An Attic Full of Money: Past Unreal Conditional

 

 

For this activity, we will practice using the past unreal conditional. The past unreal conditional is used to talk about imaginary situations in the past. You can use the past unreal conditional to talk about how something could have happened differently.

Example: He could have passed the test if he had studied more.

Read the story below about a man who found $100,000 in his attic. With your partner, write an alternate ending to the story. An alternate ending is an end to the story that is different than what is written.

A man in Utah had recently moved to a new house. One day he decided to explore the attic. He went up into the attic discovered $100,000 stuffed into boxes. He took the money downstairs, spread it out and counted it. At first he was tempted to keep it, but he decided not to do that. Instead, he looked for the children of the previous owner of the house, who had died, and gave them the money. He said the money wasn't his, and that you don't often have the chance to be really honest. He told reporters that it would be a lesson to teach his children.

 

Before writing your alternate ending, answer these questions about the story you just read:

·         How does the story end?

·         Why did the story end the way it did?

·         What actions or decisions caused the end of this story?

Once you have read the story and answered these questions, you and your partner can begin writing your own alternate ending. While you are writing your alternate ending, use the past unreal conditional to talk about at least two things that could have happened differently in the story.

Example:  If the man had not looked in his attic, he would not have found the money.

Your alternate ending should be at least 5 sentences long. When you are finished, post your alternate ending to the comments section of this post.