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: The mechanical advantage of a machine is the factor by which it changes the force applied to the machine. Many machines increase the force applied to them, and this is how they make work easier. Compound machines tend to have a greater mechanical advantage than simple machines. That’s because the mechanical advantage of a compound machine equals the product of the mechanical advantages of all its component simple machines. The greater the number of simple machines it contains, the greater its mechanical advantage tends to be. 
Story: David was studying the processes involved in a machine. He collected a simple machine. He tagged it as case A. To compare it with compound machines, he collected two compound machines, case B and case C. Case B is a compound machine with few simple machines. And, case C is a compound machine with many simple machines. 
Question: Would case B have greater or smaller mechanical advantage than case A?

SOLUTION: greater.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: Any unused energy in food, whether it comes from carbohydrates, proteins, or lipids, is stored in the body as fat. An extra 3,500 Calories of energy results in the storage of almost half a kilogram (1 pound) of stored body fat. People who consistently consume more food energy then they need may become obese. Obesity occurs when the body mass index is 30.0 kg/m 2 or greater. Body mass index (BMI) is an estimate of the fat content of the body. It is calculated by dividing a person’s weight (in kilograms) by the square of the person’s height (in meters). Obesity increases the risk of health problems such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. 
Story: Jerry and George are two roommates who have lived together since college. They have always gotten along well, have similar hobbies and even are the same height. They both enjoy watching sports and playing videogames, but Jerry also rides his bike several miles each week. George can't stand exercising. Instead, he prefers to lay around relaxing and driving his car if he needs to go somewhere. 
Question: Who has a lower risk of hypertension?

SOLUTION: Jerry.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: A large log placed in a fire will burn relatively slowly. If the same mass of wood were added to the fire in the form of small twigs, they would burn much more quickly. This is because the twigs provide a greater surface area than the log does. An increase in the surface area of a reactant increases the rate of a reaction. Surface area is larger when a given amount of a solid is present as smaller particles. A powdered reactant has a greater surface area than the same reactant as a solid chunk. In order to increase the surface area of a substance, it may be ground into smaller particles or dissolved into a liquid. In solution, the dissolved particles are separated from each other and will react more quickly with other reactants. 
Story: Two groups of teens studied fire for the physics class. Group S made a fire using large logs, while group F made a fire using small twigs and sawdust. Both groups used the same volume of wood. 
Question: Which group provided a smaller surface area for an increased rate of the burning reaction?

SOLUTION:
Group S.