•You will hear three conversations.•Write down one or two words or a number in

A: Could I first ask you a few questions about your background?
B: Yes, of course.
A: Well, it’s been said that you were born in Bombay, India. Is that correct?
B: Yes, that’s right. You see my father was an army officer at the time and he was stationed in Bombay.
A: I see. And your mother, was she British too?
B: No, she was Indian as a matter of fact.
A: Did you go to school in India?
B: Well, no. My parents returned to England when I was only five, so I started school in England, in London actually. And later, after elementary school, I was sent off to Exeter, one of those typical boys’ schools—you know the type.
A: Ah, yes. And how did you like it? Your education, I mean.
B: Well, it was all right. Yes, looking back, I rather liked it. I didn’t care much for the uniforms, mind you. And I absolutely hated my Latin class loathed it with a passion.
A: You had to study Latin?
B: Oh, yes indeed. We all did back then, you know—both Latin and Greek.
A: Just how many languages do you know?
B: About six. I suppose. Let’s see now. When I was a child, I learned English and also Hindi—that was my mother’s language. At school in England, I studied French (in addition to Latin and Greek) And then I also learned Arabic, Malay, and Indonesian.
A: And when did you learn those languages?
B: Well, that’s a long story. In 1945, when I was 18, I joined the army and in 1946 I was shipped off to Egypt. When I was discharged from the army four years later, I decided to stay on. I lived there for another three years as it turned out—mostly in Cairo and Alexandria. And during that time I learned Arabic.
A: And Malay!? Indonesian?
B: Well, after seven years in Europe, I decided to do some traveling. So I toured around the Middle East—Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and then I just kept going east—to Pakistan. India, Afghanistan, Burma, Thailand, and finally Malaysia. And then moved to Indonesia, which I tell in love with, and that’s my home to this day.
A: And when was that exactly—your move to Indonesia?
B: That was in the year 1956, oh, no—55.
A: What did you do all the time you were traveling? I mean how did you support yourself?
B: Well, while I was in Egypt (after the army) I got a job with an English newspaper, so I had some experience writing and when I started traveling, I just continued to write—you Know, travel articles and that sort of thing. And that was the beginning of it all. I’ve been writing travel pieces for magazines and, of course, my guide books ever since.
A: How many books have you, in fact, written?
B: Oh, about fourteen all together.
A: And you have a new book out now called The Asian Express. Could you tell us a bit about that?
B: Yes, of course, I’d be happy to. It’s all about traveling through Asia by train. You see, two years ago, I began this absolutely wonderful trip from Istanbul to Tokyo—and all by train.
A: That sounds a little uncomfortable.
B: Well, sometimes it was. But, in general, I loved it. It’s truly a marvelous way to see the various countries and to get to know the people—much better than the airplanes, you know. You never really see any thing that way. So I recommend it highly.
A: I see. Well, thank you ever so much, Mr Thorndike Lodge. It’s been very interesting. And good luck on your future travels.
B: The pleasure was all mine.