Question

a) In the cartoon, how does the shark on the left describe the occurrence of an event in the past? (No desenho, como o tubarão da esquerda descreve a ocorrência de um evento no passado?)

b)based on what you know about the structure there+ be in English, answer: (Com base no que você conhece sobre a estrutura que há em inglês, responda:)
•Why do you think the shark used there was and not there were?
(•Por que você acha que o tubarão usou lá e não houve?)

Answer 1

a) By specifying when the event happened (years ago) and with the use of "there + be".
b) He used "there was" because he was referring to one event (the climate change conference), if he were referring to more than one conference then he would use "there were".