Download Past Simple and Past Perfect

Past Simple and Past Perfect
Read these sentences about Julius Caesar. Then complete the sentence with the past simple or
past perfect form of the verb in brackets.
a) Julius Caesar (come) ........................ from an aristocratic Roman family, although his
family was not rich by Roman standards.
b) When he was fifteen, his father (die) ................ , and to avoid political problems in
Rome, Caesar (serve) ....................... as a soldier in the east.
c) By the time he (return) ................................... to Rome, he (win) ..........................
awards for bravery.
d) He (become) .................................... a member of the Senate, and governor of what is
now Spain.
e) By the age of 40 he (rise) ...................................... to the top of the political world, and
(form) .................................. a political alliance with a powerful general, Pompey, and
a rich man, Crassus.
f) Between 55 BC and 49 BC he (fight) ................................... a war against the people
of what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and parts of Germany.
g) By the end of this war, according to the historian Plutarch, three million men (die)
................................ .
h) In 50 BC the Senate (order) .................................... Caesar to return to Rome. By that
time, Crassus was dead and Pompey (become) ..................................... Caesar’s
enemy.
i) In the civil war that followed, Caesar (defeat) .................................... all his enemies.
j) By the time a group of Roman senators (murder) ................................... him in 44 BC,
he (be) ................................... the most powerful man in Rome for only a year.
Answers:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
came
died, served
returned, had won
became
had risen, had formed
fought
had died
ordered, had become
defeated
murdered, had been