Past Tense

Fill in the blanks with appropriate words
Isikan tempat kosong dengan perkataan yang sesuai.

He 1 was (was, is) old though no one 2.__________(knew, know, knows) exactly how old he 3._________(is, am, was.) Neither 4.____________(did, does, do) him. He 5._____________(says, say, said) he never 6.____________(keeps, keep, kept) an account of his age. His clothes and hat 7.___________(was, is, are, were) tattered and 8.____________ (seems, seem, seemed) to be of the same colour as his skin. He 9.________________(reminds, remind, reminded) me of a mouse for he 10.__________( is, are, was, were) brown as one and 11._________________(moved, move, moves) around quietly.

I 12.________________(am, do, does, did) not know where he 13.___________(come, comes, came) from and neither 14._______________(does, do, did) my grand mother.. She once 15.________________(told, tell, tells) me that he simply 16.___________________(appeared, appears, appeare) in the village with 17.__________________(the, an) old gunny sack. He 18._______________________ (has, have, had) lived here since that day.
Children and animals 19._____________(adores, adore, adored) him. He 20._____________(are, is, was, were) amazingly patient and understanding with them. He would 21.___________________(did, do, does) some gardening for 22._____________(a, an, the) richest man in the village. The food he 23.______________(bought, boughts, buy, buys, buying) with his money would be 24.________________(shares, share, shared) with the stray cats that 25.______________( lives, live, lived) with him in the five-foot way of the only shop in the village. At the end of the month, when he 26.__________________(get, gets, got) his pay, he would 27._______________(bought, buy, buys, buying) some sweets and buns for the village children. As a child, I 28.______________(has, had, have) also received these gifts from him.

Many kittens would have died of starvation if not for the old man. He always 29._________________(have, has, had) a saucer of milk or a handful of food to 30.________________(saves, save, saved) the poor creatures from hunger. Occasionally he would 31.___________________________( acts, acted, act) as a bomoh when a child or an adult fell mysteriously ill. He would chant, spit and wave some margosa leaves in front of his patient’s faces. Not long after, they would fully 32._____________________(recovers, recovered, recover) from their illness.

One day, he 33.__________________(come, comes, came , camed) to massage my uncle’s 34.________________(spraines, spraine sprained) elbow. This 35._____________________(is, was, were) when my uncle 36.________________(asks, ask, asked) the old man about his life before he 37.___________________(comes, come, came) to the village. Though at first the old man 38.______________________(were, was) reluctant, after some cajoling from us, he 39.____________________( tells, tell, told) us his story.

“I 40.___________________(has, have, had) a beautiful wife and two children. I 41._____________________(were, was, is, are ) once a happy man though I 42._________________(were, am, was, is) poor. My wife 43.____________________(died, dies, dead, death ) after being bitten by a cobra near my house. My children 44._____________________(was, were, has, is, are) five and six years old at the time. I 45.__________________(work, works, worked) day and night on my small farm. Both my sons 46.__________________________(was, were, is, are) intelligent and 47._____________________(pursues, pursue, pursued) their studies at the university level. I 48._________________(sell, sells, sold, solded) my farm to 49.______________________(supported, support, supporting, ) them during this time. However, they 50.______________________(go, goed, went, going) away to 51.________________(lived, lives, live, living) in the city soon after graduating. I 52.__________________(waites, waits, waited, waiting) for them for years. One day, I finally 53._____________________( realizes, realized, realizing, realize) that they 54._________________(do, does, did) not want me. The 54.__________________(think, thought, taught) of it 55.__________________(breaks, broken, breaking) my heart. It was then I 56._______________________(decides, decided, deciding) that I too, 57._________________( does, is, are, did) not want to see them again. I started moving from village to village, and finally, I ended up here.”

When he 58._________________(ends, ended, ending) his story, there 59._______________________(were, was) not a dry eye among us. My uncle 60._____________(askes, ask, asked) him to stay with us but he politely 61.____________________(refuses, refused, refuse) the offer.

“ I thank you for your kind offer but I 62.__________________(did, do, does) not want to be a burden to anyone. I am happy with what I have now,” he replied.

In spite of his circumstances, I 63.___________________(has, had, have, having) never seen a person with such peace in him. He would 64.__________________(go, goes, goed, went) on his daily routine in a cheerful manner, always with already smile for anyone.

One day he 65.___________________(passed, passes, pass) away peacefully in his sleep. Scores of people whose lives he had touched turned up at his funeral. He 66._____________________(was, is, were) finally put to rest in the village cemetery. The sad thing 67.____________ (is, were, are, was) we 68.______________(do, does, doed, did) not even know his name.