English, baby!

The Town

Date: Dec 08 2010

Themes: Celebrity

Grammar: Simple Past Tense

Go Super!

Intro

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

Go Super to Listen

charm
caveat

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

Go Super to Listen

Sometimes a movie turns a city into a star. Think of Mumbai and Slumdog Millionaire, or New York in…well, there are a lot of movies that take place in New York.

But the images of a city shown on film aren’t always positive. In the new movie The Town, Ben Affleck shows a not-so-pretty side of his hometown, Boston. The Town is about a group of thieves from a bad neighborhood in Boston being hunted by the FBI. Find out what Mason and Jason thought of Affleck’s performance as actor, writer, and director of this crime drama.

Dialog

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

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

Mason

Jason

Mason: Man, Boston. Nothin’ but crooks in Boston.

Jason: Or so this movie would lead you to believe.

Mason: That’s what this movie…No, actually, they put a caveat in the end that’s like, even though there’s the most bank robbers per capita in this part of Boston, they’re like, there’s plenty of other nice people who live there too. That was in the closing credits.

Jason: But did you like the character? Ben Affleck is supposed to be an attractive guy. Everyone loves a good criminal, you know. Criminals can be really sexy characters.

Mason: I didn’t like Ben Affleck. I just don’t care for the guy. You wanna know who the…the surprise performance of the film was Gossip Girl’s own Blake Lively.

Jason: Oh, she’s great.

Mason: As the gutter trash townie girl who hung out with all the crooks. She’s phenomenal. Girl can act.

Jason: So the gutter trash charmed you but the bank robber did not.

Mason: No. The guy who was supposed to be charming didn’t charm me. Maybe he charms the ladies, though.

Grammar Point

Go Super to learn "Simple Past Tense" from this lesson

Quizzes

Go Super to take Quiz

Lesson MP3

Go Super to download full lesson MP3

Go Super to Ask Ebaby! teachers your questions!

The iTEP^® test

Sponsored by

Schedule an iTEP^® test and take the official English Practice Test.
Take Now >

Discussion

Go Super to Listen

Mason recently saw the new Ben Affleck movie The Town. He thought that the movie made Boston seem like a place with a lot of criminals. But at the end of the movie, there is a note promising viewers that the part of Boston where it takes place really isn’t all that bad.

Ben Affleck not only stars in the movie, he also wrote and directed it. But Mason wasn’t too impressed. He isn’t a big fan of Affleck. On the other hand, he was pleasantly surprised and impressed by Blake Lively’s performance. She plays a neighborhood girl who hangs out with Affleck and his criminal friends.

Is your city famous for anything, good or bad? How would you describe your city to someone who had never been there?

Comments

Marcelolic

Brazil

Oh yeah! hehe My hometown is Rio de Janeiro in Brazil,knonw to be quite beautiful for its landscapes and beaches and full of crime…Rio is being pretty known cause the last Vin Diesel Movie Fast and Furious 5…Currently Ilive in Brasilia capital of Brazil,the center of the governmet…Here is full of “crime” too but is a little worse,the crimes are done by “white collars”,people’s own government! This white collars are some deputies,governors and some public officials…I hate it! Look,imagine you living in a country that many people of power lay their hands on public money…For instance,in Congress,for politicians to approve a minimun wage increase is a big trouble! But when they come together to agree on increasing their own salaries is very very easy!

cybergore

Venezuela

Well, I live in ccs, capital city of Venezuela, it`s a little bit strange, cause all kind of people live in it. It has cool weather. Some parts of the city are dangerous, but it`s the same situation in big cities of the world. On top of that there`re pretty girls and places to sightseeing.

harchin

Mongolia

My hometown is the coldest capital city in the world

But we can get out of town easily after driving about an hour to complete wilderness

sunyu922

China

My hometown is one of the most safe cities in China. There are thousands tall building and millions car, so air pollution is very serious. It also is one of the worst air pollution index cityies of the world.

Sofia François

France

good job

miss_eos

Viet Nam

i don't know if the name of my hometown does make sense to somebody. But for me, it's a great place to live with not many crooks or social evils. It's like a peaceful but not very developed town.I can say it does charm.

lovely-butterfly

Azerbaijan

my city is famous for natural resources(oil,gas, etc.). and of course famous for hospitality.But it's bad my city is called "WINDY CITY".because there is windy weather,everytime.

franci.montini

Italy

My city is famous because it's full of attractions for young people. For example here there are a lot of fantastic discos and clubs in which u can spend all your night long. And then, here people is very friendy !

jiahui.lei

China

my hometown are famous for food and giant panda.and peopel enjoy daily life more than any other cities.i love it

koxa

Ukraine

The city where I live is famous for a considerable number of the deposits of iron ore))...also is known as the longest city in Europe…..speaking about a bad side of my city I think like in any town of the world crime keeps a certain level in the society.

3amrood

Yemen

my city is famous for culture ,Most young people are studying in a different and more Institute and University, and combine more specializations at the same time.
Most people spend their time in reading,No time to mess around and adverse girls.
Although it is not a perfect city , always there is some bad guys.