How to Use the Unreal Past Tense

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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• drop out
• hippies
• commune
• fantasy

• rat race
• get fired
• fast paced
• start over

• chill
• hit the road

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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There’s an expression in English, “the rat race,” that describes what life is like for many people who live in big cities and spend all their time trying to get ahead. They exhaust themselves by working too hard and running in circles in order to get more money and power. It’s a stressful way to live, but many people feel it’s the only way.

The new movie Wanderlust is about a couple who are caught in the rat race, living in New York City and working important jobs, until one of them gets fired. Then they both decide to leave the city and try to find a different, better way to live. Hear Amy and Mason talk about the movie, and their own desire for a different way of life.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Amy

Mason

Amy:  I normally do not like Jennifer Aniston, but she is in a new movie called Wanderlust with Paul Rudd.

Mason:  Oh really, I haven’t heard about it.

Amy:  I have to say, it was pretty good.

Mason:  What’s it about?

Amy:  Well, she and Paul Rudd are this couple living this kind of fast paced lifestyle in Manhattan. He loses his job, and so they decide to kind of start over and figure out a different way to live. You know, get out of the rat race, hit the road, drop out. And they end up living on this hippie commune.

Mason:  So did you get thinking about any sort of changes in what you think is most important? Like would you ever leave it all behind and go do something totally different?

Amy:  Well, I think like most people probably, I always have that fantasy going on somewhere in the back of my mind, like, “What if I just could be a farmer and live on the land, you know, and not have to worry about having a regular job and all that?” What about you?

Mason:  Yeah, it’s funny. I went to a wedding this summer that was out on this farm. And it was more like an artist commune farm, maybe like this movie. The people who own it, they don’t really do any farming, they just have concerts there and events and weddings. It was so nice and so super chill, and I was like, “Wow, this is a thing that some people do for their life.”

Amy:  Right.

Mason:  Maybe that would be OK.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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