Focus 2

Gram: Verb tense, Perfect form

Vocab: Peson experiences
I. Give the correct tense of the verbs to complete the sentences
A. Simple Past / Past Continuous
1. John: What (you, do) …………………when the accident occurred?
Peter: I (try)……………… to change a light bulb that had burnt out.
2. After I (find) …………….the wallet full of money, I (go) …………immediately to the police and (turn) …………… it in.
3. The doctor (say) ……………… that Tom (be) …………….. too sick to go to work ang that he (need) ………………… to stay
at home for a couple of days.
4. Sebastian (arrive) ………………… at Susan’s house a little before 9:00 PM, but she (be, not) ……………….. there. She
(study) ………………….. at the library for her final examination in French.
5. Sandy is in the living room watching television. At this time yesterday, she (also, watch) …………………….. television.
That’s all she ever does!
6. Mary: I (call) ………........ you last night after dinner, but you (be, not) ………….......... there. Where were you? Ann: I
(work)……………….out at the fitness center.
7. When I (walk) …………….. into the busy office, the secretary (talk) ………………….......on the phone with a customer,
several clecks (work) ……………... busily at their desks, and two managers (discuss)……………... quietly the methods to
improve customer service.
8. I (watch) ……………….. a mystery movie on TV when the electricity (go) ………………out. Now I am never going to find
out how the movie ends.
9. The Titanic (cross) …………………. The Atlantic when it (strike) ……………………an iceberg.
10. Samantha (live)………………in Berlin for more than two years. In fact, she (live) ………………. there when the Berlin Wall
came down.
B. Simple Past / Present Perfect
1. Did you like the movie “Star Wars”? – I don’t know. I (never, see) ……………………that movie.
2. Sam (arrive)……………….in San Diego a week ago.
3. My best friend and I (know) ………………. each other for over fifteen years. We still get together once a week.
4. Stinton is a fantastic writer. He (write) ………………… ten very creative short stories last year. One day, he’ll be as famous
as Hemingway.
5. I (have, not) ………………….. this much fun since I (be) …………….. a kid.
6. Listen Donna, I don’t care if you (miss)………………. the bus this morning. You (be) ………………..late to work too many
times. You are fired!
7. Jonny, I can’t belive how much you (change) ………………… since the last time I (see) ……………….you. You (grow)
………………….. at least a foot!
8. This tree (plan)……………….... by the settlers who (found) ……………..our city over four hundred years ago.
9. I (never, visit)………………….. Africa, but I (travel)………………….. to South America several times. The last time I (go)
………………..to South America, I (visit) ………………. Brazil and Peru. I (spend) …………….. two weeks in the Amazon.
10. Peter (make)………………..a lot of improvements in his English since he (attend) ………………… the course.
C. Past Simple / Past Perfect
1. When I (arrive) ………………... home last night, I discovered that Jane (prepare) ………………. a beautiful candlelight
dinner.
2. Since I began acting, I have performed in two plays, a television commercial and a TV drama. However, I (never even,
speak) ……………………..…publicly before I (come) ……………..…to the Hoolywood in 1985.
3. By the time I (get) ………………... to the office, the meeting (already, begin) …………………….without me.
4. When I (turn) …………………. the radio on yesterday, I (hear)………………... a song that was popular when I was in high
school. I (not, hear) ………………….. the song in years, and it (bring) ……………… back some great memories.
 5. Last week, I (run) ……………….into an ex-girlfriend of mine. We (not, see) ……………..each other in years, and both of us
(change) ………………... a great deal. I (enjoy) ……….……. talking to her so much that I (ask) ……………. her out on a
date. We are getting together tonight for dinner.
6. When Jack (enter) ……………… the room, I (not, recognize)………………….….. him because he (lose) ………………. so
much weight and (grow) ……………….a beard. He looked totally different!
D. Simple Future / Future Perfect / Simple Present
1. I’m sure Peter will understand this matter when he (get) ……………........ older.
2. When you (arrive) ……………………. in Stockholm, let’s call my friend Gustay. He (show) ………………. you around the
city and help you find a flat.
3. I’m sure Mary (be) ……………. late for the party. By the time she (arrive) ……………. everyone (stop) ……............ eating
and dancing and (go) ……………………home.
