dialogue 1

Jingjing: AmI calling---------, Mark? I hope you're -----------

Mark: Now'sa -------- to talk, Jingjing. Anything --------?

Jingjing: Well, I keep getting asked, by a ---------------- if I can recommendEnglish books about ------------- the one we're having now. I thought I'drelay------------- to you.

Mark: Hmm. ------------------. That's a good topic to be --------------,though.

Jingjing: What would you --------------, off the ------------ your head?

Mark: Twobooks ----------, one I've read three times, another ----------------.

Jingjing: Tell me about the one you --------------------

Mark: It'scalled The Stand, and was written by Stephen King. The storybegins ----------------------. In the weeks that follow, almost ----------------leaving only a very few people who are-----------------

Jingjing:-------------------

Mark: It is. Stephen King is a------------writer. The best thing about the storyis --------------- feels all ----------- in the world, with people ---------------around him or her.

Jingjing: Hmm, I don't know if I'd want that to be------------------ I devote lotsof time to reading. Tell me about --------------, that -------------------.

Mark: OK. That one's The Plague, by Albert Camus.

Jingjing: Iknow that book. -------------- in France that has an -----------------.

Mark: Yeah,and they--------- so that people in ---------------are fine.

Jingjing: Iremember ------------ for a ------------------- I took. We readother -------------- from Camus. He's a ------------------writer.

Mark: Thathe is. I wasn't especially interested in -----------when I -----------------book. Let me get a few ----------------- for you. Can I call you back ina few minutes?

Jingjing: Sure. Talk to you then.

dialogue 2

Jingjing: Hey, Mark. You called -----------------------.

Mark: Yeah,it was a quick ----------------

Jingjing: That's funny. -------------since our last talk, I've been --------------------,of an interview with three ----------------of books about -----------------.

Mark: Soundsinteresting. Wanna bounce ----------------- off of me?

Jingjing: Let me --------------. Here: Geraldine Brooks, author of Yearsof Wonders: A Novel of the Plague; Lawrence Wright, who wrote TheEnd of October about a ------------ much like Coronavirus and-----------------onApril ------------this year; and Tom Perrotta, with a book called TheLeftovers, about the --------------------that kills off---------------ofall humans.

Mark: Thoseall sound ------------ I guess they'd have to be, for a -----------------thattook place less than -------------

Jingjing: -------------------

Mark: Lastweek, yeah. Well, before I ------------with my list, let me ask you somequestions about --------------

Jingjing: Sure. ------------

Mark: OK. So, they're all-------------- I'm assuming. Which one is mostclosely -----------------?

Jingjing: That's a ---------- one. Years of Wonder is a -----------------,though the ------------ who tells the story is --------------. The Endof October is based on lots of research, also, because the authortalked with-------------------before writing.

Mark: Cool. And I like the ----------- of The Leftovers. I'll add those--------- to my reading list.

Jingjing: What were you going to-------------d?

Mark: Justsome------------: Love in the Time of Cholera, and—oops, here's oneof the ones you said, --------------. The only others I have are -----------------

Jingjing: Ilike that ---------------! What are the titles?

Mark: TheGreat Influenza, by John M Barry; also, The Ghost Map, bySteven Johnson.

Jingjing: Well,it sounds like we ----------------- to do. Catch you later, Mark.

new words andphrases

from dialogue 1

caught me betweenbooks:

off the top ofyour head:

come to mind:

surreal:

excerpt:

from dialogue 2

bounce those namesoff of me:

made up:

premise:

non-fiction: