Regrets

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Crowdwish

Just (1)wishful thinking? 
Ever wished you could have (2) a dream come true? Now maybe you can, with the start of a new website, CrowdWish. Users post their wishes to the site and every day people vote on the best wish, then CrowdWish grant the winning wish. 
Sounds (3) too good to be true? If the wish is something that can’t be completely granted, such as, ‘I wish people would smile more’ CrowdWish will do something practical to at least take (4) a step in the right direction. For example, to grant this wish, they put up funny signs in the London Underground. If the wish is for a product of some sort, CrowdWish will find a company happy to donate the item in return for the free publicity. See? It works (5) like magic! 
Bill Griffin, the founder of CrowdWish, started the website in January 2014, and it seems to be (6) going from strength to strength, with thousands of people signed up already. 

VOCABULARY Match the definitions below (a-f) with the idioms in the text (1-6). Check your answers in "comments".
A Becoming more and more successful 
B When you cannot believe something is as good as it seems. 
C Very effective and successful. 
D The belief that something you want to happen will happen, even though this is not actually likely. E A wish or hope becoming reality. 
F Beginning to make a positive change.

VIDEO Watch the video (up to 5.24) of Bill Griffin, the founder of Crowdwish, talking about his website and number the following sections as you hear them. Check your answers in "comments".

□ The belief that the more people work together, the more likely they are to get what they want. 
□ The idea that if you want something, so will someone else. 
□ An example of how CrowdWish responded to a serious wish. 
□ The importance of doing something real and practical about the wishes. 
□ The idea that everyone, rich or poor, has dreams, wishes, hopes and desires. 
□ An example of how CrowdWish responded to a funny or ‘tongue in cheek’ wish. 



GRAMMAR Read the grammar explanation. 
What we wish is always contrary to existing facts. To show that it is unreal, the tense moves back one step. 

• I don’t know my neighbours very well – I wish I knew my neighbours better. 
• I can’t take my family on a road trip across America- I wish I could take my family on a road trip across America. 
• I’m so tired– I wish I were less tired (Note that we often use ‘were’ not ‘was’ in hypothetical constructions) 

We also do this for past wishes, or regrets:

• I didn’t work hard at school – I wish I had worked harder at school. 

When we want someone else to change their behaviour, we use ‘would’. 

• I wish the Nigerian government would do more about the missing schoolgirls. 
• I wish people would smile more. 

Rewrite the sentences using wish. Check your answers in "comments".

1 I want you to stop being late. I wish…………. 
2 I don’t have any money. I wish…………… 
3 I’ve lost my wallet. I wish………. 
4 He isn’t in my class. I wish………… 
5 Please sit down. I wish… 
6 I broke my leg skiing. I wish…. 

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I wish

• If there is one thing you could change in your body, what would it be? 
•  If you could change something about your personality, what would you change? 
• If you could change something about your life, what would it be? 
• If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be? 

• Two things you wish you had done when you were younger. 
• Two things you wish you hadn’t done when you were younger.