Identify Mistakes in Verb Tense in a Short Passage

The Underground Railroad was not an actual railroad, though it did help move people from one place to another. This historic route included hundreds of miles of pathways over land and water. Along the way will be safe houses where travelers on the Underground Railroad could hide and rest. These routes and homes had to be kept secret because the people traveling between them were slaves attempting to escape to freedom.

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Before European settlers arrived in the Americas, numerous tribes and nations of American Indians inhabited the land. These native peoples are living off the land and are not having the same kinds of technology that had been developed across the Atlantic. However, indigenous Americans were by no means less civilized, though European explorers believed this to be true. In fact, American Indians of the Mississippi region developed an extensive city that relied on agriculture, trade, and manufacturing of tools. This early city is now known as Cahokia.

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In November of 2008, American history will have been forever changed when Barack Obama was elected as the first African American president of the United States. His wife, Michelle Obama, became the first African American First Lady. Although her husband’s achievements before and during his time in office were notable, Mrs. Obama’s contributions as First Lady were also inspiring. From her Let’s Move! campaign to her defense of equal rights for all Americans, Michelle Obama made a strong impact on the United States during her time as First Lady.

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Kendall wakes up with a jolt, immediately turning on her reading light. “Did you hear that?” she whispers to me urgently.

I grumbled and respond, “What?”

Kendall gets out of bed and turns on the overhead light. “Something was rustling and scraping!” she whispers.

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Click on the sentence that has an error in verb tense.

Harriet Tubman was one important figure in the history of the Underground Railroad. She was a slave herself, but she was able to escape to freedom when she was around twenty-seven years old. Tubman used the Underground Railroad to make her way from slavery in Maryland to freedom in Pennsylvania. However, Tubman soon returned to Maryland and helped her family members escape to freedom. Tubman has traveled along various routes of the Underground Railroad over a dozen times, and she helped many people escape the horrors of slavery.

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Click on the sentence that has an error in verb tense.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama was a success before she ever stepped into the White House. As a sixth grader, she enters into a gifted program at school and continued to succeed in high school. Michelle was accepted to Princeton University for college, where she studied sociology and African American studies. She went on to Harvard University, where she earned a law degree. Michelle worked as a lawyer before she became the Assistant to the Mayor of Chicago, and she then worked as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago.

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I pull the covers over my head and had shielded my eyes from the light. “It’s nothing,” I say to Kendall. “Go back to sleep.”

But Kendall is still standing in the middle of our room, still as stone. Suddenly, I hear it too—something is scratching in the corner behind the bookshelf.

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If I am going to have the best summer ever, I will have to help Grandma with grocery shopping. I will make sure all of my favorite foods were around. That way, I can always have something good to eat. I will not have to waste time staring into the fridge or worry about what is in the cupboards.

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Click on the sentence that has an error in verb tense.

The development of tools for farming was only part of what helped Mississippian cultures thrive in Cahokia. In the 1050s CE, this area experienced a shift in climate, which warmed the region. Milder temperatures allowed the three vital crops of corn, beans, and squash to grow readily farther north. As food will be becoming easier to grow in more areas, the population of Cahokia grew exponentially.

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Click on the sentence that has an error in verb tense.

“It’s a monster!” Kendall shrieks, and she shivers wildly.

“Oh come on,” I say, finally climbing out of bed to investigate. I do not want to tell Kendall, but the noise had me feeling disturbed, too. I walk over to the corner and try to look behind the shelf.

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My third goal for the summer is to go to the pool every day. I will have to save forty dollars in order to buy a pass for the pool. Starting now, I am going to save my allowance and had asked for jobs around the neighborhood. I should be able to save enough just in time for summer to start.

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Many free black people and escaped slaves helped along the Underground Railroad and will work as conductors. Some of these conductors took on a very dangerous role. They pretended to be slaves so that they were able to enter plantations. Once a conductor was welcomed into a plantation, he or she instructed the enslaved people on how to escape to nearby safe houses.

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The Mississippians were known as mound-builders because they will build very large earthen mounds. These structures characterized the city of Cahokia as well as other American Indian tribes’ settlements. The mounds had religious significance, and some were used as burial places. Other mounds were also likely the location of homes and other structures of powerful people in the city.

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Click on the sentence that has an error in verb tense.

I cannot see anything behind the shelf because it is too close to the wall, but the noise happened again. Kendall hops around on the spot, and groans with worry.

“Can you help me move this shelf?” I ask her, and she finally comes over to help. As we pull it out, Kendall shrieks again as we see a tiny little mouse in the corner, rustling a candy wrapper.

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