4. John has always dreamed of becoming an engineer. But before his dream (come) ……………… true, he (finish)
………………………….. his 5-year study at university.
5. By July 2016 you (finish) …………………….. high school.
II. Complete the sentences with the suitable tenss of verbs provided
(be, reach, do, swear, have, take, live, turn, make, type)
1. All the witnesses …………………………... to tell the truth in the court of law.
2. This book is about a man who ………………… alone on a Pacific island.
3. I ……………………..... a cake when the light went out. I had to finish it in the dark.
4. He died after he ………………………….. ill for a long time.
5. By the time the boss came back, I ………………………….. all the letters.
6. While his wife ………………………….the washing up, Mr. Brown was watching TV.
7. After cycling for an hour, I ………………………………the village.
8. In this part of the fairy tale, the witch ……………………………the princess into a frog.
9. I ……………………..a shower before breakfast this morning.
10. This time last Monday, I …………………………….the final test.
III. Identify and correct one mistake in each sentence
1. They divorced because they has argued everyday.
2. My mother and father met together the first time when he was on leave from the army.
3. In the past, polite men had stood up when women entered the room.
4. He was singing loudly under the balcony of her room when she throws out a bucket of washing water.
5. My brother happily gave to me a collection of Elton John’s best song on my last birthday.
6. His mother was crying and waving at him goodbye when he was boarding the ship.
7. I was just writing a cheque when I remembered I have had no money left in the bank.
8. In this chapter, the prince is getting married to a poor girl in the village.
9. I was meeting Tom and Ann at the airport a few weeks ago.
10. I burned my hand while I prepared dinner yesterday everning.
11. The woman makes a fuss when she discovered that her money had been stolen.
12. I had waited for John since 2 hours when he finally arrived.
13. When I arrived at the party, everything has already been eaten.
14. I enjoy watching the sun to rise slowly in the morning.
15. They made him to sign a paper admitting his crime.
IV. Put the verbs in Past Simple, Past Perfect or Past Progressive
This (happen) …………………. to me five years ago, when I was invited to participate in a meeting for inter-religious dialogue in
Milan. There (be) …………….about 200 people from different parts of Italy. Some of them were working at university level,
particulary with the student of different religions. And some of them (work) …………………….. international organizations. A small
group of people were working for the local communities here in Italy.
I (have) ……………….a chance to meet some of the most important personnalities of Italian society. There were also some
journlists, who had come to ask some questions on the topic of inter-religious dialogue. They wanted to meet the speakers before
 the meeting (start) ……………….. They (prepare) ……………… our topic beforehand. We were given 15 minutes each to speak
about pesonal experience of inter-religious dialogue. The first to speak was a university professor. He (talk) ……………… about
Japan, where he (be) ……………. for seven years.
Before I was invited to speak, I had decided to read my work. I (think) ………………….. by reading I would avoid any embarrassment.
But when I arrived on the stage I (decide) ………………….. not to read, but just to describe from my heart my personal experience.
When I (finish) …………….........my talk, nobody clapped their hand as they did for the other. I was surprised and (ask)
…………………. my self, what (happen) ……..……………….. to the people? One of my friends told me that I (speak)
…………………….….. in Urdu rather than in Italian. At that moment I (feel) ………………….. so embarrassment that I jaust want
the stage to open up and swallow me. I will never forget this embarassment in my life.
V. Fill in each space with the correct form of one word given
(forgot / forgotten, embarassing, laughing / to laugh, left, gone, went, put, drove, suddenly, understood, teaching / to teach, quickly)
My most ………………...... experience happened when I had just …………………. University. I had just started ……………………
in a Liverpool secondary school. One morning my alarm clock didn’t ring. I had ……………….. in wind it up. I woke up at half past
eight and school began at nine. I …………………washed, shaved, dressed, jumped into my car and ………………….to school.
When I arrived, the student had already ……………………..into class. I didn’t go to the staff room, but ………………… straight into
class. After two or three minutes the students began ………………….. and I couldn’t understand why! …………………... I looked
down and ………………………. I had …………………... on one black shoe and one brown shoe!
