Falling Down: Past Perfect - By the Time...

This movie is about an ordinary man who reacts very aggressively to everyday stressing situations we all face in our routines. Because many things happen before the end of the scene. I prepared an activity in which the students will write down sentences in the past perfect tense after or before expression with BY THE TIME...





A. Talk to a partner:





1 - What kind of customer are you? Do you complain when the service is poor or do you prefer to remain quiet and forget it?





2 - Tell your partner about a situation in which you had to be firm to grant your rights as a consumer.





3 - What's your opinion about the service provided to the citizens in your country (town)?





4 - Is it worth complaining? Justify it.







B. Watch the movie segment and check the items of what had happened by the time he asked the hostages in the resaturant a question about the sandwich quality (the end of the scene).





( ) 1. The restaurant stopped serving breakfast.



( ) 2. Sheila called the manager to solve the situation.



( ) 3. The main character told everyone to sit down.



( ) 4. He accidentally shot the roof.



( ) 5. The manager decided to serve breakfast.



( ) 6. He changed his mind and ordered lunch.



( ) 7. One of the customers vomited her sandwhich.



( ) 8. He complained about the sandwich he ordered.



( ) 9. He apologized to the manager.



( ) 10. The police arrived.









C. Rewrite the sentences above with the correct verb tense. Complete the first sentence and rewrite the other ones, according to the segment.





By the time he ___________ the hostages a question about the quality of the sandwich,



1.........................................................



2........................................................



3........................................................



4........................................................



5........................................................



6........................................................



7........................................................



8........................................................



9........................................................



10......................................................







Answer Key:



B. All the items should be checked, except #10.





C.

1. The restaurant had stopped...

2. Sheila had called...

3. He had told...

4. He had accidentally shot...

5. The manager had decided...

6. He had managed...

7. One of the customers had vomited...

8. He had complained...

9. He had apologized...

10. The police hadn't arrived...

How to prepare your own video activity:

- Select a scene in which several a/completed ctions take place by the time something happens.

- List the actions that took place before the final moment.

- Have students write sentences about the actions using the past perfect and by the time... the final action takes place.

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