The Walk

Oct 09 2015

Intro

What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done? Have you jumped out of an airplane? Or gone to
Spain and ran with the bulls? Or maybe you are not a daredevil. Either way, you have probably never
done what the main character in “The Walk” does.

“The Walk” is a new movie about the man, Philippe Petit, who walked across a cable between the towers
of the World Trade Center in New York. Do you think he did it to prove a point, or just for the thrill?
Watch the movie and find out!

Jessica and Romeo are talking about people who do dangerous things. Find out which one of them has
rock climbed in today’s English lesson about a new movie.

Dialogue

Jessica: I just saw the trailer for the movie “The Walk.”
Romeo: I love that trailer!
Jessica: It looks so good. Did you know it’s based on a true story?
Romeo: No way.
Jessica: Yes!
Romeo: You’re kidding me.
Jessica: No, I’m serious. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the man who spread the cable and walked across the
Twin Towers.
Romeo: A French guy.
Jessica: Yes.
Romeo: He played that off well.
Jessica: Yes. His accent was really, really great.
Romeo: That was Joseph Gordon-Levitt?
Jessica: Yes. I can’t imagine doing anything like that. I’m not really a daredevil, and that would terrify me.
I guess I also have a fear of heights, so I could never do anything like that.
Romeo: Oh, really? Wow, that’s good to know.
Jessica: Have you ever done anything like that?
Romeo: I’ve rock climbed.
Jessica: There you go. I could do that. But I wonder if this guy was just doing it for the thrill, or if he
wanted to prove a point. Why do you think he would do something like that?
Romeo: He said for him, it’s life.
Jessica: Oh. Interesting.

Discussion

Jessica just watched the trailer for the new movie, “The Walk.” She is really excited to see it, and thinks
that actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a very good French accent. However, Jessica would never want to do
anything as dangerous as what happens in the film. She isn’t much of a daredevil.

Romeo, however, understands why people want to do such crazy things. He has rock-climbed before,
and says that for some people, life is all about doing dangerous things. He is surprised that Joseph
Gordon-Levitt has such a good French accent.

Will you see this movie? Are you a daredevil?

Grammar Point

Simple Past Tense

Jessica and Romeo think Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a really good job of acting like a French person.
Jessica says, “His accent was really, really great.” She uses the simple past tense.

The simple past tense is used to talk about a completed action or state that occurred in the past. To form
this tense, you simply add -ed to the end of the verb, as long as it is a regular verb. For example, the past
tense of “to walk” is walked. Be sure you use the simple past whenever you say that something
happened in the past. For example, “I talked to her yesterday.”

There are many irregular verbs in the simple past tense, however. For example, the past tense of “to
have” is had. The past tense of “to do” is did. “To be” is especially tricky, because we say I/he/she/it was
and you/we/they were. Jessica thinks the actor was really good in the trailer.

To form the negative in the simple past tense, we put did not before the base form of the main verb, as
in, “I did not see a movie last night.” Did not is often shortened to didn’t, especially in spoken English.
With the verb “to be,” we use was not, as in, “I was not happy with the film.”

Which is correct, “Sasha doed her homework,” or, “Sasha did her homework”?
Quiz

1. Why does Romeo say, “No way?”

o Because he doesn’t believe Jessica.

o Because he didn’t know the movie is based on a true story.

o Because he is scared.

o Because he is a daredevil.

2. What does Jessica like about Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the trailer?

o He is handsome.

o His French accent is great.

o He has good balance.

o She doesn’t like Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

3. Accent refers to the __.

o people in movies.

o long rope

o person who does dangerous things

o way someone sounds

4. Which sentence is not in the simple past tense?

o John and Kerri went to the mall.

o I saw you yesterday!

o Terrence and Philip were happy for a while.

o We’re good friends, aren’t we?

 Submit

See the full English lesson at English, baby!