TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you will be shown an extract from a movie plot and a question. You need to provide the correct answer for it. Short answers containing words that are present in the passage are preferred.
PROBLEM: Joe Dirt is the janitor at a Los Angeles radio station. A producer drags him into the studio to talk live on the air with famous disc jockey, shock jock Zander Kelly.Joe tells his life story. As a baby he had a mullet wig installed because the top of his skull had never formed. At age 8, he was left behind by his parents and sister at the Grand Canyon. He does not know his real surname. After growing up in a series of foster homes, Joe arrived in Silvertown, a small town in the Pacific Northwest, where he met beautiful Brandy and her dog, Charlie, and became target for jealousy from Robby, the town bully.After Brandy's alcoholic father shoots Charlie dead, Joe decides to try to find his parents. He strikes up a friendship with Kicking Wing, an unsuccessful Native American fireworks salesman. In Indiana, Joe has an encounter with a skin cannibal named Buffalo Bob. This brings him unwanted attention from the media, but helps his search. He travels to Louisiana and works as a high school janitor with "Clem Doore", a former NYC mobster in the Witness Protection Program, with whom he becomes good friends. Joe discovers the address of his old family home and travels to Baton Rouge.Listening to Joe's life story, both Zander and the radio audience initially find him an object of scorn, but Joe's kindness, his optimistic outlook on life, and his good-natured self deprecation win them over.Eventually, Joe lands the janitorial job at the Los Angeles radio station, where he recounts how, after discovering his old home vacant and his parents long gone, he gives up the search and returns to Silvertown to be with Brandy. However, Robby informs him that Brandy found Joe's parents, but instructed Robby not to tell Joe. Robby shows a note from Brandy to prove it. Hearing this, Zander calls Brandy on the phone on air, to find out why. Brandy says she wanted to tell Joe in person, but never had the opportunity. Brandy tells Joe his parents were killed the day they were at the Grand Canyon; she pleads with Joe to return to Silvertown. Upset by the news, Joe stays in Los Angeles.Joe is unaware that he has become a media sensation but he quickly discovers his newfound fame. An appearance on TRL with Carson Daly results in a phone call from a woman claiming to be Joe's mother. Joe realizes that she is indeed his mother and finds his parents' house, where he and the media discover that his parents intentionally abandoned him at the Grand Canyon, and that they reconnected with him in order to take advantage of his newfound publicity to boost their sales of clown figurines. Angry and sad, Joe storms out, cutting ties with his parents.Joe intends to commit suicide, but Brandy appears and says that she only told him his parents were dead to protect him from their greed. She invites Joe to come home with her, saying he "was home all along." Before Joe can come down from the ledge, he suffers a head injury in a freak accident when a policeman tries to prevent him from falling using a rope.Joe wakes up in Brandy's house, surrounded by his friends: Brandy, Kicking Wing (who now owns 30 successful firework stands), Clem (now renamed Gert B. Frobe), and Charlene (another friend who is engaged to Doore). Brandy got Joe a new braided wig following his head operation. Brandy has retrieved Joe's Hemi, and she has a new dog that Charlie fathered.Robby drives up and tells Joe that no one wants him in Silvertown, no matter how famous he is. Clem threatens Robby, and Charlene insults his car. They all realize that they are like family to Joe. They ride off, leaving a frustrated Robby in the dust, his windshield broken by the stones thrown up by Joe's car. As they drive away, Zander plays a song for Joe on the radio, and fireworks go off in the sky (with special thanks to Kicking Wing)., Question: Where were Joe's parents the day they were killed?

