TASK DEFINITION: You are given a background paragraph that describes one or more causal or qualitative relationships such as a relationship in economics or a scientific law and a story that makes use of the concepts or the relationship described in the provided paragraph. You are also given a question about the story that requires an understanding of the relationship described in the background paragraph and the story. You need to come up with an answer to the given question; the answer will be a span from either the question or the story. In order to correctly answer the given question, you need to understand the relationship mentioned in the background paragraph and should be able to use it to understand that in the story. Your answer can not consist of any word that is not mentioned in any of these: the background paragraph, the story, or the question. You can directly copy and paste a span from the story or the question while answering the given question.
PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: Like water in the ocean, air in the atmosphere exerts pressure that increases with depth. Most gas molecules in the atmosphere are pulled close to Earth’s surface by gravity. As a result, air pressure decreases quickly at lower altitudes and then more slowly at higher altitudes. This is illustrated in Figure below . Air pressure is greatest at sea level, where the depth of the atmosphere is greatest. At higher altitudes, the pressure is less because the depth of the atmosphere is less. For example, on top of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth, air pressure is only about one-third of the pressure at sea level. At such high altitudes, low air pressure makes it hard to breathe and is dangerous to human health. 
Story: Robert and his brother Timothy are both marathon runners. As marathon running is an endurance event, a key component is being able to replenish your oxygen supply by taking frequent breaths. This week, Robert is running a marathon in Colorado, which has low air pressures. Timothy is  also running a marathon, but he is running in Florida, which has high air pressures. 
Question: Who will have less difficulty in keeping a steady supply of oxygen during their marathon?

SOLUTION: Timothy.

PROBLEM: 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: Mary and Ann got some fruit as a gift from a friend. Mary decided to candy the fruit, while Ann decided to eat them fresh, Mary received plums, peaches, apples and oranges. Ann got pears, quince, cherries and blackberries. 
Question: Which fruit retained their quality longer plums or quince?

SOLUTION: plums.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: Greenhouse Effect: The solar energy reaching the surface of the Earth is concentrated in short wavelengths, which can easily penetrate the greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane. The Earth, however, is cooler than the sun and it radiates its heat in the form of energy in the far infrared range. These longer wavelengths are partially absorbed by the greenhouse gases and some of the solar heat is returned to Earth. At a certain temperature these processes are in equilibrium and the surface temperature of the Earth is stable. However, if more greenhouse gases are put in the atmosphere the amount of trapped terrestrial radiation increases, leading to an increase in global temperature. 
Story: David was visiting the natural history museum. He noticed two charts that showed the climatic conditions of the earth in two time periods, time A and time B. Time A showed earth's overall climate in the sixteenth century when there were less greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. And time B showed earth's overall climate in the present century with more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. David found some interesting differences between these two charts. 
Question: Which period would see higher global temperature, time A or time B?

SOLUTION:
time B.