A famous writer who was visiting Japan was invited to give a lecture at a university to a large group of students. As most of them could not understand spoken English, he had to have an interpreter.

During his lecture he told an amusing story which went on for her a long time. At last he stopped to allow the interpreter to translate it into Japanese, and was very surprised when the man did this in a few seconds, after which all the students laughed loudly.

After the lecture, the writer thanked the interpreter for his good work and then said to him, now please tell me how you translated that long story of mine into such a short Japanese one.

"I didn't tell the story at all, the interpreter answered with a smile. “I just said, "The honorable lecturer has just told a funny story, you will all laugh, please."

A   Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Write T or F in the boxes.

1. The famous writer spoke Japanese well.
2. He told the students a long funny story.
3. The interpreter took rather a long time to tell the story.
4. The interpreter told the students a different funny story.
5. The students did not understand the lecturer's funny story at all.
6. The students laughed because the interpreter told them to.

B  Answer these questions.

1. What invitation did the writer in this story receive?
2. Why did he need an interpreter?
3. What did he do during his lecture?
4. Why did he stop after that?
5. Why was he surprised then?
6. What did the students do?
7. What did the writer ask the interpreter after his lecture?
8. And what did the interpreter answer?
9.  

C  Write this story. Choose the more suitable word each time.

My interpreter was not (young, youthful) (he was actually over 45), but he had a (young, youthful) face, a very black, (silky, silk) moustache and an orange (silk, silky) tie.

He interpreted in a loud, (confident, confidential) voice, although he had earlier confessed to me (confidentially, confidently) that he really felt very nervous.

Although he had little practice at interpreting, he was more (skillful, skilled) at translating s (imaginative, imaginary) language, and more (sensible, sensitive) to its sounds, than many a far more (skillful, skilled) interpreter. I particularly liked his translation of a poem about an (imaginary, imaginative) island called Lealoa.