AGENT:

How may I help you?

MARTIN:

I'd like to go on a trip to Europe.

AGENT:

Is this trip for business or vacation?

MARTIN:

It's a holiday with my family.

AGENT:

How many members of your family?

MARTIN:

A wife and two children.

AGENT:

How old are the children?

MARTIN:

They're teenagers.

AGENT:

Are they students?

MARTIN:

Yes.

AGENT:

It makes a difference you know. How long will you be staying in Europe?

MARTIN:

All together three weeks, I think.

AGENT:

That's good. That makes it cheaper.

MARTIN:

But not all in one place.

AGENT:

How will you be traveling in Europe? By air?

MARTIN:

No, not by air. I think we'll travel by train and bus.

AGENT:

That's fine. I can help you with that too. Have you traveled in Europe before?

MARTIN:

A long time ago. When I was a university student.

AGENT:

Did you study in Europe?

MARTIN:

No. I just traveled in the summer with friends. I'm sure it's very different now.

AGENT:

In what way?

MARTIN:

Travel must be much faster now.

AGENT:

There are some very fast trains now. I think that bus travel may be slower than it was twenty years ago.

MARTIN:

Why?

AGENT:

The roads are so crowded. There are many more cars. The buses must be more careful. Of course the modern buses are more comfortable.

MARTIN:

How?

AGENT:

They have television. They have toilets. They serve food. Not like the old buses.

MARTIN:

I like to travel by train. Can we travel most places by train?

AGENT:

It depends on the country. There are a lot of trains, but not as many in the smaller towns.

MARTIN:

It was much easier to travel by train in Europe than it was in the United States.

AGENT:

Oh, yes. It still is, but there aren't as many trains as there used to be.

MARTIN:

Can we go by train to the major cities?

AGENT:

Of course, and to smaller cities too. Just tell me where you want to go.

MARTIN:

I think we'll go from north to south.

AGENT:

Would you like to start in England?

MARTIN:

That's where I started twenty years ago.

AGENT:

That sounds good then. You'll want to see how things have changed.

MARTIN:

Things won't have changed that much.

AGENT:

There will be lots of changes.

MARTIN:

I remember I didn't always like the food.

AGENT:

That will have changed. You can get all kinds of food everywhere. Even fast foods.

MARTIN:

My children will be happy then.

AGENT:

Everyone speaks English now. You can find someone who speaks English in all the countries.

MARTIN:

But I want to practice my foreign languages. On my last trip I didn't know anything but English.

AGENT:

That's fine. But everyone will want to try their English with you. You'll be very comfortable.