Amazing Animal Abilities
What can animals do — and how do we talk about it?
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🐙 🐘 🐦 🌟 🧠
Talking about the past 🕰️
When an action started and finished in the past, we use the Past Simple.
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Reading — three amazing animals 🐙🐘🐦
An octopus escaped its tank, crawled across the floor, and opened another to free a friend.
Elephants can recognise themselves in a mirror — they touched a mark on their head.
In 1995, pigeons learned to tell Picasso from Monet — even paintings they had never seen.
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Comprehension check 🤔
Which animal opened the box in four steps?
🐦
A crow
The class tried for twenty minutes; the crow finished the puzzle in four steps.
Talk to your partner 💬
What animal do you think is the smartest? Why?
The octopus freed a friend — do animals have feelings like friendship, or just instinct?
If you could have one animal superpower, which would you choose?
Should we test animals for intelligence, or is that unfair?
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✍️ 🔍
Two kinds of past verb 🔄
Regular verbs — add -ed
- discover → discovered
- watch → watched
- test → tested
- learn → learned
Irregular verbs — they change shape
- find → found
- know → knew
- see → saw
- teach → taught
How to make a question or negative ❓
1
They didn't escape. → not didn't escaped
2
Did she know? → not Did she knew?
3
After did or didn't, use the base form.
4
The past meaning is already carried by did.
Signal words for Past Simple 🔑
🗓️
last month
A finished time in the past.
🗓️
last year
Another finished time.
🗓️
yesterday
The day before today.
📅
in 1995
A specific past year.
⏩
when
Introduces a past event.
✅
then
Tells you something happened next.
Which form is correct? 🤔
Did the parrot flew away? — True or false? ---
❌
False
After did, use the base form: Did the parrot fly away?
Trap to avoid ⚠️
❌ Did they escaped?
✅ Did they escape?
❌ She didn't knew.
✅ She didn't know.
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Your turn — write 6–8 sentences ✍️
A pet you had (or have)
An animal at a zoo or in nature
A funny animal video you watched
About an animal you have seen or experienced:
Use Past Simple in every sentence.
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✍️ 🔍
What you can do now 🏆
🕰️
Past Simple
Actions that started and finished in the past.
➕
Regular
Add -ed — but watch the spelling.
🔄
Irregular
They change shape — learn the common ones.
❓
Questions & negatives
Did / didn't + base form.
Homework 🎒
Research one amazing animal fact. Write 4 Past Simple questions about it, then answer them.
Example: Where did the scientists find this animal? — They found it in Australia.
Bring it to the next lesson.
📝 🐾