3. Complete this text using the correct form (past simple or past continuous) of the verbs in brackets. We had just had a nice meal and I (1) ___ (look) out of the window, admiring the beauty of the clouds. Everything (2) ___ (go) smoothly and I said to myself, ‘Flying is great!’ We (3) ___ (have) just half an hour to go before landing and I (4) ___ (feel) pretty relaxed when the rather large woman who (5) ___ (sit) next to me suddenly started telling me the story of her life. She (6) ___ (wear) a luxurious fur coat because she said she (7) ___ (feel) cold. She was so large that she (8) ___ (take) up not only her own seat, but half of mine too. She overflowed into my seat like a big, furry animal. As she spoke, I (9) ___ (pretend) to read my newspaper, squashed like a sardine in my seat. I (10) ___ (can) hear the woman’s voice droning on above the noise of the engines. ‘Those (11) ___ (be) hard times,’ she said. ‘In those days, there were twelve of us living under the same roof and we hardly (12) ___ (have) enough to eat.’ I thought she (13) ___ (do) her best to make up for it now. She had taken a bar of chocolate out of her handbag and (14) ___ (try) to unwrap it, which (15) ___ (be) difficult because it had melted and was sticking to the paper.

Перевод задания: Дополните текст правильной формой глаголов в скобках: Past Simple или Past Continuous.

We had just had a nice meal and I was looking out of the window, admiring the beauty of the clouds. Everything was going smoothly and I said to myself, ‘Flying is great!’ We had just half an hour to go before landing and I felt pretty relaxed when the rather large woman who was sitting next to me suddenly started telling me the story of her life. She was wearing a luxurious fur coat because she said she felt cold. She was so large that she took up not only her own seat, but half of mine too. She overflowed into my seat like a big, furry animal. As she spoke, I pretended to read my newspaper, squashed like a sardine in my seat. I could hear the woman’s voice droning on above the noise of the engines. ‘Those were hard times,’ she said. ‘In those days, there were twelve of us living under the same roof and we hardly had enough to eat.’ I thought she was doing her best to make up for it now. She had taken a bar of chocolate out of her handbag and was trying to unwrap it, which was difficult because it had melted and was sticking to the paper.

Перевод: Мы только что вкусно поели, и я смотрел в окно, любуясь красотой облаков. Всё шло гладко, и я сказал себе: «Летать — здорово!» До посадки оставалось всего полчаса, и я чувствовал себя довольно спокойно, когда сидевшая рядом со мной весьма крупная женщина вдруг начала рассказывать историю своей жизни. На ней была роскошная шуба, потому что, как она сказала, ей было холодно. Она была такой крупной, что занимала не только своё место, но и половину моего. Она навалилась на моё сиденье, как большое пушистое животное. Пока она говорила, я делал вид, что читаю газету, стиснутый на своём месте, как сардина. Я слышал, как голос женщины монотонно звучал поверх шума двигателей. «Тяжёлые были времена, — сказала она. — В те дни нас было двенадцать человек под одной крышей, и нам едва хватало еды». Я подумал, что теперь она старалась наверстать упущенное. Она достала из сумочки плитку шоколада и пыталась развернуть её, но это было трудно, потому что шоколад растаял и прилип к обёртке.

В описании фона и действий, происходивших в момент рассказа, используется Past Continuous; для завершённых событий, состояний и прошедших фактов — Past Simple.