SOLUTION: Answer: Grand Canyon

PROBLEM: It is Christmas 1911 and Arthur Winslow, a retired London banker, is making final preparations for a dinner to seal the engagement between his daughter Catherine, an outspoken supporter of the controversial cause of women's suffrage, and Captain John Watherstone. The family and guests are toasting the upcoming marriage when Arthur discovers that his youngest son Ronnie, a 13-year old cadet at the Royal Naval College at Osbourne, is unexpectedly home. Ronnie has been accused of the theft of a postal order. An internal enquiry, conducted without notice to his family and without benefit of representation, finds him guilty and Mr. Winslow is "requested to withdraw" his son from the college (the formula of the day for expulsion). Ronnie proclaims his innocence and his father believes himenough so that he demands an apology from the College. When the college refuses to reinstate Ronnie, Arthur decides to take the matter to court. With the help of his daughter and Desmond Curry, a solicitor and friend of the family, Mr. Winslow decides to hire the most highly sought after barrister in England at the time, Sir Robert Morton, known also to be a shrewd opposition Member of Parliament.The government is unwilling to allow the case to proceed. The Naval College is a representative of the Admiralty and the Crown, and as such British law presumes they are infallible and above question; their judgment can be legally questioned only with the permission of the Attorney General. However, after heated debates in the House of Commons, the government yields, and the case does come to court.Catherine had expected Sir Robert to decline the case, or at best to treat it as a political tool; instead, he is coolly matter-of-fact about having been persuaded of Ronnie's innocence by his responses to questioning (in fact, a form of cross-examination, to see how young Ronnie would hold up in court) in the presence of his family. Catherine, left-wing suffragette, is not so enthusiastic towards Morton who she considers too heartless for a case like this. Catherine is also disturbed by Sir Robert's establishment views: he is a conservative opponent of womens suffrage. "He always speaks out against what is right," she complains. However, she admires his legal skills. Morton on his part is obviously quite taken with her from the moment he glimpses her peering down at him from the ladies' gallery at the House of Commons.In the meantime, the case creates media hysteria and puts a heavy toll on the Winslow family their funds are rapidly depleted in order to cover legal expenses. Mr. Winslow's physical health deteriorates under the strain and the happiness of the Winslows' home is destroyed. Arthur's wife, Grace, begins to wonder if the real issue is justice or a father's stubborn and foolish pride. Forced to make economical sacrifices, Grace Winslow is unwilling to take the drastic measure of dismissing, Violet, who has been the familys maid for over twenty years. The eldest son, Dickie Winslow, has to leave Oxford due to the lack of money destroying his chance at a career in the Civil Service. Instead, he is compelled to find employment in his fathers bank. Catherine's marriage settlement is also gone. Her fiancé John Watherstone breaks off the engagement in the face of opposition from his father (an Army Colonel), forcing her to consider a sincere and well-intentioned offer of marriage from Desmond, whom she does not love. Sir Robert has also declined appointment as Lord Chief Justice, rather than drop the case. The least affected is Ronnie, who happily has been transferred to a new school.At trial, Sir Robert (working together with Desmond Curry and his firm) is able to discredit much of the supposed evidence. The Admiralty, certainly embarrassed and presumably no longer confident of Ronnie's guilt, abruptly withdraws all charges against him, proclaiming the boy entirely innocent.When their resounding victory arrives, not a single member of the Winslows family is present at court. It is Violet, the maid, who tells Mr. Winslow and Catherine what had happened at court. Shortly after, Sir Robert appears in the Winslowss home to share the good news. The film ends with a suggestion that romance may yet blossom between Sir Robert and Catherine, who acknowledges that she has misjudged him all along., Question: Why is Arthur planning a dinner party?

SOLUTION: Answer: Engagement party for his daughter.

