Exercise A: Fill the brackets in these sentences with a suitable verb from the list, as in this example:

She ('s trying) to get through to head office all morning.

go, have, make, open, post, receive, search, send, start, stop, use, visit, work

1. Our company () computers in its offices now for a long time.
2. We're very busy today. The phone () hardly () ringing since I arrived in the office this morning.
3. () you () Madrid before? Yes, I () there last year on business.
4. In 1986 our enterprise () a factory in South America.
5. I () working here when I left school.
6. 'Is your secretary still looking for the file?''Yes, she () for it for the past twenty minutes.'
7. I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I () a phone call to Paris.
8. While you () lunch, Mr Casagrande phoned.
9. We () the letter to our parent company a week ago, but we () a reply yet.
10. His firm () him to their New York office and he () there ever since.

Exercise B: Work in groups of three or four. Find out about your partners' past: place of birth, schools attended, where they lived, jobs etc. What they did before starting their present job or starting college. What they have been doing until this moment in time.