Read the story to check your ideas. Look at the first paragraph of the story. Then choose A or B. … she and her colleagues were in a terrible hurry; they were travelling to a big trade fair in New York and had to catch a flight … When Jessica and the taxi driver met Marina and her colleagues: A their journey to New York was finished. B they were in the middle of their journey to New York. Circle the correct words. 1 Use the past simple / progressive to talk about a finished action. 2 Use the past simple / progressive to say an action was in progress in the past. b http://www.yrtaxistories.com It happened during my second week in California. I decided to treat myself to a taxi ride from San Francisco to Bair Island so that I did not have to worry about bus connections. My taxi driver was a really cool-looking guy from Hawaii named Paco, who never stopped smiling. We were on the way out of San Francisco’s Mission District when he had to brake really hard to avoid hitting three pedestrians who were running across the road. Luckily, no one was hurt. One of the women knocked on the driver’s door. It was rush hour and she and her colleagues were in a terrible hurry; they were travelling to a big trade fair in New York and had to catch a flight from San Francisco International Airport. They asked if they could join me in the taxi. As I was on holiday anyway and the airport was on the way, I didn’t mind at all. So Paco pulled over and the three young business people quickly got into the car. They were extremely grateful and happy. We started chatting and they told me about their jobs in the marketing department of the local pet food producer. They all lived in the San Francisco area and immediately started playing tour guide for me. One woman, called Marina, told me the history of some buildings we were passing while driving to the airport. We got there pretty fast, and they were sure that they would catch their plane. When they got out, they thanked me again and gave Paco a good tip, which made him smile even more. As we were joining the highway to Bair Island, there was a sharp bend. I was trying to take a picture and the mobile phone just slipped out of my hand and fell under the seat. While I was searching for it, I suddenly heard a ringtone that sounded strange to me. I thought that maybe the fall had changed the settings on my phone, but when I blindly picked it up from under the seat, I saw that it wasn’t my phone. As I was curious, I answered the call and it was Marina! She was calling her own phone trying to find it. Paco immediately realised what was going on, slowed down, took the next exit and stopped. I wanted to help Marina, and told her that we would turn round and meet her at the taxi rank at the airport. Marina was so pleased! As their flight was delayed by an hour, she could easily go back outside and meet me. Of course, she promised to cover the expenses. So, after only a few minutes, we were driving back to the airport again through a crazy-busy neighbourhood. But then, suddenly, a dog ran onto the street from between two parked cars. Even though Paco instantly stepped on the brakes, we hit the poor animal. I couldn’t believe this was happening! The cute little dog was lying with one paw under our front wheel, bleeding. After a little while its horrified owner came. When she saw that her dog was injured, she started crying. I was comforting her while we were waiting for the local vet to arrive. Fortunately, he arrived very quickly, and said that the dog had a broken leg but was not hurt anywhere else. The dog owner said, “I was in the middle of a conversation and wasn’t paying attention to Teddy, so he broke free; it’s not your fault.” – What a relief that was for Paco! All of this took half an hour and so we really had to rush to the airport. When we arrived at the taxi rank, Marina was already looking quite worried. As soon as she spotted us, she ran towards the car. I quickly jumped out and handed over her phone. Then she paid for my whole trip to Bair Island and back! We had one minute to exchange our contact details before Marina headed for the terminal. Then we continued our drive and I eventually remembered to reach for my phone under the passenger seat. The whole thing was really exciting; I was so happy that we could help, and Marina and I have stayed in contact ever since! 4 a Past progressive Past simple b Language skills Extras Explore 7 Safe and healthy 83 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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