PROBLEM: In 1926, Machinist's Mate First Class Jake Holman transfers to the Yangtze River Patrol gunboat USS San Pablo. The ship is nicknamed the "Sand Pebble" and its sailors "Sand Pebbles".The officers have hired coolies to do most of the work, leaving the sailors free for military drills. Because he takes an interest in mechanical work, Holman involves himself directly in the operation and maintenance of the ship's engine. As a result, the chief engine room coolie, Chien, is insulted. Holman also earns the antipathy of most of his fellow sailors. He does become close friends with one seasoned, sensitive seaman, Frenchy.Holman eventually discovers a serious problem with a crank bearing that the superstitious coolies, believing the engine is haunted, have not fixed. Holman informs the captain, Lieutenant Collins, who declines to repair it. Only after the executive officer declares an emergency does the angry Collins acquiesce. Chien insists on taking Holman's place to make the repair and is accidentally killed. The chief coolie, Lop-eye Shing, blames Holman, believing that the "ghost in the machine" killed Chien. As a replacement for Chien, Holman selects Po-Han, and trains him. In time, the two become friends.Po-Han is harassed by a large, heavy-drinking, bullying sailor named Stawski, leading to a boxing match on which the crewmen place bets. Holman is in the corner of his friend Po-Han, who ends up winning. His victory leads to more friction between Holman and the rest of the crew.An (off screen) incident involving British gunboats leads to Collins ordering the crew not to fire on, or return fire from, the Chinese, to avoid a diplomatic incident or providing fuel for xenophobic propaganda, especially by the Communists. The boat is quickly prepared and disembarks. As revenge for the death of Chien and what he viewed as Holman's usurpation of his power, Lop-eye Shing had sent Po-Han ashore, where he is chased down the beach, captured, and tortured by a mob of Chinese in full view of the crew. Collins attempts to buy Po-Han's release, but without success. Po-Han begs for someone to kill him. Holman disobeys orders and ends Po-Han's torture with a rifle shot.The San Pablo is moored on the Xiang River at Changsha, due to low water levels, during the winter of 1926â27. It must deal with increasingly hostile crowds surrounding it in numerous smaller boats. Lt. Collins also fears a possible mutiny.Frenchy has saved an educated Chinese woman, Maily, from prostitution by paying her debts. He marries her and regularly swims to shore to visit her, but he dies of pneumonia one night. Holman finds Maily sitting by Frenchy's corpse. Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) militia burst in, beat Holman, and drag Maily away. The next day, several Chinese demand Holman be turned over to them as the "murderer" of Maily and her unborn baby. When the demand is rejected, the Chinese blockade the gunboat. The crew fear for their safety and demand that Holman surrender to the Chinese. Order is not restored until Collins fires a Lewis gun across the bow of one of the Chinese sampans.With spring's arrival, Collins orders preparations to restart their river patrols, but soon receives word of the Nanking Incident, with orders to return to the Yangtze River and the coast. On his own, he chooses to disobey orders and decides to first travel upstream of Dongting Lake to evacuate idealistic, anti-imperialist missionary Jameson and his school-teacher assistant, Shirley Eckert, from their remote China Light Mission. Holman had met Eckert in Hangkow months earlier, and the two had romantic feelings for each other that did not have time to develop.To reach the missionaries, the San Pablo must fight past a boom made up of junks carrying a massive bamboo rope blocking the river. A boarding party is sent to cut the rope. Fighting breaks out in which about a dozen sailors and many Chinese are killed. Holman cuts the rope while under fire. He kills a Chinese attacker, a friend of Jameson and Eckert. The ship then proceeds upriver.Collins leads three sailors, including Holman, ashore. Jameson resists being rescued, claiming that Eckert and he have renounced their U.S. citizenship. Collins orders Holman to forcibly remove Eckert and Jameson, but as Holman declares he is going to stay with them, Nationalist soldiers suddenly attack the mission. They kill Jameson, despite his attempt to assure them he has no sympathy with the San Pablo rescue mission. Collins orders the patrol to return to the ship with Eckert, and remains behind to provide covering fire. Collins is killed, ironically leaving the normally rebellious Holman in command. Holman and Eckert have a tearful parting, finally making clear their love for each other. Eckert only leaves after Holman assures her he will be along shortly. Holman kills several soldiers before he himself is fatally shot just when he is about to rejoin the others. His last bewildered words are: "I was home...what happened...what the hell happened?" Eckert and the remaining sailors reach the ship, and the San Pablo sails away., Question: What does Holman find Maily sitting by?

SOLUTION:
Answer: Frenchy's corpse