THE SECRET OF A LONG LIFE

Grygori Pilikan recently celebrated his 114^th birthday and reporters visited him in his mountain village in Georgia to find out the secret of a long life. ‘The secret of a long life,’ Grygori said, ‘is happiness. If you (1) (be) are happy, you will live a long time.’ ‘Are you married?’ a reporter asked. ‘Yes,’ Grygori replied. ‘I married my third wife when I was 102. If you happily married, you (2) ___ (live) for ever. But for my third wife, I (3) ___ (die) years ago.’ ‘What about smoking and drinking?’ a reporter asked. ‘Yes, they are important,’ Grygori said. ‘Don’t smoke at all and you (4) ___ (feel) well. Drink two glasses of wine a day and you (5) ___ (be) healthy and happy.’ ‘If you (6) ___ (can/live) your life again, what (7) ___ (you/do)?’ a reporter asked.’ ‘I would do what I have done. If I had more sense, I (8) ___ (eat) more yoghourt!’ he chuckled. ‘Supposing you (9) __ (can/change) one thing in your life what (10) ___ (you/change)?’ another reporter asked. ‘Not much,’ Grygori replied. ‘So you don’t have any regrets?’ ‘Yes, I have one regret,’ Grygori replied. ‘If I (11) ___ (know) I was going to live so long, I (12) ___ (look after) myself better!’

5. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

Yesterday the famous bank robber, Fingers Smith, robbed another bank in the centre of town. As usual, he only stole $10. If he (1) had left (leave) any clues, he (2) ___ (be) in prison now, but he’s much too clever. He disconnected the security cameras; if he (3) ___ (not/do) that, the police (4) ___ (have) him on film now. The strange thing is, Fingers doesn’t seem to be interested in the money; if he (5) ___ (be), he (6) ___ (can/steal) thousands of pounds by now. The police are determined to catch him, and the Chief is confident that they will. He says that if he (7) ___ (think) they weren’t going to arrest Fingers eventually, he (8) ___ (leave) the police force long ago.