1. ENGLISH 4 LISTENING
AMOS OZ, CHILDHOOD
AMOS OZ
CHILDHOOD
FROM : BBC LEARNING ENGLISH, WORDS IN THE NEWS, TUESDAY 5 MAY 2009
1939 May 4: Born in Jerusalem, and is named Amos Klausner.
1954: Moves into the Kibbutz Hulda in the Negev Desert, and takes
the name "Oz", which is Hebrew for strength.
1957: Serves in the Israeli army.
1960: Finishes his army service.
1963: Receives a B.A degree in philosophy and literature from the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
1965: Debuts as a writer with the story collection Where the
Jackals Howl.
1967: Fights as a soldier in the Six-Day War.
1973: Fights as a soldier in the Yom Kippur War.
1977: Is part of the process in the founding of the Peace Now-
movement.
1986: Becomes a professor at the Ben Gurion University Negev,
Beer Sheva.
1992: Receives the Frankfurt Peace Price.
EuroNews : When you were (A1) a child, your dream ……………….. (B1) to be a book,
not a writer, a book. Which one?
Amos Oz : It's a difficult question, it's like asking me which one of my children I like best. But I
would be glad to be a book by Chekhov, a collection of stories by Chekhov, because he's my idol
and in many ways my mentor in literature.
EuroNews : At an early stage of your life you changed (A2) your family name to Oz. Is it
true that if you were to choose now, your choice would be completely different?
Amos Oz : Maybe it would be different. When I ……………….. (B2) 14, I rebelled (A3)
against the values of my father, I d……………….. (B3) to become everything my father
wasn’t (A4) and not to be anything he ……………….. (B4). He was (A5) an
intellectual, I d……………….. (B5) to become a farmer. He was (A6) a scholar, I
d……………….. (B6) to become a tractor driver. He was (A7)short, I d………………..
(B7) to become very tall. It didn’t work (A8) but I t……………….. (B8)! And I
changed (A9)my name to Oz, which in Hebrew means "strength" and "courage", this is what
I n……………….. (B9) most at the age of 14 when I rebelled (A10)against my father.
Now I’m more confident about my strength. I don’t need to put it in my name.