4 Read the story and circle the correct form of the verbs.
When I was ten my parents (1) bought/had
bought / were buying a small sailing boat. My dad
(2) had enjoyed / was enjoyed /used to enjoy
watersports all his life and when we were children we
(3) were spending / had spent / used to spend all
our summer holidays by the sea. In fact, my parents
(4) used to meet / were meeting / had met each
other when they (5) were both taking/both took/
had both taken diving lessons.
They (6) hadn't told / weren't telling / didn't use
to tell me and my brother about the boat before our
holiday, so it was a wonderful surprise for us when we
(7) were seeing/had seen / saw it.
After two days, my brother and I (8) had learned /
learned / were learning enough to sail the boat
around the quiet bay in front of the house where we
(9) used to stay / had stayed / were staying that
year and we (10) used to feel / felt / had felt quite
grown-up. On the third day, we (11) moved / had
moved / were moving smoothly across the water
when suddenly some dolphins (12) were appearing/
her used to appear / appeared beside us. We were
amazed as we (13) never saw / never used to see/
had never seen dolphins before. After that, we
(14) were looking/ used to look / had looked out
for them every day when we (15) were sailing/
used to sail/sailed. In fact, they often seemed to be
waiting for us. It was a magical experience.