This two-part exercise will give you practice is using the past forms of regular verbs and irregular verbs. Before attempting the exercise, you may find it helpful to review these articles:

• Forming the Past Tense of Regular Verbs
• Using Correct Forms of the Verb "Be"
• Introduction to Irregular Verbs in English
• Principal Parts of Irregular Verbs

Instructions:
Step one: For each sentence below, write the correct past or past-participle form of the verb in parenthesis.

Step two: Combine, revise, and rearrange the sentences to create a coherent essay with a clear introduction, three or four body paragraphs, and a conclusion. (See the guidelines at Introduction to Sentence Combining.) Feel free to add, delete, or alter words in the interest of clarity and directness.

When you have completed step one of the exercise, compare your responses with the answers on page two. When you have completed step two, compare your essay with the original version of "Butt Ends" on page three. Many variations are possible, of course, and no two versions of the essay will be the same.

Butt Ends

1. _______________ Merdine (decide) to quit smoking.
2. _______________ She (make) this decision recently.
3. _______________ She had (smoke) two packs of cigarettes a day.
4. _______________ She had (do) this for several years.
5. _______________ In this time, her teeth had (turn) brown.
6. _______________ Her fingertips (be) yellow.
7. _______________ She had (develop) a hacking cough.
8. _______________ She (wheeze) like a cracked radiator.

1. _______________ She (know) it was time to quit.
2. _______________ She (understand) that it would not be easy.
3. _______________ Merdine's first step (be) to change her brand of cigarettes.
4. _______________ She (switch) to a "low-tar" brand.
5. _______________ She immediately (start) smoking twice as many cigarettes as before.
6. _______________ She (keep) coughing and wheezing.
7. _______________ Then she (buy) a plastic Magic Filter.
8. _______________ She (inhale) deeply.
9. _______________ She (swallow) the filter.
10. _______________ She (try) nicotine gum.
11. _______________ She (take) snuff.
12. _______________ She (continue) to smoke like a chimney.
13. _______________ Merdine (devise) a plan.
14. _______________ She (plan) to cut out smoking gradually.
15. _______________ She (begin) her program on a Monday.
16. _______________ She (smoke) 68 cigarettes.
17. _______________ On Tuesday, she (cut) down to 65.
18. _______________ By Friday, she had (return) to just two packs.
19. _______________ She (be) feeling proud of herself.
20. _______________ She (go) down to the Rainbow Inn.
21. _______________ She (drink) a bottle of Perrier.
22. _______________ She (celebrate) by smoking a carton of cigarettes.
23. _______________ The next Monday Merdine (sign) up for a course.
24. _______________ The course (be) held at the Bates Motel.
25. _______________ She (pay) $100 to enroll in the course.
26. _______________ The course was (suppose) to help people.
27. _______________ It (promise) to help people quit smoking.
28. _______________ Merdine (sit) through a two-hour lecture.
29. _______________ The speaker (frighten) the audience with descriptions of lung diseases.
30. _______________ His assistant (collect) cigarettes from the members of the audience.
31. _______________ "You are (heal)," the speaker said to the crowd.
32. _______________ "You are crazy!" Merdine (cry) out.
33. _______________ Merdine (be) frustrated.
34. _______________ She had (run) out of gimmicks.
35. _______________ She (know) that there was just one thing left to do.
36. _______________ She (toss) out her cigarettes.
37. _______________ She (lock) herself in the bathroom.
38. _______________ She (flush) the key down the toilet.
39. _______________ She (pound) on the walls.
40. _______________ Finally, after two days in the bathroom, she (smash) the door down.
41. _______________ She (be) weeping.
42. _______________ At last she (have) quit smoking.
43. _______________ Merdine has (go) four weeks now without a cigarette.
44. _______________ She has (swear) off smoking for life.
45. _______________ She has (begin) to eat instead.
46. _______________ She has (cram) the cupboards with junk foods.
47. _______________ She has (stock) her freezer with ice cream.
48. _______________ In four weeks Merdine has (put) on 20 pounds.
49. _______________ Still, she is not (concern).
50. _______________ She has (come) up with a sure-fire plan to lose weight.

When you have completed step one of the exercise, compare your responses with the answers on page two.