past progressive again

[bayan said]

Dear sir,
Sorry for not completing my message the last time but I had to go now I'll repeat my last question & complete it.what about present perfect message?
1- would you please explain this grammar & illustrate with examples the grammar is"past progressive isn't used when we're thinking of the action finishing,
e.g.the policeman was smoking on sunday"so what does the last sentence imply?Does it imply that the speaker kept watching the policeman till he finished smoking?
2-Also I read that we say"we ate mutton every day"but"I was going to auditions every day but I never got any parts".Why is the past rogressive used
in the second sentence,but not in the first one?
3- in an american film I was watching I noticed 2 things about past continuouse.It was a murder & a guy was killed(or should I say had been killed?).The detective asked his mother"where did he work?.Why not where was he working?.And then in a conversation between those detectives one of them said"His mother said he was being paid 500$ a week".My question here :The mother must have said"they were paying him 500$ a week" so why did the mother use the past continuous since he is dead although the detective used the simple past for the same person?
4-Finally I read this sentence"The room floor shook( or was shaking) while they waltzed".why are both simple/progressive past correct with the verb
"shake"?& why didn't the speaker use past progressive with the verb"waltz"?
5- Also I read the sentence"when he was young his short stories were always
being ( or were always) refused"my question:why are both simple past & past progressive correct in this sentence with the verb "refuse"?

[Tdol]

The pooliceman was smoking on Sunday.

Imagine that you hade been with the policeman on Sunday and saw him smoking cigarettes and then you met someone who said that the policeman didn't smoke. The past progressive could be used to show that, while it may be genreally the case that ther policeman doesn't smoke, it is not alwatys true.

OK I have to rush- will be back later to look at the others.