ (to tell) me the whole truth.

22. I _______________ (to take) some photos. I’ll show them to you after I ______________ (to have) them printed.

23. I’m not in a position to say anything. I’ll give you the facts only after I _______________ (to discuss) it with our lawyer.

24. You won’t go out until you _______________ (to do) your lessons!

25. Jake and Angela will get married as soon as they _____________ (to find) somewhere to live.

B. Supply the correct form of the verbs given in brackets.

The Prime-Minister’s Report on Education

A country such as Britain in the 21^st century (1) _____________________ (to succeed or to fail) by how it develops its human capital. That means we need education excellence not for the few but for the many. Traditional Britain (2) _______________ (to be) brilliant at educating the top 25% – probably the best in the world. But for decades we (3) ________________ (to tolerate) a situation where others (4) _______________ (to have) average or poor education.

Before we came to power, funding per pupil (5) _____________ (to cut). School buildings (6) _______________ (to have) an annual investment of less then £700m. Teacher-training numbers gradually (7) _____________ (to fall). The presence of IT (8) ______________ (to be) patchy. In London alone, 78 schools (9) _______________ (to fail).

But since we (10) _________________ (to be) in power, funding per pupil (11) ________________ (to rise) so that by the end of next year it (12) _________________ (to double). IT (13) _______________ (to become) not patchy but prevalent. In London, the number of failing schools (14) ________________ (to halve). This year many schools had more than 70% of pupils getting good GCSEs and A-levels. It is the first time they (15) _________________ (to have) such excellent results.

All of this (16) ___________________ (to come) with money and change. Each part of this change (17) ________________ (to oppose), usually on the grounds that it (18) _________________ (to encourage) elitism. Each time the opposition (19) ______________ (to prove) misplaced.

Since we (20) _______________ (to be) in power, we (21) __________ (to invest) heavily in educational opportunity and (22) ________________ (to produce) good results. It should be evidence of our good intentions.

(From ‘The Guardian’, abridged)