Read these sentences and choose 'past simple' or 'past continuous' for each sentence.

1. i talked to john yesterday.

past continuous
past simple

2. the boys played basketball five minutes ago.

past continuous
past simple

3. the students were texting.

past continuous
past simple

What do you like best about your school?

I like my school a lot. Our teachers are very good. Their lessons are usually interesting. There are large classrooms in the school where our pupils study different subjects. We have a library with many books. I like to go to the library during breaks and read books there. I also like our school gym and our PT lessons. Our PT teacher teaches us to play football, and in winter we learn to ski and skate. But the best thing about our school is that I have a lot of friends here! Most of my friends are my classmates.

Что  в твоей школе нравится тебе больше всего?

Мне очень нравится моя школа. Наши учителя очень хорошие. Их уроки обычно интересны. В школе есть большие кабинеты, где ученики изучают разные предметы. У нас есть библиотека с множеством книг. Я люблю ходить в библиотеку на переменах и читать там книги. Мне также нравится наш школьный спортзал и наши уроки физкультуры. Наш учитель физкультуры учит нас играть в футбол, а зимой мы учимся кататься на лыжах и коньках. Но самое лучшее в нашей школе то, что у меня здесь много друзей! Большинство моих друзей - мои одноклассники.

Long ago the Great Patriotic War ended. It was the ruthless and bloodiest war of the twentieth century. But even now, those who remember that war, they are veterans, live among us. There are very few of them left. At a time when they were young, slightly older than us, they defended their homeland from a cruel enemy in the Soviet army.

I'm interested in the stories of veteran Leonid Ivanovich Kulikov about military service and the Great Patriotic War. Now Leonid Ivanovich is a colonel in retirement, he has the entire tunic in awards: medals and orders, people respect him. When the fascists occupied his small town in Moldova, he was 15 years old. He was captured. But I did not get to the camp, I ran away. For a long time he hid in the woods, he waited for his troops to liberate the region. And when the village was rescued from the Germans, he was taken into the army and sent to study in the tank school. Leonid Ivanovich recalls that at that time it was very difficult. They worked all day, learned to drive combat vehicles, to shoot guns that were on tanks. There was no time to rest, because the army needed good tankers. The tank's details are heavy, the physical loads were great, but there was not enough food. The cadets were constantly undernourished. But all stood firm, because it was hard for everyone at that time. And when Leonid Ivanovich finished his studies, he was sent to fight on the front line. The gunner at the best T-34 tank, he thundered the enemy along with other soldiers in Romania, Hungary. When the war was over, another ten years was a tanker, because the soldiers were not allowed to go home for a long time. The army needed to be kept strong so that soldiers and officers could protect peace in our country after the war.

Despite everything, the heavy army life of Leonid Ivanovich at that time was pleasant. It was very interesting. He traveled all over the country, he had many friends! And the young tankman decided to continue studying. He became an officer, commander of a tank unit.

Now Leonid Ivanovich eighty-seven years. Thanks to him, his comrades and all the veterans for the fact that we have peace now.