Voice: Last week, completely by chance, Polly met three old friends she hadn’t seen for ages. She bumped into each of them as she was going back to the office after lunch. Listen to their conversations and then answer the questions. First, on Monday, she met Harry.
Harry: Polly! Wow…. How are you? We haven’t seen each other for ages!
Polly: Hello, Harry. How great to see you! It must be over five years since we worked together at Concord. I haven’t seen you since the day you left. What are you doing now? Are you still with that French company?
Harry: No. I left there a year and a half ago. I got promotion in another company
Polly: So, where are you working now?
Harry: I’m the accounts manager in a shipping company in Kwai Chung. Are you still at Concord?
Polly: Yes, but I’ve moved into the sales department. I don’t like it as much as I did my old job, but I can’t go back
Harry: Is old Mr Mak still there? He can’t be. He must be over seventy now.
Polly: Oh, he’s still there, alright, making everybody’s lives a misery. I have had to take a few mornings off this past month to take my mother to hospital and he has been very un-cooperative. That man makes me so furious.
Harry: I can’t believe he hasn't retired. He was one of the reasons I had to get out of Concord. I couldn’t stand the man!
Polly: Look at the time, I’m going to have to leave you or I’ll be late.
Harry: Great seeing you, Polly. Give old Mak my kind regards.
Polly: I will! Bye, Harry.
Voice: On Wednesday, she met Sandy
Polly: Sandy! What a surprise to see you! I’d heard you’d moved to Australia.
Sandy: Great to see you! Yes, we moved to Sydney three and a half years ago. I guess the last time I saw you was at Cindy’s twentieth birthday party.
Polly: I remember. You’d just got married.
Sandy: That’s right. We moved to Australia because of my husband’s job. He’s a journalist and got a job as arts editor with the 'Sydney Morning Herald'.
Polly: That sounds great.
Sandy: It was for the first couple of years. Then our marriage started to go wrong.
Polly: Sorry to hear that.
Sandy: I’m over the worst. We got divorced last year and I decided to come back to Hong Kong. I missed my family and friends anyway.
Polly: Where are you living now?
Sandy: With my parents in Stanley. I hope to get my own place later this year.
Polly: Where are you working?
Sandy: I’m not. I became ill after I left Sydney. It was the stress of getting divorced.
Polly: I’m really sorry to hear that.
Sandy: I’m okay now. But I decided to get myself sorted out before I got a job here. My parents have been really good to me.
Polly: It’s so good to see you.
Sandy: I’ll give you my number. Let’s stay in touch and go out to dinner sometime. I promise I won’t go on about that awful man I married! Give me a call next week. It will be great to have a chat about old times and catch up with all your news.
Voice: On Friday, Polly met George.
George: Hi, Polly. Long time no see.
Polly: Hello, George. It must be months since I last saw you. You’ve stopped coming to the gym.
George: It’ll be about a year I think. I was last at the gym last September.
Polly: Is it that long? You used to be there regular as clockwork on a Monday and Friday. What happened? Why don’t you go anymore?
George: I might start again soon. Didn’t anyone tell you? I had a car accident at the end of September and broke both my legs.
Polly: Oh, my Goodness! Nobody said a word.
George: Well, I did try and keep the accident as quiet as possible. It was my fault. I was driving over the speed limit.
Polly: Are you okay now?
George: Getting better. My legs were in plaster for three months. After the accident, I got out of Hong Kong and only came back a couple of weeks ago. I went to stay with friends in Shanghai.
Polly: Nobody said a word at the gym. People kept asking where you were, but if anyone knew they never said a word.
George: I’m pleased about that. I felt so ashamed of myself after the accident.
Polly: Just as long as you are okay now.
George: The doctors told me to do plenty of swimming to strengthen my legs so I do intend to come back and use the pool.
Polly: It will be good to see you again. We’ve missed you on the squash team.
George: I’m glad I bumped into you. Yes, I’ll renew my membership as soon as possible and get back into a routine.
Polly: Bye, George. I must get back to the office. See you soon.
George: You certainly will. Bye.