Task: Question Answering
Input (English): Problem: a train starts full of passengers . at the first station , it drops one - third of the passengers and takes 280 more . at the second station , it drops one - half of the new total and takes 12 more . on arriving at the third station , it is found to have 248 passengers . find the number of passengers in the beginning . 
Options: a ) 240 , b ) 248 , c ) 280 , d ) 288 , e ) 290
Output (English): d