Hi,

I have got the question about this exercise:

Complete the sentences with the correct form of used to, could or was/were able to and the verbs in brackets.

1) Until 1955, people in Britain ................ (only watch) BBC television.

2) Before personal stereos, people .............(not listen) to music everywhere.

3) In 2007, people all over the world ............... (watch) the Live8 concert

4) Jeans became fashionable in the 1950s. Before then, only workers ............. (wear) them.

5) Before the Internet, musicians..............(not sell) their own music without a record company.

 

 I �m not sure, but I think that in all of above examples we can use three forms ("used to", "could" and "was/were able to"). Am I right?

In this context, "could" and "was/were able to" mean about the same; they mean that the ability to do something was present. "Used to" is different; it means that something was done before but not now.

 

So, for these sentences,

1) Until 1955, people in Great Britain could only watch/were only able to watch BBC television.

2) Before personal stereos, people were not able to/were unable to/could not listen to music everywhere.

3) In 2007, people all over the world could watch/were able to watch the Live8 concert.

4) Jeans became fashionable in the 1950s. Before then, only workers used to wear them. (Do not use could or were able here. Other people had the ability to wear jeans, but they didn �t because jeans were work clothes.)

5) Before the Internet, musicians were not able to/were unable to/could not sell their own music without a record company.

Thank you very much:) Now I understand it.

I agree with MoodyMoody �s answers, but I would add one thing. In the US, at least, we usually don �t use "used to" when some time period is specified, as in #4 ("Before then"). It is much more common to say "Before then, only workers wore them." It isn �t wrong to use "used to", but it doesn �t quite sound native.

 

Bruce