Task: Question Answering
Input (English): Background Paragraph: Candied fruit, also known as crystallized fruit or glacé fruit, has existed since the 14th century. Whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel, are placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually preserves it. Depending on size and type of fruit, this process of preservation can take from several days to several months.[1] This process allows the fruit to retain its quality for a year.[2]

The continual process of drenching the fruit in syrup causes the fruit to become saturated with sugar, preventing the growth of spoilage microorganisms due to the unfavourable osmotic pressure this creates.[3]. 
Story: Helen got lots of different fruit as a gift from a friend that owned an orchard. She received apples, pears, apricots, peaches, plums, quince, among others. She decided to candy apples, apricots, and pears, and to keep the others fresh for as long as possible. 
Question: Which fruit lasted longer, pears or plums?
Output (English): pears.