Civil Servant vs Artist

Civil Servant vs Artist

Yesterday I was watching the TV show "Marple". The episode was " Paddington 4:50", and the story was a thriller as were all of Agatha Christie's stories were. I love thrillers. But the the story had (contained - would be better) a joke that made me think about the people's opinion about of Civil Servants. One of the characters was lying about his job. He had said he was an artist (a painter) but he didn't sell hadn't sold any (a - would be better) painting for years and finally he must had to find a work for a living. He did took the exams to for the civil service and he was the came first of the promotion (in the results), but he was worried about bother annoying his the father because his father was a bohemian. To his father, to be a civil servant was worse than being a artist.

Rod, I am not quite sure what you mean by "first of the promotion", I think you probably meant the results of all the candidates for the exam and if so, my words in blue would be appropriate.

If you won a race or other competition, you "came first in the race" or "placed first in the race".