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← Level C lessonsNORTHEAST STORM · LEVEL C · UNIT 15

Choosing the Right Tense: Perfect or Simple?

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Practice note: Grammar examples and role-play details may be hypothetical. Questions explicitly about the article use the reported facts. This is a historical report, not current travel advice.

Words from the text: continue, extend, evolve, develop, nor'easter, disruption, scale, severe, significant, adjust, beyond

A Use Past Simple for an event placed in a finished past period. A specific past date or yesterday usually makes that perspective clear.

FlightAware recorded 253 cancelations and 36 delays in its September 26 report.

Cape Air had 115 canceled flights in that report.

Для события в завершённом прошлом периоде используем Past Simple. Указание даты помогает выбрать временную перспективу; отсутствие даты само по себе не требует Present Perfect.

B Use Present Perfect for a past event linked to the present, an experience up to now, or a situation continuing into the present. Avoid using it with a finished past-time expression such as yesterday.

The disruption has extended beyond Boston. (present result)

Airlines have given passengers more flexibility. (relevant now)

Conditions have evolved since Friday. (period up to now)

Выбираем время по смыслу и временной перспективе, а не только по наличию даты.

C In real reports the two tenses often stand side by side in the same paragraph: a dated figure (Past Simple) is followed by a sentence that draws out its present significance (Present Perfect). Watch for this pattern when airlines adjust schedules and the situation continues to develop.

Form / wordExample / meaning
Past Simple – specific past timePresent Perfect – present result / no exact time
on September 26has extended
on Saturdayhas continued
yesterday, last weekstill, so far, this week

In the September 26 report, FlightAware recorded 66 cancelations at Nantucket Memorial Airport. The disruption has extended beyond Boston.

The September 27 operation is still developing. Delta has specifically warned customers that a significant number of cancelations are expected at Boston Logan on Sunday.

В одном абзаце могут соседствовать оба времени — дата и итог.

Exercises

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15.1 Choose the form for this current news update: Past Simple for dated past facts; Present Perfect for results up to now.

Example: FlightAware ______ (record) 253 cancelations on September 26. → recorded

  1. On September 26, FlightAware (record) 66 cancelations at Nantucket Memorial Airport.
  2. The disruption (extend) beyond Boston, and now regional airports are also affected.
  3. On Saturday, Delta (have) 95 canceled flights at Logan.
  4. So far, several airlines (give) passengers additional flexibility because of the storm.
  5. In its Saturday announcement, Delta (say) it expected a significant number of cancelations on Sunday.
  6. Conditions (evolve) significantly since Friday, and the storm's impact is still being felt.
  7. Cape Air (announce) on Saturday that it had canceled all North Region flights.
  8. So far, the storm (develop) into a major disruption affecting the whole Northeast.
Answers

For open questions, these are model answers. Other answers may also be correct.

  1. recorded
  2. has extended
  3. had
  4. have given
  5. said
  6. have evolved
  7. announced
  8. has developed

15.2 Read the text again. For each dated fact below, find a sentence elsewhere in the text that gives the related current/ongoing result, and explain in one short sentence why the Present Perfect is used there.

Example: "FlightAware recorded 253 cancelations and 36 delays at Logan in a report just after 11 a.m. on September 26, 2026." → "The disruption has extended beyond Boston." – Present Perfect, because it gives the overall, still-true result of the storm, with no single date attached.

  1. "In the September 26 report, FlightAware recorded 66 cancelations at Nantucket Memorial Airport (ACK) and 44 cancelations at Martha's Vineyard Airport (MVY)."
  2. "On Saturday, Cape Air had 115 canceled flights at Logan."
  3. "Delta Air Lines said it expected a significant number of cancelations at Boston Logan on Sunday."
  4. "Cape Air also announced that it had canceled all flights in its North Region because of the weather."
Answers

For open questions, these are model answers. Other answers may also be correct.

  1. "Several airlines have given passengers additional flexibility because of the storm." – Present Perfect, because it states a present situation true at the moment of writing, not tied to one date.
  2. "The wider Northeast has also experienced significant disruption." – Present Perfect, because it describes an ongoing situation whose result is still relevant now.
  3. "Delta has specifically warned customers that a significant number of cancelations are expected at Boston Logan on Sunday." – Present Perfect, because the warning is a current, still-relevant communication, not just a dated past action.
  4. "American Airlines and United Airlines have also issued waivers for selected Northeast airports and travel dates." – Present Perfect, because it summarizes the current overall picture of airline responses, not one dated event.

15.3 Write current summary sentences in Present Perfect using the prompts. These summaries add a present perspective; they are not exact paraphrases of dated statistics.

Example: disruption / extend / beyond Boston → The disruption has extended beyond Boston.

  1. cancelations / continue / to affect air travel
  2. disruption / extend / to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard
  3. storm's impact / extend / beyond Boston
  4. flight situation / continue / to develop
  5. weather conditions / evolve / since Friday
  6. storm / develop / into a serious problem for travelers
Answers

For open questions, these are model answers. Other answers may also be correct.

  1. Cancelations have continued to affect air travel.
  2. The disruption has extended to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.
  3. The storm's impact has extended beyond Boston.
  4. The flight situation has continued to develop.
  5. Weather conditions have evolved since Friday.
  6. The storm has developed into a serious problem for travelers.