What are universities for?

1. [Multiple choice]

Someone in government criticised Professor Alison Richard.

Answers for Quiz [1].

• 1. True
• 2. Untrue (correct)

2. [Multiple choice]

Professor Alison Richard criticised someone in government.

(She criticised government views and interference in some area, but not an individual.)

Answers for Quiz [2].

• 1. Correct
• 2. Incorrect (correct)

3. [Multiple choice]

Alison Richards disagreed with someone in government about how students were selected for university.

Answers for Quiz [3].

• 1. Yes, she did. (correct)
• 2. No, she didn’t.

4. [Multiple choice]

The writer of this letter agreed with the government’s attack on universities.

(The letter-writer welcomed the attack on the government’s interference in the way students were selected – so she disagreed with what the government had said or done.)

Answers for Quiz [4].

• 1. Yes, she certainly did.
• 2. No, she didn’t do this at all. (correct)

5. [Multiple choice]

Alison Richards was gentle in her criticism of the government’s comments.

(She was robust in her criticism.)

Answers for Quiz [5].

• 1. Yes, she was, and this made her stance more effective.
• 2. No, she wasn’t. Her comments seem to have been made loud and clear. (correct)

6. [Multiple choice]

The matter at issue is the selection of students for UK university places.

(It is specifically about this at top universities. This automatically means Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and London University. This is sometimes described as the Triangle.)

Answers for Quiz [6].

• 1. That’s right.
• 2. That’s wrong. (correct)

7. [Multiple choice]

The government had made the point that students from disadvantaged are discouraged from applying to university.

(The criticism has been about the methods by which they were selected once they have applied. There have been many attempts in Great Britain to encourage more students from backgrounds where higher education is uncommon to study at universities. Students are considered by some – including some in government – to have been uninclined to apply for certain (top) universities because they automatically assume they will be prejudiced against.)

Answers for Quiz [7].

• 1. True.
• 2. False. (correct)

8. [Multiple choice]

The writer of this letter agrees that certain universities are not even trying to recruit the most talented students on their courses.

(She says ‘of course’ they try to do this. Her implication is that the best universities naturally want the best students they can attract, regardless of their background.)

Answers for Quiz [8].

• 1. True
• 2. Untrue (correct)

9. [Multiple choice]

Students who gain degrees at universities generally become upwardly mobile.

Answers for Quiz [9].

• 1. That is generally the case, yes. (correct)
• 2. That is not the case, no.

10. [Multiple choice]

It is the main purpose of universities to encourage individuals to become more employable by becoming better educated than their parents.

(– it cannot and should not be their main aim.)

Answers for Quiz [10].

• 1. True.
• 2. Incorrect. (correct)

11. [Multiple choice]

Governments are right to dictate what is studied and by whom.

(Education has to be independent of such pressures, and work to their own criteria, not political, industrial or economic ones.)

Answers for Quiz [11].

• 1. Yes, they are.
• 2. No, they’re not. (correct)

12. [Multiple choice]

Universities are responsible for solving society’s problems.

Answers for Quiz [12].

• 1. True.
• 2. False. (correct)