VI. Choose the correct answer
1. It is blowing so hard. We ………………..such a terrible storm.
a. have never known b. have never been knowing c. never know d. had never known
2. I am considering …………… my job. Can you recommend a good company?
a. to move b. moving c. to change d. changing
3. Jane ……………..law for four years now at Havard.
a. is studing b. has been studing c. studies d. studied
4. “How many time have I told you ………….. football in the street?
a. not playing b. do not play c. not to play d. not to have played
5. Our industrial output …………………from $2 million in 2002 to $4 million this years.
a. rises b. has risen c. was rising d. rose
6. “You’ll recognize Jenny when you see her. She ………………. red hat.”
a. will wear b. will be wear c. wears d. is wearing
7. When Peter was a child, there ……………….. a cinema near his house.
a. used to be b. used to have c. used to be being d. used to have been
8. I ……………….. work last week, but I change my mind.
a. have stared b. was going to start c. had started d. would start
9. Only one of our gifted students ………………… to participate in the final competition.
a. has been chosen b. have been chosen c. were choosing d. chosen
10. The boat was sailing north when a terrible storm ………………… out.
a. had broken b. broke c. would break d. was breaking
11. “Could you turn off the stove? The potatoes ………………….. for at least thirty minutes.”
a. Boiled b. were boilling c. are boiling d. have been boilling
12. We could have caught the last train, but we ………………..five minutes late.
a. Would be b. have been c. are d. were
VII. Choose the word with underlined part prononced differently
1. a. happen b. animal c. language d. actually
2. a. barks b. sounds c. dogs d. phrase
3. a. absolute b. follow c. pronounce d. suspicious
4. a. embarrassed b. mimicked c. assumed d. pronounced
5. a. subject b. schedule c. number d. monkey
VIII. Choose the word with different stress pattern
1. a. remember b. reservation c. respective d. experience
2. a. improvise b. personal c. translator d. furious
3. a. perfectly b. forgive c. nervous d. casual
4. a. imitate b. approve c. surprised d. suspicious
5. a. despair b. specialize c. somehow d. quarrel
6. a. result b. dismay c. disaster d. dialogue
7. a. succeed b. complete c. spirit d. continue
8. a. delegation b. enthusiastic c. inter-religious d. organization
9. a. destroy b. evident c. literature d. principal
10. a. express b. stutter c. practice d. realize
IX. Complete the sentences with the given words
( continues, refused, sujects, animal, quarrel, suspicious, results, imitating, embarassment, disastes)
1. Small children often learn to speak by ………………………the people around them.
2. Speech is one of the things that make human being different from ………………………..
3. Everyone has experienced moment of …………………………in their life.
4. I tried my best to help Peter, but he ………………………to tel me what his problem was.
5. She often ……………………….. with her husband over the upbringing of their children.
6. The storm was really a ……………............... to the villagers. It destroyed all their houses and crops.
7. Laura studies very hard and has good school ……………………..
8. Although I have advised him not to play with the bad boys, he ……………………to meet them everynight.
9. Please call the police immedidtely if you see anything …………………………..
10. Math, Literature, English are all school ………………………..
X. Choose the correct forms of the words to complete the sentence
1. I felt very (embarrass, embarrassment, embarrassing, embarrassed) when I found out that I didn’t have any money with me as
because I had left my wallet at home.
2. Your English is better now, Peter. But I think you should spend more time practicing your (pronounce, pronouncer, pronunciation,
pronouncement).
3. My cousin, Laura, works for an international (organize, organizer organization) in Ha Noi.
4. The boy (argue, argued, argument, argumentative) for hour with his sister over the pocket money that their parent had given
them the day before.
5. There are many different (religious, religion, religiously, religion) in the world and they all express people’s dream for happiness.
6. Uncle Ho is one of greatest (person, personal, personalize, personality, personalities) of the world.
7. In Western cultures, people don’t like being asked (person,personal, personalize,personality,personalities) questions
8. Well done! Your answer to the question is (perfect, perfectly, imperfect, impefectly) correct, Ann.
9. Br.Brown worked very hard around the clock when he was young and that’s why he is so (succeed, succeeded, successive,
successful, unsuccessful, success) in his job now.
10. The students were very (enthusiansm, enthusiast, enthusiastic, enthusiastically) about the picnic next week.
XI. Read the passage and choose the best option to fill in each blank
I had an amusing experience last year. When I was (1) ____to a town in the south of France, a young man waved to me. I stopped
and he asked me for a lift. As soon as he had got into the car, I said good morning to him (2) ____ French and he replied in the same
language. (3)_____ of us spoke during the journey. I myself knew a little of French. I had nearly (4)____ the town when the young
man suddenly said, very (5)____ , “Do you speak English?”. As I soon learnt, he was English himself.
