[Grammar] Past simple with "for a week"

[Jankee]

Hi there! Could you explain me, please, using Past Simple with "for a week" time expression. I've broken my brain by trying to find out how it works. The sentence is from the book "First Certificate Language Practice" by Michael Vince. The text is about the expedition aimed to find the Lost City of the Himalayas. The extract is the following:
"So when we set off on a cool May morning towards the distant mountaing, each of us was looking forward to exciting discoveries. For a week or more we CLIMBED higher and higher, following the map, which Mallory STUDIED from time to time."
Is using CLIMED and STUDIED reasoned here? What other tense options are suitable here? Thank you.

 

[teechar]

Hello Jankee, and welcome to the forum.

Hi there! Could you explain to me, please, using the past simple with (the time expression) "for a week"? [STRIKE]time expression.[/STRIKE] I've [STRIKE]broken[/STRIKE] racked my brain [STRIKE]by[/STRIKE] trying to find out how it works. The sentence is from the book "First Certificate Language Practice" by Michael Vince. The text is about [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] an expedition [STRIKE]aimed[/STRIKE] to find the Lost City of the Himalayas. The extract is the following:
"So when we set off on a cool May morning towards the distant mountain, each of us was looking forward to exciting discoveries. For a week or more, we [STRIKE]CLIMBED[/STRIKE] climbed higher and higher, following the map which Mallory [STRIKE]STUDIED[/STRIKE] studied from time to time."
Is using [STRIKE]CLIMED[/STRIKE] "climbed" and [STRIKE]STUDIED[/STRIKE] "studied" reasonable [STRIKE]ed[/STRIKE] here? What other tense options are suitable here? Thank you.

The past simple can be used for long actions that occurred in the past. There's no problem with using time expressions such as "for a week" with that tense.

For example,

In 2005, I attended Sunday school for three months.


As for your other question, it's possible (and may even be preferable) to use the past perfect "had studied" instead of "studied". If Mallory studied that map well before the action "climbed", then the past perfect may be justified.