____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

CONTINUOUS WRITING
A basic technique of writing a narrative is to combine the used of Past Continuous Tense and
Simple Past Tense.
Past continuous tense: to show that something or an action is still going on or in the progress
during a specific time. e.g. He was sleeping when I arrived.
e.g.
Simple Past Tense: to describe an action that started and finished at a specific time in the past
and usually indicated by Adverbs of Time e.g. yesterday
I was walking on the street
When
While

when

the car exploded.

the car exploded

I was walking on the street.

The car exploded

while

I was walking on the street.

I was walking on the street

the car exploded.

Practice 1
WHAT WAS HAPPENING?
Match the phrases in Column A and B accordingly to form correct and logical
sentences.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Column A
I was watching TV.
We were making noise
Tim was sleeping last night
I was riding my bike yesterday
I was cooking dinner.
We were walking in the rain yesterday
I was playing football yesterday
He was walking in the forest

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)

Column B
when the lights went out.
when I broke my leg.
when the teacher walked in
when the gas ran out.
when he had a nightmare.
when we stumbled upon a dead cat.
when a tiger attacked him.
when I fell off.

____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

Practice 2

Yesterday

walking

an empty house

saw

on the ground.

Last school holiday

watching

with my best friend

heard

heavily.

Last night

washing

the movie

slipped

an accident.

A week ago

cooking

Harry Potter

cut

my finger.

Last year

doing

my dinner

called

into my house.

Last Saturday

shopping

football with my friends

met

my shoulder.

In September,1999

reading

in the kitchen

thought

my eyes.

A few weeks ago

playing

for a new pair of jeans

rained

me a shocking news.

found

loudly.

discovered

to my house.

remembered

a funny story.

came

a shocking truth.

knocked

my ankle.

stopped

by our house.

tapped

my long lost friend.

th

my mother
I
it
my father
Rafi
somebody
a car
my brother
we
something

Two hours ago

jogging

my 17 birthday

Last month

practising

in my bedroom

Last summer

fishing

my favourite TV programme

passing by

home from school

celebrating

in the park

Two days ago

listening

in the river near my house

On 26 October, 2011

enjoying

my fathers car

Last April

completing

my motorcycle

screamed

a wallet.

One sunny morning

eating

homework

told

a strange noise.

One rainy day

swimming

to the radio

caught

of someone.

One snowy evening

sleeping

badminton at school

sneaked

my name.

One stormy night

repairing

the English essay

sprained

on the door.

Recently
Last fortnight

while
when I was

____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

Based on the table above, form 20 sentences.
e.g. Yesterday while I was walking home from school, I saw an accident.
1
.
2
..
3..................
..................................................
4

10

11

12
.
13

14

15

____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

16

17

18

19

20

Practice 3
Now, lets develop one of the sentences above into a continuous story.
Fill in the blanks using the verbs given.

Write a story beginning with It all began on one sunny morning

Passage
It all began on one sunny morning when I was _____my favourite TV programme, somebody ____
on the door. I slowly opened the door and saw a tall guy standing in front of me. It was the delivery man. He
was ___a parcel in his hands. He smiled at me. He ___the parcel to me and asked me to sign the paper. I
thanked him and closed the door. I quickly _____ the parcel. It was from my Uncle Rahman. It was a pair of
binoculars!. I was very excited as I was _____ on a hiking trip the following week with my friends. I could
not wait to use the binoculars.
The day finally ___. I woke up early that morning and waited for my friends, to pick me up. We were
going to Gunung Senyum for a hiking trip. It was a three-day trip. We ___ there by bus. When we were on
the bus, we sang happily. We saw beautiful sceneries along the way. While some of us were busy ____ to
each other, the others slept during our journey.
We reached our destination at around 4.30 in the afternoon. There were some ranger officers waiting
for us. They ___us and informed us about our stay there. Later, one of the officers took us to the campsite in a
land rover. The road was muddy. I felt nervous as that was my first experience of hiking and camping. After
forty five minutes, we ____ the campsite. We quickly ____ our tents as it was getting darker. We all slept
early as we would start hiking at 6.30 the following morning.
The next morning, we started our journey to climb up Gunung Senyum. My friend, Jehan and
Mr.Kanna the ranger officer ___ the way. After walking for an hour, we reached the higher ground. We
stopped for a short break. I took the chance and _____ my binoculars. It was a beautiful view.
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____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

