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: Circadian rhythms are regular changes in biology or behavior that occur in a 24-hour cycle. In humans, for example, blood pressure and body temperature change in a regular way throughout each 24-hour day. Animals may eat and drink at certain times of day as well. Humans have daily cycles of behavior, too. Most people start to get sleepy after dark and have a hard time sleeping when it is light outside. In many species, including humans, circadian rhythms are controlled by a tiny structure called the biological clock . This structure is located in a gland at the base of the brain. The biological clock sends signals to the body. The signals cause regular changes in behavior and body processes. The amount of light entering the eyes helps control the biological clock. The clock causes changes that repeat every 24 hours. 
Story: Jason is an average guy who goes to work each day, lives in an apartment, exercises sometimes, goes out and drinks some weekends and just generally enjoys life. Brad, however, has chosen to live in a dark cave that has no windows. He lives in a cave that has almost no light except for some candles he lights from time to time. If he needs food or supplies, he pays someone to go get them, and they slide them through a hole that can open in the steel door at the entrance of the cave. 
Question: Will Jason's biological clock be more or less out of control than Brad's?

SOLUTION: less.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: There is worldwide concern about the relationship between climate change and the use of fossil fuels. Many scientists believe that increased use of these fuels (in vehicles and other gas-powered equipment) has the potential to irreversibly damage our environment. In addition to the environmental concerns, supplies of fossil fuels are finite, and because they are non-renewable energy sources, we will eventually need alternatives. New developments in batteries and other energy storage devices are being explored to help deal with these issues. Electrochemical processes are at the heart of these new technologies. 
Story: Two countries used different fuels as power sources for their activities. Alsacia used fossil fuels, while Lorena devised more advanced energy storage devices, therefore relying on electricity. 
Question: Which country contributed less to climate change?

SOLUTION: Lorena.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: A plant's first line of defense against abiotic stress is in its roots. If the soil holding the plant is healthy and biologically diverse, the plant will have a higher chance of surviving stressful conditions.The plant responses to stress are dependent on the tissue or organ affected by the stress. For example, transcriptional responses to stress are tissue or cell specific in roots and are quite different depending on the stress involved.One of the primary responses to abiotic stress such as high salinity is the disruption of the Na+/K+ ratio in the cytoplasm of the plant cell. High concentrations of Na+, for example, can decrease the capacity for the plant to take up water and also alter enzyme and transporter functions. Evolved adaptations to efficiently restore cellular ion homeostasis has led to a wide variety of stress tolerant plants.Facilitation, or the positive interactions between different species of plants, is an intricate web of association in a natural environment. It is how plants work together. In areas of high stress, the level of facilitation is especially high as well. This could possibly be because the plants need a stronger network to survive in a harsher environment, so their interactions between species, such as cross-pollination or mutualistic actions, become more common to cope with the severity of their habitat.Plants also adapt very differently from one another, even from a plant living in the same area. When a group of different plant species was prompted by a variety of different stress signals, such as drought or cold, each plant responded uniquely. Hardly any of the responses were similar, even though the plants had become accustomed to exactly the same home environment.Rice (Oryza sativa) is a classic example. Rice is a staple food throughout the world, especially in China and India. Rice plants experience different types of abiotic stresses, like drought and high salinity. These stress conditions have a negative impact on rice production. Genetic diversity has been studied among several rice varieties with different genotypes using molecular markers. 
Story: Danny owned two parcels of land. parcel A had a soil with high salinity levels, while parcel B had a rich and healthy soil. 
Question: Which parcel had fewer plants which presented a decreased capacity to take up water?

SOLUTION:
parcel A.