Hopes &Ambitions
Reported questions & requests · he asked me if…
Your level · You are here
Get Talking · Section 1
5 minStart the conversation
Tell your teacher one realistic hope for the next five years and one impossible-but-fun dream. Use different verbs for each.
Name one ambition that's genuinely yours and one that came from family/society. How can you tell the difference?
Big ambitions get the headlines — but name one small, modest ambition for this month. Often these matter more.
Grammar · Section 2
8–10 minReported questions and requests
Yes/no question → if/whether + statement order. Wh-question → question word + statement order. Request/command → ask/tell + object + to + infinitive.
- When we report what someone asked, the WORD ORDER changes to statement order (subject + verb), there's no auxiliary do/does/did, and question marks disappear.
- For YES/NO questions, use IF or WHETHER: 'Are you free?' → 'He asked me if I was free.' For WH-questions, keep the question word but use statement order: 'Where do you live?' → 'She asked me where I lived.' Tenses usually shift backwards (backshift): present → past, present perfect → past perfect, will → would.
- For REQUESTS and COMMANDS ('Please wait here.' / 'Don't be late.'), use ASK/TELL + object + TO + infinitive: 'He told me to wait.' / 'She asked me not to be late.'
- Reporting a yes/no question → if/whether + subject + verb.
- Reporting a wh-question → question word + subject + verb (no do/does/did).
- Reporting a polite request → asked someone to do something.
- Reporting an instruction or command → told someone to do something.
| Direct question | Reported form |
|---|---|
| "Are you free?" | He asked me if I was free. |
| "Where do you live?" | She asked me where I lived. |
| "Please wait here." | He told me to wait here. |
He asked me if I was free on Saturday.
She asked me where I lived.
They asked us whether we had finished the report.
He told me to wait outside.
She asked me not to mention it to anyone.
Not this
She asked me where did I live.
Say this
She asked me where I lived.
Reported questions never keep the auxiliary do/does/did or question order — go straight back to statement order.
Memory tip
Reported question = a statement wearing a question's clothes: subject before verb, no 'do'.
Natural English
In everyday speech, tense backshift is often relaxed if the situation is still true: 'She asked if I'm free' is common informally, though 'was' is the standard written form.
Question 1.Choose: 'He asked me ____ I was free on Saturday.'
Question 2.Which is correctly reported?
Question 3.Choose: 'He told me ____ outside.'
Question 4.Which is INCORRECT?
Build the sentence → spot the natural chunks → say it aloud → reply like a real conversation.
1.Rebuild the sentence — then say it aloud.
2.Rebuild the sentence — then say it aloud.
3.Rebuild the sentence — then say it aloud.
4.Rebuild the sentence — then say it aloud.
Quick check 1.Pick the correctly reported question.
Vocabulary · Section 3
5–7 minWords & phrases to learn
Long-term goal
ambition over years, not months
In context
"Buying a flat is a long-term goal — five years minimum."
Now try it yourself
Name one long-term goal of yours in a single sentence.
Aspiration
strong hope or ambition (formal)
In context
"Her aspiration is to lead the company one day."
Now try it yourself
Describe one professional aspiration aloud.
Dream big
have very ambitious hopes
In context
"If you're going to plan, dream big — it costs nothing."
Now try it yourself
Dream big out loud — name one wild ambition.
Have your heart set on
really want something specific
In context
"I've got my heart set on the Edinburgh course."
Now try it yourself
Name one thing you've got your heart set on.
Settle for
accept something less than you wanted
In context
"Don't settle for the first job you're offered."
Now try it yourself
Describe one situation where you refused to settle.
Bucket list
things you want to do before you die
In context
"Skydiving is officially off the bucket list."
Now try it yourself
Name three things on your own bucket list.
Take a leap (of faith)
make a brave, uncertain decision
In context
"She took a leap and moved abroad with no job lined up."
Now try it yourself
Describe one leap of faith you've taken — or might.
Be on track to
progressing well toward a goal
In context
"If I keep saving, I'm on track to buy a flat by 2028."
Now try it yourself
Tell your teacher one goal you're on track for — and one you're not.
Pick at least three words from above and use each one in a sentence about your real life. Say each one aloud before you write.
Ask your teacher (or a partner) a question that uses one of today's words. They reply using a different word.
Rank today's words from most to least useful for you this week. Defend your top choice.
Finish: "Honestly, I'd say…" using one of today's words.
Tip: aim to reuse at least two of these words later in the Speaking and Writing tasks.
Tap an item on the left, then tap its match on the right.
