In this task, you will be presented with a passage and have to answer a question based on your understanding of the events inferred from the passage. Try to find the best answer that is most likely to fill in "_". Note that the URLs in the text have been replaced with [Link].

Q: Washington (CNN) -- The District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island are all to receive a portion of the $3.4 billion remaining in the "Race to the Top" fund for education in those states. "We had many more competitive applications than money to fund them in this round," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Tuesday. "Race to the Top" is an Obama administration initiative to award money to states that show that they have a plan for school reforms in four main areas: turning around low performing schools, adopting college and career ready standards, effective teachers and principals, and using data systems to support student achievement.Nine states plus the District of Columbia are winnersEach will receive a portion of $3.4 billionWinners had to show they have plans for school reforms 
 Question:Those finalists all sent representatives to _ in August to present their case to a group of peer reviewers.

A: Washington
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Q: A Japanese newspaper has unearthed previously secret audio suggesting that government armed forces in Algeria attacked al-Qaeda hostage-takers with abandon in January 2013, killing dozens of captives despite an apparent promise not to interfere with the terrorists and pleas from foreign governments to safeguard the innocents. The news outlet Nikkan-Gendai published the shocking revelation on December 5, contradicting one line of thought that suggested the terrorists killed their own hostages as they came under fire from the Algerian army. A Japanese government-certified translator has provided DailyMail.com with an exclusive copy of the news report in English, headlined: 'The truth regarding the Algeria Hostage crisis has been verified by audio information.'Al-Qaeda offshoot group took hundreds of hostages during a 2013 attack on an Algerian natural gas facilityFour-day standoff ended when Algeria's army attacked the militants, killing dozens of innocentsAudio recordings obtained by a Japanese newspaper indicate the Algerian special forces were aware they were targeting cars carrying hostagesIn one audio intercept, a terrorist complains that 'the army has violated the pledge ... [and] struck the vehicles carrying the hostages and our friends'Initial reports had suggested that the terrorists may have killed their hostages as their master plan fell apart in a hail of gunfire 
 Question:Overall, 685 _ workers and 107 foreigners were set free.

A: Algeria
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Q: A taxi driver may have to pay $25,000 after a judge said the cabbie refused to pick up passengers because they're black, passing them over for white riders while they watched. Cabbie Baqir Raza 'discriminated based on race and color' when he turned away Cynthia Jordan and her two daughters in October 2013, Administrative Law Judge Richard Kramer wrote in recommending the fine last month. It's subject to city Human Rights Commission approval. Jordan, an accounting executive, and her adult and teen daughters were trying to get to a family birthday party when they spotted Raza's cab in midtown Manhattan.Cabbie Baqir Raza 'discriminated based on race and color' when he turned away Cynthia Jordan and her two daughters in October 2013Raza picked up two white women just 25 feet down the block, they saidHundreds of cabbies were accused of refusing passengers based on race, gender or other improper factors in a subsequent undercover crackdown 
 Question:_ told the rights agency in a written response that the white women simply got in when another rider got out.

A:
Cabbie Baqir Raza
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