This lesson is to help you recognise and practice the past perfect simple tense.
Activity 1
Rio+20 followed the Earth Summit in Rio, which had introduced important agreements on climate change and biodiversity. By the time of Rio+20, however, global emissions had risen by 48%, 300 million hectares of forest had been cleared and the population had increased by 1.6 billion people.
Which of these events happened first? Put them in chronological order:
| emissions rise | Earth Summit | forest cleared |
| population increases | Rio+20 | agreements introduced |
Activity 2
When the researchers arrived in Siberia they found that an area of permafrost spanning a million square kilometres had started to melt for the first time since it formed 11,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age.
Did the researchers’ arrival cause the permafrost to melt? How do you know? Discuss this with your group.
Past perfect simple
| had + past participle | Earth summit had introduced important agreements. |
| had not + past participle | Despite this, emission levels had not changed. |
| had .... + past participle? | Had the researchers caused the ice to melt? |
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