Suddenly, I saw something weird. I saw some people moving suspiciously through the jungle. They
were _______ some bundles under their arms. I quickly told Mr Kanna about it. Mr Kanna asked to borrow
my binoculars. He wanted a better look. After a while, he _____. He told us to be very quiet. He said it was
dangerous. The people we saw could be criminals.
He led us away quietly and we ____ back to our camp site. There, he took out his walkie-talkie and
_____ his friends. After talking to his friends, he told us to hide. He said maybe the criminals would come
through the camp site. We followed his advice and___ in the trees.
Mr. Kanna was right. Ten minutes later, the criminals passed through our place. Luckily, they did not
notice us. After a while, we felt safe to come out. But we were wrong. The criminals were ____for us to come
out and we were caught together with Mr Kanna.
We did not know what to do. I was afraid of the criminals. Luckily, I saw a scorpion on the ground. I
___ an idea. I took the scorpion and slowly ___ it under one of the criminals shirt. He started to jump around
and his friends ____ to laugh. They laughed so hard that they did not see the police approaching. Suddenly,
the police ___ into the camp site. They caught the criminals and we were saved.
The inspector said I was very helpful. I was also very brave. My friends were very proud of me. Mr
Kanna gave me a present for helping to catch the criminals. It was a basket of fruits. I ____ the present with
my friends. This is an experience I will never forget.

Practice 4
Rearrange the sentences into a story...

NO

Sentences
Amran and his brother made faces at the man.
Amrans father panicked as he lost control of the car.
Suddenly, the tyre of their car punctured.
Amrans father got down from the car.
There were no tools.
He offered Amrans family a ride on his trishaw.
Then Amran saw a man pedalling a trishaw in front of them.
He was disappointed.
The man ignored the children.
Amran and his brother were ashamed.
He opened the boot of the car.
Amran and his family were travelling in their car.
He held on to the steering wheel and applied his brakes.
His father overtook the man.
Not long after, the man on the trishaw came by.
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____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

Amrans father panicked as he lost control of the car.

They wanted to attend an open house.

Write the answers in the boxes provided.

NO
1

Sentences
Amran and his family were travelling in their car.

En
d

They apologized to the man for being rude.

____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

Rewrite the sentences in few paragraphs

Practice 5
Expanding sentences by adding adjectives or adverbs or using Whs and H
questions.

1. Amran and his family were travelling in their ^ car.

What is the colour of the car?

What is the size of the car? ...

____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

2. They wanted to attend an open house^.

Where is the open house? ..

How far is the open house?

3. Then Amran saw a man^ pedaling a trishaw^in front of them.

What is the condition of the man?

How the trishaw moves? ..
4. Amrans father overtook the^ man.

Give an adjective on the man :

5.

Amran and his^ brother made ^ faces at the man.

Give an adjective on the brother:

What kind of faces they have made? .

6. The^

man

ignored the ^ children.

Give an adjective on the man:

Give an adjective on the children: .
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____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

Rewrite the sentences ..

____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

Now, you should be able to write adjectives and adverbs on your own. Continue by completing
the exercise below by adding adjectives and adverbs. For each sentence, you must add at least 3
adjectives and/or adverbs. Your teacher will guide you but they will not provide you with the
answers. Try to complete this exercise by yourself. Good luck.
Practice 6

Suddenly, the tyre of their car punctured.

Amrans father panicked as he lost control of the car.

He held on to the steering wheel and applied his brakes.

Amrans father got down from the car.

He opened the boot of the car.

There were no tools.

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____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

He was disappointed.

Not long after, the man on the bullock cart came by.

He offered Amrans family a ride on his bullock cart.

Amran and his brother were ashamed.

They apologized to the man for being rude.

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____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

Rewrite the sentences in few paragraphs.

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____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

Practice 7
Rearrange the jumbled up words and phrases.
Example :
a dark and scary / It was / night. /
It was a dark and scary night.

I was about / to the kitchen. / to go

a tapping sound / Then I heard / on my window.

shouted. / I
a flash of lightning / Suddenly / I saw / at the window.

which I had seen / television show. / It looked / like a monster / on the

scared. / I felt / very

I ran / to my bed. / Then

I started / for my parents. / to shout

there was / no answer. / Unfortunately

I remembered / Then / that they were at / a fancy dress party.

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____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

I peeped out / too dark. / of my blanket / to see anything / but it was

footsteps. / Then / I heard

They / louder and louder. / were getting
died off. / Soon / the footsteps

Rewrite the sentences .

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____________________________________________________Kem Akademi Bahasa Inggeris SPM 2014

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