The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan dropped more bombs during the first quarter of 2018 than it has in the same period in any of the last 15 years, according to Pentagon data. The increased bombing is the latest evidence the 17-year-old war in Afghanistan is significantly intensifying since U.S. President Donald Trump announced his new military strategy for the country in August. Coalition planes dropped 1,186 weapons on Afghanistan during the first three months of 2018, according to figures released by U.S. Air Forces Central Command. The previous record (1,083) was set during the height of the war in 2011. The U.S. has not released 2001 to 2003 airstrike data. Those figures do not include activity by the Afghan Air Force (AAF), which has stepped up its aerial bombardment since gaining the ability to conduct airstrikes two years ago. The AAF carries out between 4 to 12 airstrikes every day, according to the Afghan Ministry of Defense. If recent trends are any indication, 2018 is likely to get even more violent. Fighting traditionally picks up during the warmer months, and the coalition has expanded its bombing campaign against the Islamic State group, as well as narcotic labs and other Taliban revenue sources. But there is little indication the expanded airstrikes are helping end the conflict, says Thomas Johnson, an Afghanistan specialist who teaches national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. "It's basically a tactic of desperation," said Johnson, author of Taliban Narratives: The Use of Power and Stories in the Afghanistan Conflict. "There's never been an insurgency in history that's been defeated purely through air power." Even high-level U.S. military officials concede the conflict remains a stalemate. According to the latest U.S. military estimate, the Afghan government controls 56 percent of Afghanistan's districts, with insurgents controlling or contesting the rest. Insurgent attacks also have continued. Nearly 60 people died Sunday when an Islamic State... Question: What country is Trump putting more airstrikes in for 2018? Options: A. Japan B. Afghanistan C. not enough information D. Spain === The correct answer is
B

The collaborative process between me and Claire Bridge has been good so far. Upon finding out her email address we had a brief email exchange culminating in me sending her a list of potential questions for the interview. Claire quite liked a lot of the questions, but overall there were too many, so we proceeded to reduce the number of questions to six main questions. These questions would then form the basis of the artist portrait, with an attempt to limit answers to no more than a minute, so little had to be cut for the final edit. The six questions we arrived at are as follows: How would you define creativity? What does it mean to you to be an artist? Do you feel a painting or piece of art can house an energy/a feeling from the original artist? Do you feel that your own works house this energy? Change and transformation are recurrent themes in your work. What are you exploring and why do these fascinate you? And recently we saw a change in your medium too, incorporating video works and photography. You seem to draw on many influences in your work, from quantum physics, astrophysics, to environmental ecology, psychology, philosophy and metaphysics. With titles like "Dark Matter", "Touching Infinity", "We are made of Stars", "Rising tides" and "A drop in the ocean" or "Alchemy". Can you tell us something more about the convergence of these ideas and influences? What continues to motivate and inspire you as an artist? We both felt these questions addressed the initial topic of exploring creativity, explored why Claire became an artist, gives insight into Claire's work and practise and looks toward the future of Claire's practice. After refining the questions, we proceeded to organise a day to film, which will be on the 16th September. Hopefully if all goes well we will both have an artist portrait that lives up to our expectations. Question: When did the author consult with Claire to streamline the list of questions down to six main ones? Options: A. not enough information B. as soon as they found Claire's email address C. after working out the day for filming D. sometime after emailing an initial list of possible interview questions === The correct answer is
D

*Question*
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA Final preparations are underway for Friday's historic third summit between the leaders of North and South Korea. In the morning, North Korea Leader Kim Jong Un will cross the military demarcation line that divides the two Koreas at the village of Panmunjom, the historic site where the Korean War armistice was signed in 1953. He will be met by South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the South Korean side of the heavily fortified demilitarized zone. This will be the third inter-Korean summit, but it will be the first time that a leader from the communist North will enter the democratic South. The summits in 2000 and 2007 were held in North Korea. Kim will travel with an official delegation that includes his sister, Kim Yo Jong, who led the North's delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, Kim Yong Nam, the North's nominal head of state, and Kim Yong Chol. Kim Yong Chol was previously the head of the North's military intelligence agency and has been named by South Korea as being responsible for ordering the deadly 2010 sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean navy vessel. It is unclear if Kim Jong Un's wife, Ri Sol-ju, will be part of the official delegation from the North. She recently traveled with Kim when he visited Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. South Korea will hold a welcoming ceremony for the North Korean leader that will include a military honor guard review. During past summits, North Korea also organized the same level of ceremonial guard used to underscore friendly relations with an important visiting head of state. The two leaders will pose together for pictures, and plant a pine tree in the DMZ to symbolize Korean reconciliation. The leaders from the North and South may also walk together along a historic footbridge called the "Bridge of No Return" that was used for prisoner exchanges at the end of the Korean War. Moon and Kim will hold direct talks in the Peace House conference hall, both in the morning and the afternoon, but the North Korean delegation will... Question: How long will it take to pose for pictures? Options: A. a few minutes B. not enough information C. 1 day D. 1 hour === The correct answer is
**Answer**
A