Part 1 - Reading and English in Use Test 8

Мне стало больно от ответа первого человека, так что вставлю свои пять копеек.

1) In my opinion one of the hardest languages is Hungarian. Although it is a European language, it has nothing in common with the languages of Europe. What is more, it has a unique structure that is pretty hard to understand.

2) As for me, English is really important, because it is the main international language nowadays. It allows us to communicate with each other no matter in what countries we live. Also I find Spanish interesting, because it is the second world's largest language and is considered one of the most beautiful and easy languages to learn and speak.

 It (happened) two years ago. Martha (my sister) and I (decided) to make a trip to Canada. We (packed) our suitcases rather quickly. Martha (wasn't fond of) ironing very much that time so, she (was) very surprised that I (had ironed) all her clothes beforehand. When we arrived in Toronto we suddenly (understood) that we (had left) the address of our hotel on the table at home. Martha (was) in panic of course I (tried) to pull myself together. We (started) searching for our hotel. It (turned) out that they have six hotels with the same name located in different parts of the city. We (took) a taxi and (went) around the city. As I (knew) the city well we (found) our hotel soon. Surprisingly, the driver who (had given) us a drive round the city (offered) me to work as a tour guide for those who (came) from Paris. I (agreed), moreover, I (had had) an experience in Morocco. I (had been) in charge of different tours around the city and fortunately I (had never dealt) with complaints. Our trip (was) fascinating and we (were) glad that we (had forgotten) our hotel’s address at home.  

1) It (was raining) heavily so, we (decided) not to go hiking but to invite friends to our house and cook dinner together.
2) I (to refer) to John when I told the meeting about our current problem. (НЕ ЗНАЮ)
3) No, I (didn't go) to Italy two years ago.
4) When I last went to Italy, a team of scientists (were examining) the falling tower of Pisa.
5) What (were you doing) when I phoned yesterday?
6) By the time we got to the cinema the film (had started), so we missed the first five minutes. 7) I spent a week in Miami recently. I (hadn't been) there before.
8) She told me she (had attended) a lot of meetings in Prague.
9) When I (got back), nobody (had done) the washing up. I was furious