Pronunciation · Section 4
3–4 minWeak 'to' /tə/ in 'hope to', 'plan to', 'would like to'
The 'to' in 'hope to / plan to / want to / would like to' is almost always weak — /tə/ — in connected speech. 'I'd like to live abroad' sounds like /aɪd ˈlaɪk tə ˈlɪv əˈbrɔːd/. 'Want to' often becomes 'wanna' /ˈwɒnə/ in fast speech (but write 'want to' — 'wanna' is informal writing only). Stress sits on the main verb ('LIVE', 'APPLY', 'RUN'), not on the auxiliary or 'to'.
- • I HOPE /tə/ FINISH by FRIDAY↘
- • I'd LIKE /tə/ LIVE abROAD↘
- • I DREAM of RUNNING my own SHOP↘
- • I'm conSIDERING aPPLYING↘
Reading · Section 5
8–10 minInherited ambitions
Most of us discover, somewhere in our late twenties, that at least one of our biggest ambitions isn't really ours. We absorbed it — from a parent, a teacher, a culture — and carried it around for so long that it started to feel like a personal dream. Then, when we get close to achieving it, we feel oddly empty. That emptiness is the diagnostic.
The psychologist Adam Phillips once wrote that we should pay as much attention to the lives we didn't live as the ones we did. The unlived life — the dream we quietly gave up at twenty-two, the version of ourselves we never let exist — often tells us more about what we actually want than the official ambition we put on our CV.
This matters because effort follows desire. People can work hard on an inherited ambition for years, but they rarely become brilliant at it. The genuine ambitions — even the small ones, even the embarrassing ones — pull effort out of you. You don't have to schedule them. They schedule themselves.
A useful exercise: write down your top three ambitions, then ask of each one, 'If no one I love ever found out, would I still want this?' The ones that survive that question are yours. The ones that don't are someone else's, and they're allowed to leave.
Question 1.What does the writer say the feeling of 'oddly empty' signals?
Question 2.What does the text say about genuine ambitions compared to inherited ones?
Question 3.What does the writer imply by quoting Adam Phillips on 'the lives we didn't live'?
Question 4.Why does the writer end with 'they're allowed to leave'?
Q1.The text claims people become brilliant at inherited ambitions through hard work.
Q2.Genuine ambitions 'schedule themselves' — effort follows real desire.
Listening · Section 6
8–10 minA long walk: two friends finally getting honest about ambitions
Listening audio
Tap play to listen. Replay as many times as you need.
Show transcript
Yara:Right, while we're walking — proper question. If money wasn't an issue, what would you actually do?
Sam:Genuinely? I'd love to run a small bookshop. Tiny. Maybe a café in the back. I've never said it out loud before — sounds ridiculous.
Yara:It doesn't sound ridiculous. It sounds specific. That's how you know it's real.
Sam:What about you? Don't say 'be a partner at the firm' — I know that one's not really yours.
Yara:Ouch. Fair. Honestly? I've got my heart set on going back to teaching. Secondary school. I gave it up at 23 because everyone said it was a waste of my degree.
Sam:And the firm thing was — whose, exactly?
Yara:My dad's, basically. He's a lawyer. The partner ambition was sort of handed to me at sixteen and I've been carrying it ever since. I'm on track for it — and the closer I get, the less I want it.
Sam:That's the diagnostic, right? The closer you get, the emptier it feels.
Yara:Exactly. Whereas if I imagine standing in front of a classroom on a wet Monday morning — I'm not dreading it. I'm actually looking forward to it. That's mad given the salary.
Sam:So what's the plan? You're not going to walk in tomorrow and resign.
Yara:No. I'm thinking of doing the teaching qualification part-time over two years. Stay at the firm, save, then take the leap. I don't want to settle, but I also don't want to do it stupidly.
Sam:Smart. And the bookshop?
Yara:Sam. You've said it once. Now say it ten more times until it stops sounding ridiculous.
Sam:Fine. I dream of running a small bookshop. I dream of running a small bookshop. I dream of —
Yara:Better already.
Question 1.When did Yara give up teaching, and why?
Question 2.What is Yara's plan for returning to teaching?
Question 3.What does Yara reveal about herself when she says she is 'not dreading' a classroom on a wet Monday morning?
Question 4.Why does Yara tell Sam to 'say it ten more times until it stops sounding ridiculous'?
Exam tip · Section 7
5 minWriting — Cambridge B1 Preliminary / FCE article ('My ambitions')
Task
Write a 140–190 word article titled 'The ambition I almost gave up on'. Use 5 lesson vocabulary items, vary verb patterns (hope to / dream of / consider + -ing / would like to / my ambition is to), and end with one specific concrete next step.
