Open cloze
For questions 1-8, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap.
In the years since remote work became, for many, not just an emergency measure but a default setting, there has been a quiet recalibration of what an office is meant to do. Companies that once insisted that everyone be at their desks from nine to five now find themselves asking whether a building is a place to produce, or merely a backdrop against 1. work happens. While some managers still argue that creativity can only flourish when people are physically together, others point out that it might be the daily commute, rather 2. the screen, that drains attention. What is striking is that the debate is rarely about technology itself; it is about trust, and about 3. time is considered worth protecting. If employees can choose where they work, they may also begin to question how meetings are run, why emails are sent 4. midnight, and what, exactly, counts as productivity. There is, in short, no going back to the old arrangement, even if some would like to pretend 5.. In 6. years since remote work became, for many, not just an emergency measure but a default setting, there has been a quiet recalibration of what an office is meant to do. Companies that once insisted that everyone be at their desks from nine to five now find themselves asking whether a building is a place to produce, or merely a backdrop against which work happens. While some managers still argue that creativity can only flourish when people are physically together, others point out that it might be the daily commute, rather than the screen, that drains attention. What is striking is that the debate is rarely about technology itself; it is about trust, and about whose time is considered worth protecting. If employees can choose where they work, they may also begin to question how meetings are run, why emails are sent at midnight, and what, exactly, counts as productivity. There is, in short, no going back to the old arrangement, even if some would like to pretend otherwise. Companies that once insisted that everyone be at their desks from nine to five now find themselves asking 7. a building is a place to produce, or merely a backdrop against which work happens. There is, in short, no going back to the old arrangement, even 8. some would like to pretend otherwise.