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: Storing large volumes of data – When storing XML to either file or database, the volume of data a system produces can often exceed reasonable limits, with a number of detriments: the access times go up as more data is read, CPU load goes up as XML data takes more power to process, and storage costs go up. By storing XML data in Fast Infoset format, data volume may be reduced by as much as 80 percent. 
Story: Carl had a busy day storing XML. At 1 PM, he stored 1000 Gigabytes to the database. At 2 PM, he stored 2000 Gigabytes to the database. At 3 PM, he stored 3000 Gigabytes to the database. At 4 PM, he got dinner. At 5 PM, he stored 4000 Gigabytes to the database. At 6 PM, he stored 5000 Gigabytes to the database. At 7 PM, he went to sleep to finish storing XML tomorrow. 
Question: What time did storage costs go up:  3 PM or 7 PM?

SOLUTION: 3 PM.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: Turner et al (2006) derived crash prediction models for this report’s predecessor and found a
pronounced ‘safety in numbers’ effect in the models. Using the crash prediction model for mid-block
locations, generic motorist and cyclist volumes can be used to demonstrate the impacts on the
expected crash rate of varying motor vehicle and cycle volumes. As shown in figure 2.20, an increase
in the proportion of cyclists to the overall traffic volume causes an increase in expected crashes at
mid-block locations, but the crash rate increases at a decreasing rate. That is to say, the crash rate per
cyclist goes down as the cycle volume increases. 
Story: There was a week long bike tournament. Day 1 had 500 cyclists left.  Day 2 had 400 cyclists left. Day 3 had 300 cyclists left. Day 4 had 200 cyclists left. Day 5 had 100 cyclists left. Day 6 had 50 cyclists left. Day 7 had 10 cyclists left. Tom won the tournament and got a big trophy. 
Question: What day had a lower crash rate per cyclist: Day 2 or Day 4?

SOLUTION: Day 2.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: In the U.S., the majority of electricity is produced by burning coal or other fossil fuels. This causes air pollution that harms the health of living things. The air pollution also causes acid rain and contributes to global warming. In addition, fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources, so if we keep using them, they will eventually run out. The main advantage of nuclear energy is that it doesn’t release air pollution or cause the other environmental problems associated with the burning of fossil fuels. On the other other hand, radioactive elements are nonrenewable like fossil fuels and could eventually be used up. 
Story: Thorn county used fossil fuels for their energy needs, while Plant county used nuclear power. They both polluted the environment in different ways. 
Question: Which county released less air pollution?

SOLUTION:
Plant.