1. A. driving B. walking C. flying D. riding
2. A. from B. at C. by D. in
3. A. No B. None C. Either D. Neither
4. A. came B. went C. approached D. stopped
5. A. quick B. slowly C. slow D. slower
XII. Read the text and answer the questions
When I was young I argued with my brother and my sister all the time. I used to share most of my toys with my brother, but he
specialized in keeping them or himself. When I asked him for anything he simply used to refuse to give it to me, and then I became
very angry with him. Our sisters blamed everything on us when our parents accused us of quarreling all the time. My brother and I
got annoyed about this, but only succeeded in making the matter worse. Our parents didn’t approve of our quarreling so much, and
insisted on not taking sides. They either laughed about it, or told us to forgive each other for everything. Soon we became good at
getting on well with each other.
1. What did the author use to share with his brother?
__________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why did he become angry with his brother?
__________________________________________________________________________________
3. What did his sisters often do when their parents accused them of all the time?
__________________________________________________________________________________
4. Did his parents take sides with either of them?
__________________________________________________________________________________
5. What did their parents do to make them get on well with each other?
__________________________________________________________________________________
XIII. Read the passage and decide if each statement is True or False, correct the False ones
I knew it was going to be bad day when, on the way to the ariport, the taxi driver told me he was lost. I had booked my flight over the
telephone, so when I finally arrived, I had to rush to the reservation desk to pay for my ticket. The woman at the desk told me that
my name was not on the passenger list. It took fifteen minutes to realize that she had spelled my name incorrect. She gave me the
ticket and told me I’d better check in my luggage quickly or I’d miss the flight. I was the last person to get on the flight.
I found my seat and discovered that I was sitting next to a four-year-old boy who had a cold. I sat down and wondered if anything
alse could go wrong. I hate flying, especially take-off, but the plane took off and everything seemed alright. Then, a few minutes
later, there was a funny noise and everything started to shake. I looked out of the window and – oh my God – there was smoking
coming out of the wing. All I could think was “The engines are on fire. We are going to crash. I am too young to die.”
Almost immediately, the captain spoke to us in a very calm voice “Ladies and gentlement. This is your captain speaking. We are
having a slight technical problem with one of our engines. There is no need to panic. We will have to return to the ariport. Please
remain seated and keep your seatbelts fastened”.
A few minutes later, we were coming on to land. The pilot made a perfect landing on the runway. It was over. We were safe. That
day I decided not to fly again. I caught another taxi and went home. But as I closed the front door, I looked down at my case.
Somehow, I had picked up the wrong suitcase.
1. There was nothing wrong with her on her way to airport.
2. She was in a great hurry at the airport
3. It took her fifteen minutes to get her ticket
4. She was delighted with the boy sitting nearby
5. The plane had to come back to the airport because its engine was on fire.
6. The suitcase she took wasn’t hers.
7. After that day, she decided that she would never fly again.
8. The landing was not skillful
XIV. Read the passage and choose the corret answer for each question
An embarrassing experience of learning a foreign language
It happened while I was studying Japanese at a Foreign Language University. It was Tuesday, which by schedule was a conversation
day and the new subject was about animals and the sounds of animals. There were eight students in my class, three from Mongolia,
two from Romania, one from Hungary, another from the Philippines, and me from Cambodia. My teacher was asking every student
to imitate the sounds of a dog barking in their respective languages.
On that day my eyes were kind of hafl-shut and hafl-open as a result of late night party, chalting and drinking; that’s to say, I wasn’t
quite following the teacher. All I heard was “bow-bow”, “wow-wow”, ‘how-how”. Those were actually the sounds of dogs barking in
Hungari, Romania and Mongolian language. Then I heard the teacher said “…it sounds like wan-wan”. Then she turned to me and
said, “What does it sounds in your language?”
I caught only her final phrase “wan-wan”, which was in fact the sound a Japanese dog makes when it bark, and I had no idea it
sounds that way I Japanese. So I assumed she was asking me to pronounce number one in my own language, since “wan-wan”
sounded somehow like “one-one”
“It sounds like mouy-mouy” I replied
“Mouy-mouy?” My teacher mimicked, looking a little surprised and suspicious. “Are you sure it’s mouy-mouy?”
