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1. Read the text. Where is Howells's hard drive? How much is it worth? Did he find it?
Buried treasure
In November 2013, James Howells started searching an enormous rubbish dump. He was looking for a computer hard drive which he had thrown away three months earlier. The hard drive contained 7,500 bitcoins (a virtual currency that people use online). He had bought the bitcoins for almost nothing in 2009, but by 2013 the value of a single bitcoin had risen to over 1,000. So, the value of Howells′s collection had increased to 7.5 million.
In 2010, Howells, who works in IT, took his computer apart because he had spilled a drink on it. He had first kept the hard drive and had sold the other parts. When in 2013 he heard about the value of the virtual currency, it was too late. He had thrown the hard drive away! He had totally forgotten about the bitcoins. Howells never found the hard drive – and unfortunately, he hadn't saved any of his data.
2. Look at the examples of the past perfect highlighted in the text in exercise 1. Find all the other examples. Complete rule a in the Learn this! box.
LEARN THIS! Past perfect
a. We form the past perfect with (1) _____ or (2) _____ and the past participle.
b. We use the past perfect when we are already talking about past events and we want to talk about an even earlier event.
When I got to the classroom, the lesson had started.
The lesson started.
I got to the classroom.
c. We often use the past perfect with after, before or when.
Before I got to the bus station, the bus had already left.
After I’d called Maggie, I watched a film on TV.
3. Read rules b and c in the Learn this! box. Explain the difference in meaning between the sentences below.
1. When he threw away the computer, Howells forgot about the bitcoins.
2. When he threw away the computer, Howells had forgotten about the bitcoins.
| ⇒ Grammar Builder 6D Past perfect: page 118 |
4. Complete the sentences. Use the past perfect form of the verbs in brackets.
1. After I _____ (leave) the newsagent's, I realised I _____ (forget) to buy a paper.
2. When I got to the shopping centre, most of the shops ____ already _____ (close).
3. We didn't have any bread because I ____ (not go) to the baker's.
4. My sister wasn't there when l got home because she __________ (go) to the cinema.
5. USE OF ENGLISH Rewrite each pair of sentences as one sentence, using after.
1. I bought a lottery ticket. Then I went home.
After I'd bought a lottery ticket, I went home.
2. I went to the cosmetics store. Then I went to the hairdresser's.
3. I paid for the flowers. Then I left the shop.
4. Jim did some shopping. Then he caught the bus home.
6. Complete the text with the phrases below. Use the past perfect.
buy his ticket not check the numbers
lose lost his ticket;
with the lottery take the lottery company
When Martyn Tott learned that he (1) _____, he was, of course, delighted. He (2) _____ months earlier at his local newsagents. He (3) _____ at the time, but he knew he was the winner because he always chose the same six numbers. But there was a problem. He (4) _____! Martyn Tott’s computer records proved that he was the winner, but the lottery company refused to pay him without a ticket. Two years later, he was almost penniless. He (5) _____ to, court, but (6) _____ the battle. He said he wished he had never played the lottery!
7. SPEAKING Work in pairs. Discuss the explanations for the situation or event using the past perfect. What had happened?
1. The car drove onto the pavement and hit a lamp post.
2. A cleaner found a wallet under the seats in the cinema.
3. The boy opened the envelope, read the letter and started to dance around.
