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* Intermediate

Listening for Verbs in the Present Perfect Tense and the Prepositions FOR and SINCE. Click on the book for more information.   When present perfect tense means past-to-present time, we use FOR + AN AMOUNT OF TIME or SINCE + A POINT IN TIME. Here are some examples. Do the time expression need for or since? Click to get the answer.

[ ... ]for three years
[ ... ]since an hour ago
[ ... ]since 2001
[ ... ]for a few minutes
[ ... ]for several days
[ ... ]since last week
[ ... ]since several months ago
[ ... ]for quite some time
ever [ ... ]since the war ended
ever [ ... ]since the last millennium
ever [ ... ]since he came here.

Note that we use ever since to emphasize that a long period of time has elapsed.

Listen to the interview between an instructor and a student. Click the hidden text to get a verb and then click it to hide it. Then type the present perfect form of that verb in the text field. Read carefully to know if the sense of the sentence requires an affirmative or negative verb. Where you have only a text field, use for or since, whichever is correct.
In this interview an instructor interviews Nhan about his eating habits. Nhan says that he [ ... ]be a vegetarian for four years now. During this time, he [ ... ] avoid eating eggs as well as meat. Nhan became a vegetarian out of compassion, ethics, and spiritual practice. He says that giving up meat [ ... ]be hasn't been   difficult for him. He gets his protein from tofu, cheese and milk and [ ... ] feel better both physically and mentally.

Nhan claims that he [ ... ]have the same amount of energy he became a vegetarian. He [ ... ]lose only five pounds. The desire to lose weight didn't influence his decision. According to Nhan, it [ ... ] be more difficult to prepare meals. Instead of using meat, he uses a variety of foodsFood is usually a noncount noun. It can be plural, however, when it refers to kinds of foods., such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains. His favorite foods are tofu, nuts, raisins, and apples, but he [ ... ]prefer only these foods the past few years. This new way of eating [ ... ]amount to a big change for him. Nhan also [ ... ] eat fish he changed his diet. He says that he will always be a vegetarian and that nothing will change his mind because this [ ... ] become a daily spiritual practice. He also suggests that his interviewer become a vegetarian for physical and mental benefits. However, to this date, she [ ... ] follow his suggestion.