Hello, guys and girls, I need your opinion. 

I solved a exercise with my class where you had to choose between Past Simple and Past Continuous. In the first exercise students thought the correct answer was Past Continuous, when in reality it was Past Simple. I explained them, but in the end, I want to be really sure.  What is your opinion. The exercise I �m talking about it the one in blue, exercise a. 

 

" From 2000 to 2005 Sara a. worked / was working at Time, Inc. Custom Publishing. While she b. lived / was living in New York, she c. took / was taking a freelance job ghostwriting a book for another publisher. While she d. wrote / was writing this book, she e. realised / was realising that she liked young adult fiction.

 

Thanks. 

Actually, either answer is correct, because the whole exercise is not clearly written.

 

If this is a sequence of events, with parts b - d happening after 2005, then the past simple is definitely the correct answer.

 

However, if these other events happened while she was working at Time, and if the author wants to emphasize the duration of this employment, then the past continuous is also correct, because these other things happened (or at least they began to happen) while she was working there. In either case, "worked" is a better answer, because of the specified time period in the past, but past continuous is not wrong.

 

Bruce