past simple and past continuous
Which of these verb forms is correct in each case?
I hoped/was hoping to go away this weekend, but my boss give/was giving me some work that I have to finish by Monday.
I bumped into Lena last week.She ***looked/was looking***a lot better than when I last spoke to her.
There is no reason to use the continuous tense with give, but it needs to be in the past tense - my boss gave or has given me some work.
You could say either I was hoping or I had hoped (the hope existed before you were given the work).
In (2), either the past tense or past continuous would be acceptable.