Life stories practice questions.

Choose the correct form: "When I was a child, we ___ live in a small village in the mountains."

• use to
• used to
• are used to
• would used to

Answer: used to

'Used to + infinitive' describes past habits or states that are no longer true — ideal for narrating life stories.

Choose the correct narrative tense: "I was walking home when I suddenly ___ an old school friend."

• was meeting
• met
• had met
• have met

Answer: met

The past simple ('met') describes a completed action interrupting a longer background action in the past continuous ('was walking').

Choose the correct verb form: "By the time she was thirty, she ___ in five different countries."

• lived
• was living
• had lived
• has lived

Answer: had lived

The past perfect ('had lived') expresses an action completed before another past time ('by the time she was thirty').

Which word best describes a life story that motivates others to overcome difficulties?

• discouraging
• inspiring
• ordinary
• forgettable

Answer: inspiring

'Inspiring' describes something that motivates or encourages people, the natural adjective for a moving life story.

Choose the correct relative pronoun: "The teacher ___ inspired me most later became a close friend."

• which
• who
• whose
• where

Answer: who

'Who' is the relative pronoun used for people acting as the subject of the relative clause.

Choose the best linking word: "He struggled at school; ___, he went on to become a successful engineer."

• therefore
• nevertheless
• because
• in the meantime

Answer: nevertheless

'Nevertheless' introduces a contrast, showing success despite the earlier difficulty; 'therefore' and 'because' express cause, not contrast.