Bài tập tổng hợp về thì

One summer when I …….. ( be ) a teenager, I ……… ( get) a job with the circus. As part of my job, I ……….( stick ) up posters all over the city, ……….. ( set) up chairs in tent, and ………… ( sell) tickets. I ………… ( learn ) a lot about circus life that summer, and I ………….. ( love ) circuses ever since then.

Unfortunately, the circus that I …………( work ) for …………( not be ) a very successful one. Things …………. ( forever go ) wrong. One night, for example, we ………. ( begin ) the performance very late. I ………… ( already shut ) down the box office, and everyone ………….. ( sit ) in the tent. The audience …………… ( already eat ) all of the hot dogs and ice-cream cones, and they …………. ( grow ) restless. I ………… ( think ) that the crowd ………… ( throw ) tomatoes or something at the ringmaster because they ……….. ( be ) so irritated. Finally, the show ……… ( begin ).

The ringmaster ………… (lead) the parade of animals into the tent. He ………… ( look ) quite nervous because the gypsy fortune-teller who always ……….. ( travel) with the circus ……….. (see) terrible things in her crystal ball all day long. She …………. ( warn) him for weeks not to put on this performance, and he ………….. (threaten) to fire her unless she ………… (give) him some batter predictions.

Anyway, I ………. ( watch ) the whole show that night. Everything ………….. ( go ) fine at first. The elephants ………. (do) tricks in the center ring. In another ring, the lion tamer …………... ( get ) one of his lions to jump through a ring of fire. The lion ………… ( be) very cranky all day, but she …………. ( try) to stuff themselves into the small car while the stunt coordinator …………... ( yell ) directions at them. At the same time, above the center ring, two tightrope walkers ………… ( already climb) their ladders and ………… ( just step ) out onto the tightrope.

Then it ………… ( happen ). One of the tightrope walkers, who ………… ( catch) a cold few days before, suddenly …………. ( sneeze ). He ………… ( lose) his balance and ………. ( crash ) into the safety net. His partner ………….. ( look ) down for just a second, and then he ………… ( lose) his balance, too. He ………(catch) the tightrope with his right hand as he ……… (fall), and he ………… ( hang) there for several seconds, trying to figure out what to do next. He …………..( sweat ) with fear because he ………… ( see) that the safety net …………. ( collapse) just after his partner …………. ( fall) into it. The audience, horrified, ………… ( hold) its breath.


The tightrope walker …………. ( cling ) to the rope for as long as possible, and then he ………. ( let) go. I ………….. (be) sure that I …………. ( faint ). The whole audience ……….. ( know) that the poor guy ……………. ( probably break) his neck in the fall.
However, instead of crashing of his death, he ………… ( fall) onto one of the elephants. ………… ( slide) off the elephant’s back, and …………. ( land) softly on the floor of the tent. He …............ ( be) fine, but the elephant, shocked by this unexpected creature on her back, ………….. ( flee) to the next ring, where the clowns ………… ( just squeeze) into the car and ………….. ( now try ) to wiggle out. The elephant …………. ( run ) past the clowns toward the ringmaster, who ………… ( split ) his pants while he ………….. ( try ) to climb over a low wall to get away.

Then the elephant ………… ( head) for the ring with the lions, where the lion tamer ………… ( run ) back and forth, trying to capture his lions and put them back their cages. I ………….. ( wonder) what ………… ( happen) next when the lions, nervous and confused, …………… ( spring) out of the ring, into the audience. Terrified people ……….. ( flee ) in all directions. Others ………….. ( hide) under their seats. Nobody ………….. ( be) hurt, but several days later, the owners of the circus …………. ( choose) to go out of business because this kind of thing …………. ( forever happen)

My short career with the circus ……….. ( begin) and ………… ( and) over two decades ago. I …………. ( wait on ) tables for a few years after finishing high school, and then I ………… ( go ) to college. I …………. ( work) in a bank ever since I ………… (graduate) from college. It ……………. (be) a very boring line of work. I …………. (sit)

at a desk all day and seldom ……………. ( have) an opportunity to meet any interesting people. I ………….. ( answer) question and …………. (give) financial advice whenever anyone ………….. (come) in and …………… (ask) for a loan. Last year, one of the blank tellers …………. ( steal) $20,000 from the bank, but aside from that, nothing exciting ever …………( happen). Right now, for example, I ………… ( sit ) at my desk and ……………… ( hope0 that the phone won’t ring. I ……….. ( think ) about doing.

Something exciting: going on a safari though the jungle, taking a spaceship into out space, or doing scientific experiments in a laboratory. You see, I ……….. ( begin) to get very restless. I ……….. ( wear) a business day for the past twenty years. I ………….. ( answer) the same questions thousands of times. I ………… ( not do ) anything exciting since I was a teenager. A good salary ………… ( not be ) enough. I ………… (see) circus posters all over town this week, and I …………( already decide) to put in my application and trade in my business suit for a clown suit!