Strategy
Article tasks reward voice and specificity. (1) Open with a question or honest admission ('There's an ambition I've been quietly carrying since I was twelve…'). (2) Give the BACKSTORY — where the ambition came from. (3) Describe what stopped you, briefly. (4) Pivot to the present — what's changed. (5) End with ONE concrete next step, not a vague hope. Examiners reward variety of structures: mix 'hope to' / 'dream of' / 'I'd like to' / 'my ambition is to'. Avoid the cliché closing line 'follow your dreams' — be specific.
Example
There's an ambition I've quietly carried since I was twelve: I'd love to run a small bookshop. A café in the back, second-hand poetry, the works. For years I told no one. It sounded ridiculous next to the serious jobs friends were chasing. So I trained as an accountant instead, which I'm reasonably good at and don't dread, but don't dream of either. Last year my aunt — bookshop owner, naturally — asked what I'd do if no one I loved ever found out. The bookshop. Instantly. That was the diagnostic. I'm not quitting tomorrow. I'm considering doing a short bookselling course in autumn, working weekends in a friend's shop, and seeing if the dream survives contact with reality. Maybe it won't. Maybe I'll discover that real bookshops are full of admin and damp. But for the first time in fifteen years, I'm taking the ambition seriously instead of dismissing it. Specific next step: course application by 30 September.
Practice · Section 8
8–10 minFill in the blank
Question 1.She asked me ____ I was free on Saturday.
Question 2.He asked me where ____ lived.
Question 3.She told me ____ wait outside.
Question 4.They asked us whether we ____ finished the report.
Question 5.He asked me not ____ be late.
There isn't one "right" answer — write a natural version, then compare with the model.
Q1.Report this question: 'Are you free on Saturday?' (She asked me...)
Q2.Report this question: 'Where do you live?' (He asked me...)
Q3.Report this request: 'Please wait outside.' (He told me...)
Q4.Report this command: 'Don't be late.' (She asked me...)
Writing · Section 9
5 minPut it in writing
Your task
Write a 130–160 word honest personal piece on one ambition you've been quietly carrying. Use 'hope to', 'dream of + -ing', 'I'd like to', and 'my ambition is to' at least once each, plus 5 lesson vocabulary items. End with ONE specific next step with a date.
Your answer
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Show model answer
There's one ambition I've quietly carried for years: I'd like to teach in a secondary school. I gave it up at twenty-three because everyone called it a waste of my degree. So I followed an inherited ambition instead — partner-track at a law firm. I'm on track for it, technically. The closer I get, the emptier it feels. That's the diagnostic. I dream of standing in front of a classroom on a wet Monday morning and genuinely looking forward to my day. My ambition is to retrain as a teacher within three years, without doing it stupidly. I hope to keep my job, save aggressively, and start the part-time teaching qualification in September. I'm considering working as a tutor at weekends to test whether the dream survives reality. Specific next step: I'll send the qualification application by 15 August. After fifteen years of carrying this quietly, that feels like taking the leap.
Speaking · Section 10
10–15 minMake it a real conversation
Role-play with your teacher (or a partner): a 'long-walk' honest conversation about ambitions. Share one ambition you've never said out loud, ask 'If no one you loved ever found out, would you still want this?' for one another's stated goals, and finish by each naming ONE concrete next step with a deadline. Use 5 lesson vocabulary items and at least 3 different verb patterns (hope to / dream of / be considering / would like to).
Useful phrases
- • Honestly? I'd love to…
- • I've got my heart set on…
- • I'm considering -ing…
- • I dream of -ing…
- • Specific next step — by [date], I'll…
Speaking reflection & notes
Your work saves automatically0 words
- AHonest question — if money wasn't an issue, what would you actually do?
- B_______________
- AWhy have you never said it out loud before?
- B_______________
- ASo what's the actual next step?
- B_______________
Homework · Section 11
Take-homeTake it home
Write three ambitions using three different verb patterns (hope to / dream of -ing / my ambition is to).
Record a 2-minute voice note on 'an ambition I've never said out loud' using 5 lesson vocabulary items.
Find a 5-minute interview clip with someone you admire. Note 5 ambition-related verb patterns they use.
Homework notes
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Recap · Section 12
2–3 minWhat you've learned
- Yes/no question → ask + if/whether + statement order (subject before verb).
- Wh-question → question word + statement order — no do/does/did.
- Tenses usually backshift: present → past, present perfect → past perfect, will → would.
- Request/command → ask/tell + object + to + infinitive; negative form is not to + infinitive.
- Test of a real ambition: 'If no one I love ever found out, would I still want this?'
Extra Practice
Need more practice?
Practise the grammar, vocabulary and speaking from this lesson.