A Chinese official has escaped (1) efforts by a rat poison manufacturer to name its products after him, China's state media reported.
The company applied (2) last month to call its range of pesticides and poisons after Zheng Xiaoyu, the sacked head of the State Food and Drug Administration. 
But the authorities ruled (3) on Tuesday that Mr Zheng, although under investigation, had a right to protect his name. 
China's Xinhua news agency said (4) that the national trademark administrator had rejected (5) the application. 
Xinhua suggested the application could have been caused by a personal dispute between the company and Mr Zheng, who had reportedly ruled (6) against one of its drugs in 1999. 

(1) Present perfect - this is a news story. Concept : past action with present relevance . 
(2) Past simple - it's a finished action and happened at a specific time in the past - 'last month'. 
(3) Past simple - it's a finished action and happened at a specific time in the past - 'on Tuesday'. 
(4) Past simple - it's a finished action and the time is clear from the context. 
(5) Past perfect - reporting a past statement. (The direct speech would be 'rejected the application' or 'has rejected the application'.) 
(6) Past perfect - this emphasizes that this action happened at an earlier time. However, because the time - 1999 - is clearly stated, and it is very obvious that it happened earlier, the past simple could be used here. 

  
 A rebel group in northern Niger has kidnapped (1) a Chinese national working for a uranium company.
The man was captured (2) on Friday in the Ingall region, south of the town of Agadez. 
The Tuareg rebels from the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) demanded (3) that Chinese mining companies stop their activities in the desert region. 
China's embassy in Niger on Saturday confirmed (4) the abduction, but said the rebels had not yet been (5) in contact. 

(1) Present perfect - this is a news story. Concept : past action with present relevance . 
(2) Past simple - it's a finished action and happened at a specific time in the past - 'last month'. Passive voice is necessary here. (The rebels captured the man) 
(3) Past simpe - it's a finished action and the time is clear from the context - after they captured the man. However other tenses are possible here.You could you present perfect as the action has present relevance, or you could use present continuous - something happening now. 
(4) Past simple - it's a finished action and happened at a specific time in the past - 'on Saturday'. 
(5) Past perfect - reporting a past statement. (The direct speech would be '...the rebels have not yet been in contact') 

Research in Motion (RIM) has won approval (1) to sell its Blackberry handheld e-mail device in China - the world's largest mobile phone market.
The Canadian company said (2) Beijing had given (3) the green light to sell the handsets after an eight-year battle. 
The device is expected (4) to be available in shops in the country from August, according to reports, with 5,000 advance orders already received. 

(1) Present perfect - this is a news story. Concept : past action with present relevance   
(2) Past simple - it's a finished action and although the time is not stated it is normal to use past simple when we are giving details of a news story.  
(3) Past perfect - reporting a past statement. (The direct speech would be '...Beijing has given the green light...') 
(4) Present passive - this is a passive report structure - used to say what people in general feel or believe. 

A small, single-engine plane has made (1) an emergency landing on the Plover Cove Reservoir dam, after the aircraft suffered  (2) engine problems. Both people on board the aircraft escaped (3) injury, and the plane itself was not damaged. (4) The plane, from the Hong Kong Aviation Club, was  (5) on flying practice over the New Territories when the engine trouble occurred. (6) The pilot immediately informed Air Traffic Control and made (7) a successful emergency landing. The Civil Aviation Department will investigate the incident. 

 
(1) Present perfect - this is a news story. Concept : past action with present relevance   
(2) Past simple - it's a finished action used with the linking word 'after'.  
(3) Past simple - it's a finished action and although the time is not stated it is normal to use past simple when we are giving details of a news story.  
(4) Past simpe - it's a finished action and the time is clear from the context - it happens in sequence after (3) 
(5) Past simpe - it's a finished action and the time is clear from the context  However, you could use past perfect here to emphasize it happened at an earlier time. 
(6) Past simple - It's a finished action and happens in sequence. Note, if you used past perfect for (5), you wouldn't need to use it again here as this action (6) happens  (5) , not before it. 
(7) Past simple - It's a finished action and happens in sequence. 

 
Australian parents Alex and Linda Hell may reject an offer of a place for their son Max at a Catholic school in Australia after it objected (1) to enrolling the boy because of his name. Officials said (2) Max had been offered (3) a place at the St. Peter the Apostle school in  Melbourne after discussions between the principal, the parish priest and the family over his name. 
But Alex Hell said (4) he would rather send 5-year-old Max elsewhere. "We are the victims of our name," Hell said Monday. 

(1) Past simple - it's a finished action used with the linking word 'after'. This is not the introductory sentence to the story, so present perfect is not used. 
(2) Past simple - it's a finished action and happens in sequence. 
(3) Past perfect - reporting a past statement. (The direct speech would be, 'Max has been offered...') 
(4) Past simple - it's a finished action and happens in sequence.  

  
 
Chinese are proud a global poll has named (1) the Great Wall a wonder of the world, but some worry that tourism and neglect are destroying the structure. 
"The Great Wall has been severely damaged (2) by visitors, and I am surprised that it can still be named as one of the new seven wonders of the world," said  (3) Wang Xiaoyu, who was visiting (4) the wall at Badaling from nearby Beijing. 
Almost every brick in heavily touristed sections of the wall, such as Badaling, has been carved (5) with people's names and other graffiti. 
The Great Wall was picked (6)in a worldwide online poll as one of the new seven wonders of the world. 

In recent years, China has stepped up (7) efforts to restore some parts of the wall, to protect it from vandals and rein in commercial development around it. 
The earliest sections of the wall were built  (8) more than 20 centuries ago to guard against Mongols and other invaders. Other sections were added  (9) at later times. 

 
(1) Present perfect - this is a news story. Concept : past action with present relevance . 
(2) Present perfect - Concept : past action with present relevance - they damaged it in the past so the wall is damaged now and this is important. This is direct speech - see the speech marks. 
(3) Past simple - it's a finished action and although the time is not stated it is normal to use past simple when we are giving details of a news story. 
(4) Past continous - he was visiting the wall when the reporters spoke to him. He had not finished visiting the wall. They spoke to him during his visit. 
(5) Present perfect passive- Concept : past action with present relevance - they carved the names in the past but it is relevant now - the carvings are on the wall now. 
(6) Past simple - it's a finished action and although the time is not stated it is normal to use past simple when we are giving details of a news story. 
(7) Present perfect - Concept : past action with present relevance - the efforts to restore the wall are still happening now. 
(8) Past simple - finished action at a specific time in the past 
(9) Past simple - finished action and happens in sequence.