Reading. Read through the text “Master of All You Survey” and do the tasks that follow

Read through the text “Master of All You Survey” and do the tasks that follow.

Master of All You Survey.

Farhan Vladi may have just the island for you.

Thinking about an island all your own? How about a picturesque little speck of rock and soil about half a mile off France’s Brittany coast? It comes with a small, medieval castle equipped with telephone, television and electricity – and, so we’re told, it’s haunted by literary ghosts. (In 1896, Polish Nobel Prize winner Henryk Sienkiewicz closeted himself there while writing the novel “Quo Vadis? ”.) Perhaps you would prefer a tropic isle once owned by the late John Wayne in the Pearl Archipelago some 20 miles off the west coast of Panama. If not, there’s Marlon Brando’s Polynesian atoll in the Pacific, but that’s available only for leasing, not for purchase. Whatever your tastes and your budget may be, one man to get in touch with is Farhan Vladi, a German real-estate dealer based on Hamburg who has built a lucrative international career as an island broker. But bring cash – lots of it.

To be sure, there are some bargains available out there. An island in a Canadian lake can be yours for a mere $10, 000. A tiny private paradise of sand and palm trees in the Bahamas sounds like a terrific deal for as little as $20, 000. But Vladi’s islands are more likely to fall in the $100, 000 - to $300, 000 price range, and top-of-the-line retreats cost much, much more. The one with the castle off Brittany carries a $1, 4 million price tag. Last year, Vladi sold a 25-acre island off Oahu, in Hawaii, to a Japanese client for $8, 5 million. The drop in the dollar makes islands quoted in U.S. currency a relative bargain for some buyers, but – for whatever reason – banks are generally reluctant to lend large amounts for the purchase of islands. About 80 percent of Vladi’s transactions are in cash.

The son of a German mother and an Iranian father, Vladi, 42, got into the islands business two decades ago when he brokered the sale of an island in the Seychelles. In the years since then he has sold more than 300 islands. Americans and Germans were his best customers until a few years ago. Now the Japanese are the big buyers.

Low-key approach: Vladi prospects for islands by photographing them from a small rented plane, then discreetly snooping around to find out who own them - and whether they would be willing to sell. Title deeds are usually available for public inspection in the United States, but elsewhere they’re often treated like state secrets. “In many countries you have to be a detective, ” he says. “The best sources of information are the fishermen.” Like real-estate brokers everywhere, Vladi keeps an eye peeled for divorces, deaths or bankruptcies that might result in an island’s being placed on the market. But patience and tact are essential. “Island people are very shy, ” he says. “You have to be low key in approaching them.”

Vladi deals only in islands that are located in politically stable areas and that place no restrictions on the buyer’s nationality. Given rising land values and a diminishing supply, he recommends them as an investment. “Demand is increasing because civilization is destroying nature and people want an unpolluted environment, ” says Vladi. “They find it on an island.” But at a price.