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Around the world with Michael Palin

Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher, once said: ‘find a job you love and you’ll never have to
work a day of your life.’ Do you think this is true? Imagine travelling to foreign countries, meeting
interesting people, visiting mountains and monuments and trying different food and drink. Well, that
is the life of the travel writer.
Michael Palin used to be a comedy writer and comedian, but 25 years ago he started a new job as
a travel writer. On his first journey, he was trying to copy Jules Verne, the writer of Around the
World in 80 Days, by travelling around the world without using air travel. Michael remembers one
part of the journey when he was sailing on a dhow, an Arab sailing boat. All his plans went wrong
and he had to stay on the boat for some days. While he was sharing the journey with other
interesting travellers, he didn’t have Internet or a mobile phone signal, so he couldn’t contact other
people, but this was not a problem. As Michael says: ‘I loved spending seven days sailing across
the Persian Gulf, you will love it or hate it, and I love it because it gave me a sense of freedom.’
As a boy, Michael was fascinated with distant places and was always looking at maps. ‘I was ten
when people first climbed Mount Everest, and it was amazing! Suddenly, there were people on top
of this “unclimbable mountain”!
At the same time, people were travelling up the Amazon and trekking to the Arctic. Then I knew I
wanted to be an explorer,’ he says. The thing he likes most about travelling is the people he meets.
He says it doesn’t matter how different your culture is, or your background, or financial situation,
there is something that ties us all together.

1 Does the text talk about 4 What did Michael want to be when he
a ◯ enjoyable jobs? was a boy?
b ◯ how to sail a boat? a ◯ a sailor
c ◯ dreams? b ◯ a mountain guide
2 What is Michael Palin’s job now? c ◯ an explorer
a ◯ an explorer 5 Which sentence best describes Michael?
b ◯ a travel writer a ◯ He loves travelling and meeting
c ◯ a comedy writer people.
3 How did Michael feel on the boat? b ◯ He wants to climb a mountain one
day.
a ◯ He hated sailing.
c ◯ He wants to find a dream job.
b◯ He wanted to share a traveller’s
mobile phone.
c ◯ He enjoyed feeling free.

2 Rileggi il brano e rispondi alle domande.

1 Who was Confucius?
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2 What does a travel writer do, according to the text?
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3 On his first journey, why didn’t Michael Palin use air travel?
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4 What was Michael Palin interested in as a child?
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5 Why was Michael Palin amazed when people first climbed Everest?
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1
 Writing
3 Pensa alla più bella vacanza che hai mai fatto o immaginane una che vorresti fare.
Raccontala poi in un articolo di almeno 50-60 parole per un blog per giovani viaggiatori,
seguendo le indicazioni.
• Where you went on holiday and who you went with.
• What activities you did and what you liked about them.
• Why it was the best holiday of your life.
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