Complete the text with the correct past form of be, could or couldn't. Then listen and check.
SCHOOL LIFE IN ANCIENT EGYPT
In some ways, schools in Ancient Egypt 1 (...) very similar to schools today. There 2 (...) tables and chairs in the classrooms, and there 3 (...) a type of paper called 'papyrus', so students 4 (...) write. They wrote using hieroglyphic symbols. There 5 (...) about 700 symbols in the Egyptian alphabet!
But most teenagers didn't go to school because education 6 (...) free. Only the sons of rich families 7 (...) study. Girls usually helped at home, and most of them 8 (...) read or write.
- Речь о прошлом, подлежащее schools (мн. число) — were.
- There ... tables and chairs (мн. число) — weren't: в египетских классах не было столов и стульев (в тексте это отличие от современных школ, а «in some ways» подразумевает и различия).
- There ... a type of paper called papyrus — was: папирус существовал.
- Студенты могли писать на папирусе — could.
- There ... about
symbols (мн. число) — were. - Education ... free — wasn't: большинство подростков не ходили в школу, потому что образование было не бесплатным.
- Only the sons of rich families ... study — could: только сыновья богатых семей могли учиться.
- Most of them ... read or write — couldn't: большинство девочек не умели читать и писать.
Прошедшее время be: was (ед. число), were (мн. число); отрицание — wasn't / weren't. Could — «мог, умел», couldn't — «не мог, не умел», после них глагол стоит без to.
