A

Fill in the missing verbs in the text to find out a fascinating story about your life. You should change
the verbs into the simple past tense in order to make sense.

agree - smile - ask - stand - fall - shook - lose - be - begin - pour

A philosophy professor 1) ………………... before his class and had some items in
front of him.

First he 2) …………..…. filling a large glass jar with golf balls. The
students 3) ………….…. that the jar 4) ……..………..… full. So the
professor 5) ….……….……... and picked up a box of small pebbles and
poured them into the jar. The pebbles, of course, 6) ……………….…..
into the small spaces. Then the professor 7) ………….... a box of sand
into the jar, 8) ………….…. it, and the sand completely filled the jar.

Then he explained. “The jar represents your life,’ said the

professor. ‘The balls are the important things – your family,
your religion, your health; if you 9) …………………….
everything else, your life would still be full. The pebbles are
the smaller things that matter – your job, your house, your
car. The sand represents the trivial things. If you put the
sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or
the balls, just like life. Take care of the rocks first- the things
that really matter. The rest is just sand.’

One student 10) …………..…. what wine represented. The professor smiled and
said:’ Look, what happens!’ then he poured the entire contents of the glasses of
wine into the jar and the tea was easily absorbed. ‘Now it’s full’, he said.

‘You know what,’ the professor continued, ‘the moral of the

story is simple.

No matter how full your life is, there is always room for
a glass of wine with a friend.’
 B

Fill in the missing verbs in the text to find out a fascinating story about your life.

lost - poured - began - was - smiled - shook - agreed - stood - asked - fell

A philosophy professor 1) ………………... before his class and had some items in
front of him.

First he 2) …………..…. filling a large glass jar with golf balls. The students 3)
………….…. that the jar 4) ……..………..… full. So the professor 5)
….……….……... and picked up a box of small pebbles and poured
them into the jar. The pebbles, of course, 6) ……………….….. into the
small spaces. Then the professor 7) ………….... a box of sand into the
jar, 8) ………….…. it, and the sand completely filled the jar.

Then he explained. “The jar represents your life,’ said the professor.
‘The balls are the important things – your family, your
religion, your health; if you 9) ……………………. everything
else, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the smaller
things that matter – your job, your house, your car. The
sand represents the trivial things. If you put the sand into
the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the balls,
just like life. Take care of the rocks first- the things that
really matter. The rest is just sand.’

One student 10) …………..…. what wine represented. The professor smiled and
said:’ Look, what happens!’ then he poured the entire contents of the glasses of
wine into the jar and the tea was easily absorbed. ‘Now it’s full’, he said.

‘You know what,’ the professor continued, ‘the moral of the

story is simple.

No matter how full your life is, there is always room for
a glass of wine with a friend.’
Key
1. stood
2. began
3. agreed
4. was
5. smiled
6. fell
7. poured
8. shook
9. lost
10.asked