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: What's the average lifespan of the animal that has a jaw with properties similar to those that probably led to the evolution of baleen? Passage:The oldest true fossils of baleen are only 15 million years old because baleen rarely fossilizes, and scientists believe it originated considerably earlier than that. This is indicated by baleen-related skull modifications being found in fossils from considerably earlier, including a buttress of bone in the upper jaw beneath the eyes, and loose lower jaw bones at the chin. Baleen is believed to have evolved around 30 million years ago, possibly from a hard, gummy upper jaw, like the one a Dall's porpoise has; it closely resembles baleen at the microscopic level. The initial evolution and radiation of baleen plates is believed to have occurred during Early Oligocene when Antarctica broke off from Gondwana and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current was formed, increasing productivity of ocean environments. This occurred because the current kept warm ocean waters away from the area that is now Antarctica, producing steep gradients in temperature, salinity, light, and nutrients, where the warm water meets the cold.
 Links: a. Antarctic Circumpolar Current b. Dall's porpoise c. Salinity d. Salinity

SOLUTION: b

PROBLEM: Question: During what years was the Early Bronze Age? Passage:Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 7000 BC. The south-western and western part of the Iranian Plateau participated in the traditional Ancient Near East with Elam, from the Early Bronze Age, and later with various other peoples, such as the Kassites, Mannaeans, and Gutians. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel calls the Persians the "first Historical People". The Medes unified Iran as a nation and empire in 625 BC. The Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC), founded by Cyrus the Great, was the first true global superpower state and it ruled from the Balkans to North Africa and also Central Asia, spanning three continents, from their seat of power in Persis (Persepolis). It was the largest empire yet seen and the first world empire. The Achaemenid Empire was the only civilization in all of history to connect over 40% of the global population, accounting for approximately 49.4 million of the world's 112.4 million people in around 480 BC. They were succeeded by the Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian Empires, who successively governed Iran for almost 1,000 years and made Iran once again as a leading power in the world. Persia's arch-rival was the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine Empire.
 Links: a. Bronze Age b. Cyrus the Great c. Persepolis d. Central Asia

SOLUTION: a

PROBLEM: Question: In what country is the venue located where Kalivodová made her first appearance in 2002? Passage:Kalivodová first worked with the Prague State Opera in 2001, as part of the Pounding on the Iron Curtain project, a production of two operas by Vladimir Wimmer. In 2002 she made her first appearance at the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava, playing Kontshakovna in the opera Prince Igor. Later the same year she performed the role of Amastrys in Opera Praha's production of Xerxes, which toured Germany, Switzerland, France and Luxembourg. In December 2003 she performed with Leo Nucci of the New York Metropolitan Opera at the Žofín Palace in Prague, followed by an appearance at the Konzerthaus in Vienna in June 2004 to mark the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union. Kalivodová has since then performed around the world, including the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, and the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow, as well as concerts in Japan and the United States, and joined the European Stars' Tour in 2005, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. 
 Links: a. State Kremlin Palace b. Konzerthaus, Vienna c. State Opera (Prague) d. National Moravian-Silesian Theatre

SOLUTION:
d