“I’m absolutely sure it’s mouy-mouy” I said. Although I was a bit sleepy , I still remember my own language perfectly well, I thought.
Then she turned to other students and said “they bark mouy-mouy! Don’t you think Cambodian dogs are strange?”
Now I can tell how embarrassed I felt. Of course, the dogs never bark “mouy-mouy”. They make the sound “who-who”, “wow-wow”
or “bow-bow” just like Japanese, Romania or Americian dogs!
1. Where did the writer of this story come from?
a. Cambodia b. Hungary c. Mongolia d. Romania
2. Where did the story happen?
a. In a student club b. on the street c. in a foreign language class d. a lesson about dog barking
3. What lesson did the writer have that day?
a. a speaking lesson b. a lesson about animail c.a lesson about dog d. a lesson about dog barking
4. In what language did the teacher ask the students to imitate the sounds of dog barking?
a. In Japanese b. in their native language c. in English d. in any foreign language they know
5. How was the writer that day?
a. He was drunk b. He was in high spirit c. He was fine d. He was sleepy
6. The writer was embarrassed because _______.
a. He was misunderstood by hiss teacher b. He failed to imitate the dog’s sounds
c. He made a funny mistake d. He was laughed at by his friends

XV. Read the paragraphs and reorder them to make a meaningful passage
A. In the eand somebody lit up some candles and put them around the room but I couldn’t see my notes very well. The speech
was a complete disaster. You can imagine my sprise when the Chinese businessmen started to smile and clapped loudly when
I finished the talk. I sat down and started to eat my meal. When I asked the translator next to me why everyone had clapped so
enthusiastically, she replied “None of the people here speak English. I’ll translate your speech for them later.”
B. Since then I’ve never prepared any of my speeches. They seem to work better when I improvise. I did give the translator my
notes though.
C. I was in Beijing as part of a trade delegation and out company was one of several asked to give a speech. I had spent a long
time preparing my speech and had written about five pages of notes. I supposed there were about thrity people in the room
listening to me and I was quite nervous.
D. Had I ever told you about the time when I was asked to to give a speech to some Chinese businessmen?
E. I started to speak. Just then there was a power cut and all the lights in the room went out. Because of this I couldn’t see my
notes very well at all. However, I continued speaking, but soon I realized that I started with page tree and couldn’t find page four
or five. So I just improvised and finally found page one.
XVI. Read the passage and fill in each gap with a suitable word from the list
(another, my, who, out, had, up, back, where, before, be, in, gave, began, what, out, short, missed, leave, had, into)
Last Satuday I went to a concert with my friend Julia. The concert hall was on the other side of the town and so we decided to
________(1) home early. We caught the bus and arrived long ________(2) the concert was due to start. There was a café nearby
so we went in. Julia ordered a hot meal but I decided to have a sandwich and coffee. While we were waitng to _________(3) severed,
I looked _________(4) my handbag for the tickets to check what time the concert ________(5). To _________(6) dismay, I
discovered that the tickets were not there! Then I remembered that I had ________(7) left them on the table at home. I told Julia
________(8) had happened and said I would go home to get the tickets. I promise to be _______(9) before the concert started. I
rushed _________(10) of the café and went to the bus stopto catch a bus back to my home. Unfortunately, I had just __________(11)
a bus and I _________(12) to wait along time for _________(13) one. I was just beginning to despair __________(14) I saw a taxi,
which I signed to stop. Giving my address to the driver, I jumped _________(15), and fifteen minutes later I was home. “Wait for
me”mi said and ran into the house. I picked ________(16) the tickets from the table and the driver drove me straight back to the
café.
