B8. The bus driver and the mother

present perfect + ever / never

A young woman got onto a London bus one morning. She was carrying a baby. As she was buying her ticket, the bus driver said,
   ‘That’s the ugliest baby I’ve ever seen!’
The woman was furious. With a furious expression on her face, she stormed down to the back of the bus and sat down next to another passenger. The passenger noticed how upset she was, so he asked her,
   ‘What’s happened?’
   ‘I’ve never been so furious in my life. That bus driver insulted me.’
   ‘That’s terrible,’ sympathised the passenger. ‘How rude! You’re a customer so he should be polite to you. Tell you what, why don’t you go and tell him how angry you are?’
   ‘Ok, then,’ the woman said, ‘You’re right. I will. I’ll go and tell him what I think about his behaviour.’
   ‘Good idea,’ said the passenger, ‘and I’ll hold your monkey for you.’

Grammar: present perfect simple with ever / never

When you talk about your experiences of life you often use present perfect simple. The word order is has / have + ever + past participle.

Match the questions with the answers for these five jokes.

1. Have you ever traveled on a submarine?	A. Have you ever tried to iron one?
2. What two things have you never eaten for breakfast?	B. Lunch and dinner.
3. Doctor, help me! My son‘s eaten my pen. What can I do?	C. No, I always use an oven.
4. Why is an elephant’s skin so full of wrinkles?	D. No, I haven’t. I can only travel with the windows open.
5. Have you ever cooked a chicken with a wooden leg?	E. Why not use a pencil?

Put these sentences into the correct order.

6. an   place   I’ve   been   never   interesting   such   to
7. ever   the   I’ve   read   book   It’s   best   
8. life   my   so   angry   I’ve   felt   in   never
9. beautiful   met   woman   ever   Have   you   a   more   ?
10. at   stayed   ever   I’ve   It’s    hotel   the   worst

Vocabulary exercises

Match the words with the definitions.

1. behaviour	A. a  negative comment or an action which makes someone feel small or angry
2. sympathy	B. the look on your face which shows how you feel
3. insult	C. a traveller on public transport
4. expression	D. the way someone acts
5. passenger	E. a feeling of sorrow about someone else’s problems

Choose the correct word to complete these sentences.

6. You can see that Carol’s _________ upset about something.
7. I hardly ever _________ an umbrella because I always lose them on buses or trains.
8. I was very _________ about Jack’s rude behaviour to Lucy.
9. The train was crowded so I  _________ opposite another passenger.
10. I _________ with you for having to get up so early tomorrow morning!