Single correct option
Write the paragraph that best summarises the passage below.
Remote work, once treated as a perk granted to a trusted few, became for many organisations a default arrangement almost overnight. Early studies suggested measured productivity held steady or even rose, since employees reclaimed commuting time. But as the novelty wore off, a subtler cost emerged: the informal, unscheduled interactions — a comment overheard in a corridor, a question asked because someone happened to be nearby — that had quietly generated much of an organisation's shared knowledge and cross-team coordination. No single remote meeting could be scheduled to replace what never had to be scheduled in an office.
Remote work, once treated as a perk granted to a trusted few, became for many organisations a default arrangement almost overnight. Early studies suggested measured productivity held steady or even rose, since employees reclaimed commuting time. But as the novelty wore off, a subtler cost emerged: the informal, unscheduled interactions — a comment overheard in a corridor, a question asked because someone happened to be nearby — that had quietly generated much of an organisation's shared knowledge and cross-team coordination. No single remote meeting could be scheduled to replace what never had to be scheduled in an office.
- A. Remote work is a perk that should never have been extended to most employees.
- B. Remote work initially preserved productivity, but its real cost lay in the loss of informal, unscheduled interactions that had quietly sustained an organisation's shared knowledge and coordination.
- C. Employees strongly prefer remote work because it eliminates commuting time entirely.
- D. Scheduled meetings are always an adequate substitute for spontaneous office conversations.
Show answer and solution
Answer: (B) Remote work initially preserved productivity, but its real cost lay in the loss of informal, unscheduled interactions that had quietly sustained an organisation's shared knowledge and coordination.
The passage's arc is: remote work seemed fine on productivity metrics at first, but a subtler cost — the loss of unscheduled, informal interaction that built shared knowledge — emerged over time, and this loss could not be replaced by deliberately scheduling meetings. Option (b) captures both halves; the other options either overstate a single point or contradict the passage (e.g., (d) is explicitly denied by the last sentence).
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