Writing articles about films for The Front Page was my first proper job.Before then I had done bits of reviewing --- novels for other newspapers, films for a magazine and anything I was asked to do for the radio.That was how I met Tom Seaton, the first arts editor of The Front Page, who had also written for television.He hired me, but Tom was not primarily a journalist, or he would certainly have been more careful in choosing his staff.
At first, his idea was that a team of critics should take care of the art forms that didn’t require specialized knowledge: books, TV, theatre, film and radio.There would be a weekly lunch at which we would make our choices from the artistic material that Tom had decided we should cover, though there would also be guests to make the atmosphere s
ociable.
Tom’s original plan for a team of critics for the arts never took off.It was a good idea, but we didn’t get together as planned and so everything was done by phone.It turned out, too, that the general public out there preferred to associate a reviewer with a single subject area, and so I chose film.Without Tom’s initial push, though, we would hardly have come up with the present arrangement, by which I write an extended weekly piece, usually on one film.
The space I am given allows me to broaden my argument --- or forces me, in an uninteresting week, to make something out of nothing.But what is my role in the public arena(舞台)? I suppose that people choose what films to go to on the basis of the stars, the publicity of the director.So if a film review isn’t really a consumer guide, what is it? I certainly don’t feel I have a responsibility to be ‘right’ about a movie.Nor do I think there should be a certain number of ‘great’ and ‘bad’ films each year.All I have to do is put forward an argument.I’m not a judge, and nor would I want to be.
What do we learn about Tom Seaton from the first paragraph?
A.He encouraged Mark to become a writer. |
B.He had worked in various areas of the media. |
C.He met Mark when working for a film company. |
D.He prefers to employ people that he knows. |
The weekly lunches were planned in order to ______.
A.help the writers get to know each other |
B.provide an informal information party |
C.divide the work tha t had to be done |
D.entertain important visitors from the arts |
What does the author mean when he says that Tom’s plan ‘never took off’ in Paragraph 3?
A.It was unpopular. |
B.It wasted too much time. |
C.It wasn’t planned properly. |
D.It wasn’t put into practice. |
Which of the following best describes what Mark says about his work?
A.His success varies from year to year. |
B.He prefers to write about films he likes. |
C.He can freely express his opinion. |
D.He writes according to accepted rules. |