A few people saw that the banks were lending money to people who could not pay it back. Nobody listened. They were right — and it really happened.
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These are the new words. Match each word (1–8) to its meaning (A–H). Say your answers out loud — "I think 1 is D" — then check.
1 = C (a bank) · 2 = D (a loan) · 3 = G (to borrow) · 4 = A (a debt)
5 = H (to bet) · 6 = E (greedy) · 7 = B (to warn) · 8 = F (a crash)
Adam McKay's The Big Short (2015). Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and talk about the last one. (There are spoilers — that is fine, we want to talk about it.)
In 2005, a man called Michael Burry works with money in California. He was a doctor before. He is quiet and strange, and he does not like talking to people. But he does one thing that nobody else does: he reads the documents.
When people buy a house, they borrow money from a bank. This loan is called a mortgage. Michael reads thousands of pages about these mortgages, and he sees a big problem. Many people who borrowed the money cannot pay it back. In two years, their payments will get much bigger, and then they will stop paying.
So Michael goes to the big banks. He asks them for something new: he wants to bet that the houses will lose their value. The banks think this is very funny. They think house prices can never fall. They are happy to take his money. But every month, Michael must pay them, and nothing happens. His own clients are angry. They want their money back. Michael says no.
1. What does Michael Burry find in the documents?
2. Why do the banks think he is silly?
1. He finds that many people cannot pay back their home loans. Soon their payments will get bigger and they will stop paying.
2. Because everybody believes that house prices never fall. So they think he is paying them money for nothing.
A salesman called Jared hears about Michael's strange bet. He wants to sell the same bet to other people. By accident, he calls the wrong number — and he speaks to Mark Baum, an angry man who works with money and hates the banks.
Mark and his team decide to go and look for themselves. They drive to Florida. They see new houses with nobody in them. They meet a woman who lives in a house — but her landlord is not paying the bank. They meet two men who give loans to people with no job and no money, and these men laugh about it.
Then, at a big meeting in Las Vegas, Mark has dinner with a man who sells the worst loans to other people. The man is not embarrassed. He explains that he takes bad loans, puts them in a new box, and sells them again. Mark understands something terrible: this is not a small mistake. This is how the whole system works.
1. What does Mark's team see in Florida?
2. What does Mark understand at the dinner in Las Vegas?
1. Empty new houses, a woman whose landlord is not paying the bank, and men who give loans to people with no job and no money.
2. That the problem is not a mistake. Banks take bad loans, put them in a new box, and sell them again. It is the normal way of doing business.
In 2007, people stop paying their loans — exactly as Michael said. But the prices do not fall! The banks do not tell the truth about what they have. Michael waits. Mark waits. It is a terrible year for them, because they are right and they are still losing money.
Then, suddenly, everything falls. The prices crash. Michael and Mark and the others win a lot of money. In September 2008, one of the oldest banks in New York closes. People carry boxes out of the building.
But the film does not want us to be happy. When two young men dance because they are rich, an older man stops them. He says: this is not a game. Millions of people are going to lose their jobs and their homes. At the end, we read some hard facts on the screen: the banks said it was not their fault, almost nobody went to prison, and ordinary people paid for everything.
1. Why is 2007 a bad year for Michael and Mark, when they are right?
2. Why does the older man stop the two young men from dancing?
1. People stop paying their loans, but the prices do not fall, because the banks do not tell the truth. So Michael and Mark are right and are still losing money.
2. Because their money comes from a disaster. Millions of normal people are going to lose their jobs and their homes.
This film is full of numbers. To ask about quantity in English, you need two questions — and you choose between them by looking at the noun.
Complete each question. Then ask it out loud.
1. money did the banks lose?
2. houses were empty in Florida?
3. time did Michael wait for the crash?
4. people went to prison after 2008?
1. How much (money — we cannot count it)
2. How many (houses — we can count them)
3. How much (time — we cannot count it)
4. How many (people — we can count them)
Choose the right word for each sentence. Then read it out loud.
1. There wasn't time left before the crash.
2. Not people listened to Michael.
3. The two young men made money.
4. Were there empty houses in that street?
1. much (negative + uncountable)
2. many (negative + countable)
3. a lot of (positive sentence)
4. many (question + countable; "a lot of" is also possible)
Fill each gap. Read it aloud when you finish.
Michael Burry sits down and reads the loan papers. He asks two questions: " of these loans are bad?" and " money will the banks lose?" Not people listen to him. Two years later, families lose their homes.
How many · How much · many · a lot of
Remember: how many + things you can count, how much + things you cannot count, and a lot of for both in positive sentences.
Almost all of it is true. The film comes from a book by the writer Michael Lewis, and it won an Oscar. The people in the film are real people.
Michael Burry is the only person in the film with his real name. He was a doctor, and then he started his own company, Scion Capital. In 2005 he really did buy a bet against the American housing market. His clients were angry and asked for their money back. But he was right. He made about $100 million for himself, and more than $700 million for the clients who stayed with him.
On 15 September 2008, the bank Lehman Brothers closed. It had more than $600 billion, and it is still the biggest bankruptcy in the history of the United States.
Then the crash came for normal people. In America, 8.7 million people lost their jobs. House prices fell by more than 20 per cent. About 7.8 million families lost their homes between 2007 and 2016. Only one banker in the United States went to prison because of the crash.
The film is honest about this — it tells you! Sometimes an actor looks at the camera and says "this really happened", and sometimes an actor says "this did not happen like this, but it is more fun this way". Famous people also stop the film to explain the difficult money words, because the film knows they are boring.
Some things did change. Most of the names are different: Mark Baum is really a man called Steve Eisman. And one very sad part of Mark's story is not exactly true — the real family asked the film to change it. But the numbers, the banks and the disaster are all real.
Do all three tasks out loud. Use the timer to keep talking.
Tell the story of The Big Short in your own words. Use these steps to help you: a quiet man reads the loan papers → he bets that house prices will fall → the banks laugh at him → other people find the same problem in Florida and Las Vegas → in 2008 everything crashes and normal people lose their homes.
Try to use some key words (bank, loan, borrow, debt, bet, greedy, warn, crash) and ask questions with how much and how many.
Who was wrong in this story: the banks that gave the loans, the people who took the loans, or the government that did not stop it? Choose one and say why. Then say one good thing about the other side.
Talk about money and daily life. Use how much, how many and a lot of.
Not sure what to say? Choose one: