In this task, you're given a question, a context passage, and four options which are terms from the passage. After reading a passage, you will get a brief understanding of the terms. Your job is to determine by searching and reading further information of which term you can answer the question. Indicate your choice as 'a', 'b', 'c', or 'd'. If you think more than one option is plausible, choose the more probable option to help you answer the question.

Q: Question: Do fewer than 1000 people inhabit the town where Howells was born in 1962? Passage:Howells was born in 1962 in his grandmother's house in Bapchild, Kent in the South of England. He was raised in nearby Sittingbourne, and attended Minterne County Junior School and Borden Grammar School. In the 1970s, he participated in youth theatre companies including Kent County Youth Theatre and Sittingbourne Youth Theatre. From 1981-84 he attended Bretton Hall College in West Yorkshire, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Drama and English. After working as a jobbing actor and director in provincial productions of plays and pantomimes, in 1990 Howells joined the Citizens Theatre Company in Glasgow, Scotland as an assistant director to Giles Havergal (one of the company's three pioneering directors, alongside Philip Prowse and the late Robert David MacDonald). While working at the Citizens Theatre, Howells met Stewart Laing, and Laing cast Howells alongside the drag performers Leigh Bowery and Ivan Cartwright in a production of Copi's scatological play The Homosexual or the Difficulty of Sexpressing Oneself (1971) -- Laing's first directorial production (co-directed with Gerrard McArthur). The play toured to Glasgow, London and Manchester in 1993-94. Howells recalled that Time Out described it as a hymn to tastelessness. I blacked up and was an Asian transsexual with a Carry on up the Khyber accent.’ Bowery was a profound influence on Howells and the two were close friends until Bowery's premature death in late 1994.
 Links: a. Bapchild b. England c. Robert David MacDonald d. Leigh Bowery

A: a
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Q: Question: What's the average lifespan of the animal that has a jaw with properties similar to those that probably led to the evolution of baleen? Passage:The oldest true fossils of baleen are only 15 million years old because baleen rarely fossilizes, and scientists believe it originated considerably earlier than that. This is indicated by baleen-related skull modifications being found in fossils from considerably earlier, including a buttress of bone in the upper jaw beneath the eyes, and loose lower jaw bones at the chin. Baleen is believed to have evolved around 30 million years ago, possibly from a hard, gummy upper jaw, like the one a Dall's porpoise has; it closely resembles baleen at the microscopic level. The initial evolution and radiation of baleen plates is believed to have occurred during Early Oligocene when Antarctica broke off from Gondwana and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current was formed, increasing productivity of ocean environments. This occurred because the current kept warm ocean waters away from the area that is now Antarctica, producing steep gradients in temperature, salinity, light, and nutrients, where the warm water meets the cold.
 Links: a. Antarctic Circumpolar Current b. Dall's porpoise c. Salinity d. Salinity

A: b
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Q: Question: How many subscribers does the publication that called Kate's music "slightly precious" have? Passage:In the USA, reaction to the record was mixed. Awarding the record the title of "platter du jour" (i.e. album of the month), Spin observed that "with traces of classical, operatic, tribal and twisted pop styles, Kate creates music that observes no boundaries of musical structure or inner expression". The review noted "while her eclecticism is welcomed and rewarded in her homeland her genius is still ignored here – a situation that is truly a shame for an artist so adventurous and naturally theatrical", and hoped that "this album might gain her some well-deserved recognition from the American mainstream". However, Rolling Stone, in their first ever review of a Kate Bush record, was unimpressed: "The Mistress of Mysticism has woven another album that both dazzles and bores. Like the Beatles on their later albums, Bush is not concerned about having to perform the music live, and her orchestrations swell to the limits of technology. But unlike the Beatles, Bush often overdecorates her songs with exotica ... There's no arguing that Bush is extraordinarily talented, but as with Jonathan Richman, rock's other eternal kid, her vision will seem silly to those who believe children should be seen and not heard." The New York Times characterized the album's music as "slightly precious, calculated female art rock" and called Bush "a real master of instrumental textures", while The Independent called Hounds "a prog-pop masque of an album." Pitchfork Media gave the album a perfect score, noting that the album draws from synth-pop and progressive rock whilst remaining wholly distinct from either style. Spin called it an "art-pop classic."
 Links: a. The New York Times b. Pitchfork (website) c. Rolling Stone d. The Independent

A:
a
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