Hi everyone! I've got a question for English speakers. In the following exercise, they use Past Continuous tense in the first sentence. I doubt whether it would be possible to use Past Simple in that phrase? I mean, if I don't look at the following sentences, and look at the first phrase, I might think that this sentence describes the finished event in the past, a fact. How would I know that I need to highlight that it lasted for a certain period of time in the past, and therefore I need to use Past Continuous? Also, I have doubts about the gap S: From their room on the floor, the Smiths watched the terrible effects of the tsunami on the area. In the keys, the book's authors give the Past Simple option. However, here I would use Past Continuous to show that they were looking out of their windows and watching the terrible effects, not just for one second but for quite some time. Could you please explain to me why a walk on the beach is considered as something which lasted for quite some time in the past while watching the effects of the tsunami- a simple action? P.S. I hope I have explained well what I wanted to ask, if not, please let me know and I'll try again.