Julia had just finished her meal. Together we hurried out of the café and walked quickly to the concert hall, _______(17) we arrived
hot and ________(18) of breath. I showed the tickets to the man at the door, _________(19) looked at them carefully and then
________(20) them back. “I’m sorry,” he said, “These are for next Saturday”.
XVII. Read the passage and choose the correct option to fill in each blank
One of my funniest teaching experiences was when I taugh my students how ___(1) email. Evidently, one student had listened to
only the part of the session about sending e-mail and had not listened ___(2) to the part of about receiving e-mail. A few days after
the training session, he came to me and said he had a problem ___(3) his email. He had sent a lot of ___(4), but no one got them. I
asked him to explain. He said he had sent about 20 email messages, but ___(5) had been received. He had sent to emails himself
to ___(6) sure they were going through, but those had not arrived in his mailbox ___(7). After asking a few questions, I discovereda
couple of problems. First, ___(8) of checking his mails on the Internet, he expected to get the mails in his snail mailbox in the school
office. In fact, he walked to his mailbox several times a day to see if they were there. Secondly, the ___(9) no one else could receive
the emails he had sent was because he had typed only the recipent’s name in the “To:” box. He did not ___(10) that he had to type
in an actual email address. He throught the computer would “know” who John Smith was if he only typed in the name John Smith.
He did not even have an address book set up.
1. a. use b. using c. used d. to use
2. a. at all b. at least c. at any rate d. at length
3. a. wit b. in c. on d. for
4. a. information b. announcement c. messages d. news
5. a. not b. none c. no d. nor
6. a. get b. make c. take d. do
7. a. too b. also c. neither d. either
8. a. instead b. despite c. according d. because
9. a. measure b. solution c. problem d. reason
10. a. notice b. feel c. realize d. perceive
XVIII. Read the passage and answer the questions
I was in grade 5 at the age of ten, at Quali Valley Elementary School. Our class was writing reports on animals. I was stuttered, and
I had suffered from stuttering since I was three or four years old. Especially when I was so nervous or shocked, I could not even
speak. I had picked “Sharks” to report on. I knew I would have to read my paper aloud to the class when I turned the paper in to my
teacher, Ms Young. I knew that I would surely feel nervous when I was in front of the class and I would become stuttering or not be
able to put into speech anything. So I tried to make my paper as short as possible. Ms Young was a new teacher at our school. Our
principal was very strict and he often visited each new teacher’s class to check on the teacher. Casually, on the day we submitted
our reports the principal came and just sat there and watched the class. I had finished my report on “Sharks” and we were sharing
our reports. When it came my turn, I stood up in front of the class with a dry smile and began stuttering. Our principal started watching
me. The more I felt nervous, the more I stuttered. The principal got very angry with my teacher because oe of students could not
even read. Unfortunately, my teacher didn’t let me sit down. I had to stand there for 30 minutes and tried to read my paper. Finally,
she let me stop and the entire class were probably swimming in my tears by then. That was the most embarrassing moment of my
life thus far.
1. According to yhe content of the story, the author ____ when he was at elementary school.
a. was good at speaking b. could not read c. suffered from stuttering d. could not write
2. The story happened when he was ____ years old.
a. Three b. four c. five d. ten
3. The author stuttered _____
a. Whenever he was happy b. all the time when he was in class
c. only when he felt uncomfortable d. when he felt nervous or shocked

4. The author ______

a. was made to read in his report in front of the class b. didn’t like his new teacher, Ms Young
 c. enjoyed reading reports on “Sharks” very much d. could never read anything aloud
5. The author’s report was ______
a. long b. brief c. coherent d. incoherent
6. The principal ______
a. was easy-going b. often visited a new teacher’s class to check
c. often made students write reports d. did not care much about new teacher
7. The principal visited the author’s class when _____
a. the students were writing their reports b. the teacher was talking about “Sharks”
c. the students submitted their reports d. the teacher gave the students report topics
8. The author _____
a. could not write a report on “Sharks” b. was punished because he did not finish the report
c. read the report fluently d. could not read the report because he was a stutterer
9. When the author could not read his report, the principal was ____
a. sympathetic b. pleased c. shocked d. furious
10. When he was made to stand for 30 minutes and read the report in front of the class, the author ____
a. laughed b. smiled c. read fluently d. cried
XIX. Fill in each gap with a suitable preposition
1. She had a quick glance _______ the newspaper
2. She got ________ the bus and sat ________ next _______ the old man.
3. If you don’t like the hat, you can take it ________ to the shop.
4. She showed her new toys ________ her friends.
5. How much did you pay _________ your new car?
6. He pointed ________ the dog when ran _______ them.
7. Are you interested ________ practicing speaking English?
8. You should have more confidence _______ your own abilities.
9. The fire started in the kitchen because she forgot to turn the gas stove _______.
10. My parents gave me a bicycle ________ my last birthday.