TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you're given a question, along with a context passage. The passage will not have a direct answer to the question, but can include some information and a clue for the answer. Assuming you can only obtain information about one entity in the passage, your job is to determine whether information from the passage can be used to answer the question. Indicate your choice as `a` for Yes or `b` for No.
PROBLEM: Question: What country is the island of Samothrace in now? Passage:The sculptor is unknown, although Paul MacKendrick suggests that Pythokritos of Lindos is responsible. When first discovered on the island of Samothrace (then part of the Ottoman Empire and called Semadirek) and published in 1863, it was suggested that the Victory was erected by the Macedonian general Demetrius Poliorcetes after his naval victory at Cyprus, between 295 and 289 BC. The Archaeological Museum of Samothrace continues to follow these originally established provenance and dates. Ceramic evidence discovered in recent excavations has revealed that the pedestal was set up about 200 BC, though some scholars still date it as early as 250 BC or as late as 180. Certainly, the parallels with figures and drapery from the Pergamon Altar (dated about 170 BC) seem strong. The evidence for a Rhodian commission of the statue has been questioned, however, and the closest artistic parallel to the Nike of Samothrace are figures depicted on Macedonian coins. Samothrace was an important sanctuary for the Hellenistic Macedonian kings. The most likely battle commemorated by this monument is, perhaps, the Battle of Cos in 255 BC, in which Antigonus II Gonatas of Macedonia won over the fleet of Ptolemy II of Egypt.


SOLUTION: b

PROBLEM: Question: What state is the headquarters of Gymboree? Passage:Many store closings ensued at the mall in the early 1990s, including five chain clothing stores and a T.J. