Q: It will come as no surprise to those working in the UK's higher education (HE) sector that universities are currently suffused with anxiety. The University and College Union (UCU) has recently been in dispute with employers over proposed changes to the USS pension scheme, and the most sustained period of industrial action in the sector's history has highlighted the fears staff have for the security of their futures post-retirement. Such unprecedented strike action needs to be situated within the wider context of a public sector undergoing transformation: while the concept remains contested, the influence of "neoliberal" ideas on universities can most clearly be seen in Success as a Knowledge Economy the government white paper that preceded the 2017 Higher Education and Research Act which states: "Competition between providers in any market incentivises them to raise their game, offering consumers a greater choice of more innovative and better quality products and services at lower cost. Higher education is no exception." Yet what might "raising our game" mean for academic staff? The university has been described as an "anxiety machine": the creeping marketisation of the sector along with pressure to recruit students (now "consumers"), increasing managerialism, and the implementation of processes of audit such as the REF and TEF to evaluate performance have arguably contributed to a progressively anxious landscape in which to labour. In 2016/17, 34% of academic staff were employed on fixed-term contracts a figure likely to be disputed by the UCU, since in 2016 it estimated the extent of casualisation in the sector to be closer to 54% once atypical contracts had been taken into consideration. In addition to pressures facing many staff in universities such as time-management, meeting growing employer expectations, and the evaluation of performance "casualised" contracts present particular challenges for those facing employment uncertainty: in a material sense, this can be a case of keeping up with... How long probably has the The University and College Union (UCU) been in dispute with employers over proposed changes to the USS pension scheme? Pick the correct answer from the following options: A. probably a few days B. probably a few hours C. not enough information D. probably a few months
A: D

Q: U.S. President Donald Trump is not expected to meet the leaders of Cuba and Venezuela when he attends the Summit of the Americas next week, according to White House officials. However, there will still be opportunities for interactions between Trump and his Latin and North American counterparts at the two-day summit that begins April 13 in Lima, Peru. The gathering takes place as Trump finalizes plans to send the military to the U.S. border with Mexico and threatens to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. In addition, Trump's recently imposed steel and aluminum tariffs have sparked criticism from many of the attendees at the summit, though some countries have received temporary exemptions. Despite all the turbulence, White House officials outlined a fairly traditional agenda for the summit. "A win for this president at this summit will be a strong speech focused on regional governance, leadership on Venezuela and promoting reciprocal trade," a senior administration official said. The official would not say whether Trump will continue to "speak his mind" during the summit on sensitive issues such as immigration. Trump has repeatedly portrayed immigration from South and Central America as both a national security and economic threat. During his presidential campaign, Trump accused Mexico of sending rapists, drug dealers and criminals across the border. Trump has also clashed with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto over the funding of a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. The president has long insisted that Mexico will pay for the wall. The disagreement become so heated earlier this year that Pena Nieto canceled plans to visit the White House. It is not clear whether Trump will hold a one-on-one meeting with Pena Nieto during the summit, U.S. officials said. But Trump will not meet with Cuban leader Raul Castro or anyone from the Venezuelan delegation, White House officials said. "Obviously the Cubans will be participating in the summit, so there will be a mixing of regional... how long does Trump work on immigration? Pick the correct answer from the following options: A. never B. whole presidency C. part of presidency D. not enough information
A: B

Q: Nothing I can think of. I've unwittingly embarrassed my daughter by stopping by my daughter's place too often to drop things off, I guess. I guess I embarrassed my daughter when she was living with her boyfriend by stopping by with healthy food and favorites groceries and other things I thought she needed and might like. The boyfriend always told me the groceries were a help. My daughter complained she already had too many clothes and if I tried to surprise her with something new. I think my husband and I embarrass our daughter now practically no matter what we do just because we're parents and maybe because we're older in our 60's and too happy to see her and too eager to please and we inadvertently treat our daughter like she is still a kid although she will be 22. I've never had a deliberate favorite thing to do except maybe by accident when I used to share too many photos of the cats when I used to be on FB? Parents can't help but embarrass their children beyond a certain age maybe? I can picture if we had an in the ground pool and my husband and I were continually doing silly moves and cannon ball jumping in I think or even simply lazing around in ridiculous color and style too teeny bathing suits for our age that too would embarrass my daughter. When push comes to shove parents like myself don't have to be too inventive or think much to come up with things they might do that embarrass their kids. My daughter told me she could not stand to go to the movies with me because I used to cry during movies. She never forgets one time I got emotional during a movie "Spirit" my husband and I took her to when she was little. I tried to hide this but my husband blurted out "You aren't crying, are you" like it was the dumbest thing to do and for the entire movie going audience to hear. Sheesh! What is probably true about the narrator's daughter? Pick the correct answer from the following options: A. She is easily embarrassed. B. She is mad at her mother. C. not enough information D. She doesn't like to go to the movies.
A: A

Q: 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. Who felt that the questions adequately covered the theme of creativity? Pick the correct answer from the following options: A. both the author and Claire B. not enough information C. the author and their boss D. the author and their creative team
A: A