A British Spy

Read the texts (A-D) and match them with four of the headings.

1).  The man who created James Bond ______

2). British action films ______

3). The actors who play Bond ______

4). The Bond books ______

5). What’s James Bond like? ______

A. The British do not make many action films.  They’re more famous for historical dramas and, more recently, romantic comedies like Four Weddings and a Funeral. However, in 1962 a film called Dr No appeared.  It was about an intelligence agent called James Bond and was an immediate success.  There are now over twenty Bond films, and they are some of the most successful action films ever made.

B.  Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond books, was born in 1908, and went to Eton, one of the most expensive private schools in Britain.  In the 1930s he worked as a journalist and a banker.  But he wanted a more exciting life and in the Second World War he got a job in the British Intelligence Service.  After the war Fleming returned to journalism, but in 1953 he started writing thrillers, using his wartime experience in the intelligence services.  In all he wrote fourteen Bond books, selling millions of copies around the world. He died in 1964.

C.  James Bond works for MI6, the international part of the British Intelligence Service. His other name is 007 (pronounced ‘double-oh seven’). In the books and early films, Bond is charming, drinks and smokes a lot, and has many affairs with women. In more recent films, he is more sensitive and less reckless, and the female characters play a bigger role in the stories. Bond is famous for the way he introduces himself: “The name’s Bond. James Bond.”

D.  Six actors have played the part of Bond: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.