The Past SImple Tense in the News -Exercise

 Put the verbs in brackets in the past simple tense:

Recession 'led to 10,000 suicides'

The economic crisis in Europe and North America ____(lead) to more than 10,000 extra suicides, according to figures from UK researchers.

A study, ____(publish)  in the British Journal of Psychiatry, _____(show) "suicides have risen markedly".
The research group ____(say) some deaths may have been avoidable as some countries ____(show) no increase in suicide rate.
Campaign groups _____(say) the findings _____(show)  how important good mental health services____(be) .
The study by the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine _____(analyse) data from 24 EU countries, the US and Canada.

Unemployment, repossessions and debt

It said suicides had been declining in Europe until 2007. By 2009 there ____(be)  a 6.5% increase, a level that was sustained until 2011.
It ____(be)  the equivalent of 7,950 more suicides than would have been expected if previous trends ____(continue) , the research group.
Deaths by suicide_____ (be)  also falling in Canada, but there_____ (be) a marked increase when the recession _____ (take) hold in 2008, leading to 240 more suicides.
The number of people taking their own life was already increasing in the US, but the rate "accelerated" with the economic crisis, leading to 4,750 additional deaths.
The report said losing a job, having a home repossessed and being in debt _____(be) the main risk factors.
However, some countries bucked the trend. Sweden, Finland and Austria all avoided increases in the suicide rate during the recession.
One of the researchers, Dr Aaron Reeves, of the University of Oxford, said: "A critical question for policy and psychiatric practice is whether suicide rises are inevitable."

You can continue the reading on bbc website:
Source:  http://www.bbc.com/news/health-27796628