TASK DEFINITION: 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.
PROBLEM: Question: How many years did the war last that coincided with Bracton's retirement? Passage:Plucknett describes Bracton in this way: "Two generations after Ranulf de Glanvill we come to the flower and crown of English jurisprudence – Bracton." Bracton was born around 1210 in Devon and had a great deal of preferment in the Church. He either derived from Bratton Fleming or Bratton Clovelly. Both villages are in Devon. It was only after his death that the family name appears as Bracton; during his life, he was known as Bratton, or Bretton. This originally may have been Bradton, meaning "Broad Town". Bracton first appeared as a justice in 1245. From 1248 until his death in 1268 he was steadily employed as a justice of the assize in the southwestern counties, especially Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. He was a member of the coram rege, also called the coram ipso rege, later to become the King's Court. He retired from this in 1257, shortly before the meeting of the Mad Parliament in 1258 at Oxford. It is unknown whether his retirement was related to politics. His leaving coincided with the onset of the notorious Second Barons' War in 1264. At that time Bracton was ordered to restore to the Treasury the large store of plea rolls (case records from previous trials) that had been in his possession. He was also forced to surrender the large number of rolls from his predecessors Martin Pateshull and William Raleigh, also known as William de Raley. It cannot be determined whether he disgraced the King or the barons in this affair, but it is speculated that some kind of political intrigue was involved. The practical result was that his major work, De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae ("The Laws and Customs of England"), was left unfinished. Even so, it exists in four large volumes today. He continued to follow the assizes in the southwest until 1267. In the last year of his life he filled another prominent role, as member of a commission of prelates, magnates and justices appointed to hear the complaints of the "disinherited" – those who had sided with Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester.
 Links: a. Second Barons' War b. Somerset c. Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester d. Second Barons' War

SOLUTION: a

PROBLEM: Question: In what year did Jordan Roth buy 50% of Jujamcyn? Passage:Landesman was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, studied at Colby College and then the University of Wisconsin, Madison (BA English Literature 1969), and the Yale School of Drama (MFA Dramatic Literature and Criticism 1972, DFA 1976). At the Yale School of Drama he became a protégé and friend of Robert Brustein. At the completion of his course work he stayed at Yale for four years as an Assistant Professor. While at Yale, Landesman got to know novelist Jerzy Kosinski and he worked with Kosinski on two of his novels, Being There and The Devil Tree. Landesman was involved as an editor, helping Kosinski, not a native speaker of English, with his English syntax and writing. While at Yale Landesman was also involved in managing a private mutual fund and a racehorse he had bought. In 1977 he left to focus more time on his private investment fund, which he ran for many years. He also got involved in Broadway theater and he was heavily involved in the genesis and development of "Big River" (1985 Tony, Best Musical), a musical based on Huckleberry Finn. Landesman's involvement included persuading Roger Miller to write the music for the show. The show ultimately won seven Tonys and ran for over 1,000 performances on Broadway over two and a half years. This success attracted the attention of James H. Binger who shared two passions with Landesman: Broadway theater and horseracing. Binger owned the Jujamcyn Theatre group of five theatres, four of which were then dark. Binger and Landesman made a deal for Landesman to become President of Jujamcyn in 1987 with the inclusion of an option for Landesman to purchase Jujamcyn upon Binger's death. After taking the helm at Jujamcyn he shifted its business model away from the historical focus of renting of theatre facilities to shows and into a more active posture as a combination of a theater owner and a developer of new plays. Other theater owners have followed this pattern. After joining Jujamcyn Landesman has produced Broadway shows, the most notable of which include: "" (1993 and 1994 Tony, Best Play), and "The Producers" (2001 Tony, Best Musical). Landesman purchased Jujamcyn in 2005 and later sold a 50% interest to Jordan Roth.
 Links: a. Yale School of Drama b. Jordan Roth c. University of Wisconsin–Madison d. James H. Binger

SOLUTION: b

PROBLEM: Question: What time period did the Byzantine Empire rule? Passage:When Boris I assumed the throne of Bulgaria in 852, the country was still pagan, with the ruling Bulgar elite being Tengriists while the Slavic population practised its own religion. Christianity was already widespread in Bulgaria as the country was established on former territories of the Byzantine Empire, and seems to have been influential. Even one of the sons of Khan Omurtag (r. 814–831), Enravota, converted to Christianity. The Bulgarian nobility was strongly opposed to any form of Byzantine influence in the country and was therefore hostile to Christianity as it was directly associated with the Byzantine Empire. Boris I, however, had many reasons to consider conversion — Bulgaria was situated between two powerful Christian empires, Byzantium and East Francia; Christian doctrine particularly favoured the position of the monarch as God's representative on Earth; and finally, Boris also saw Christianity as a way to overcome the differences between Bulgars and Slavs. The geopolitical situation in the mid 9th century was also favourable because of the increasing friction and rivalry between the Papacy in Rome and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople for influence in Central Europe. That struggle between the two churches would give the Bulgarian ruler the opportunity to manoeuvre and negotiate with both, thus extracting favourable concessions while keeping the country out of direct foreign influence. When the Byzantines invaded Bulgaria in the autumn of 863 and demanded conversion to Christianity from Constantinople as the single condition to retreat, Boris I readily accepted and was baptised in the beginning of 864, assuming the Christian name Michael after his spiritual godfather, the Byzantine Emperor Michael III. That step was very unpopular among the nobility, but when they rebelled Boris I dealt decisively with them and executed 52 magnates along with their whole families. When in the following year the Byzantines sturdily demonstrated their determination not to allow the existence of an autocephalous Bulgarian Church, Boris I decided to turn to the Papacy.
 Links: a. Enravota b. Slavic paganism c. Byzantine Empire d. Catholic Church

SOLUTION:
c