You are going to read a newspaper article about a woman who spent last year as a judge for the British Theatre Awards.Seven
sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A — H the one which fits each gap (1-7).There is one
extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Who judges the British Theatre Awards? James Pickard finds out.

Elisabeth Hart went to the theatre in London 55 times last year. She read 55 programmes, saw 55 curtains rise and ate an
undisclosed number of ice creams. On top of that, she had to write page after page of notes on each visit. However, she is not a
professional theatre critic. She is an ordinary member of the public on the judging panel of this year’s British Theatre Awards.
Mrs Hart was one of four theatre-lovers chosen to judge all new drama productions (excluding musicals) last year.__(1)__
Mrs Hart thinks this was a good system. ‘It’s important to have amateurs playing a part in the decisions,’ she says. ‘It stops the
awards appearing to have been fixed like some others. And if a play wins an award, the public know that it's been approved by
people with no axe to grind.’Mrs Hart is extremely enthusiastic about the theatre. ‘The year before last | went to over 30 plays,”
she says, ‘and they were a complete mixed bag.’__(2)__ It began with an application form left on a foyer shelf by the Society
of London Theatre, which organises the awards. She filled it in, added a short theatre review, and was selected from several
hundred applicants.‘They were looking for people with a very wide taste in theatre,’ she explains. ‘I always enjoyed acting in
plays when | was young, and as a student in London, | regularly bought cheap standing tickets for West End productions.’
Being a judge was hard work, though. __(3)___ ‘But I never got sick of it. Even the plays | didn’t like always had some
redeeming qualities.’She could never sit back and relax, though, because she had to make hefty notes on everything. __(4)__
‘It wasn’t just the actors we were judging, but also costume design, direction, lighting and script — twelve categories in all. But |
still enjoyed it. It felt like an enormous privilege.’___(5)__ “That didn’t happen at all. It was all very civilised and friendly,’ says
Mrs Hart. ‘We were listened to and our votes were all equal.’ Theatre critics, of course, are known for their power to make or
break a play. __(6)__ ‘1 wasn’t treated differently at all, although one receptionist did optimistically describe me as looking as
if | was keen to enjoy my evening.’___(7)____ ‘It is bursting with talent on all fronts, from playwriting to direction, and there are
plenty of innovative developments in productions. | personally think new writing should be encouraged. But overall, theatre is
definitely alive and kicking.’

A.Having to take this approach meant that she couldn't let her concentration slip at any
time.

B. In this situation there is surely a danger of the professional critics dominating the
discussions.

C. Regular theatre-goers usually disagree with some of their judgements, of course, and
Mrs Hart is no exception.

D. They were part of a panel that also included five professional theatre critics.

E. Her appointment was therefore something of a dream come true for her.

F. The experience has left Mrs Hart optimistic about the state of British theatre.

G. In one week alone, her duties involved her reviewing as many as seven plays.

H.So did management show her enormous respect?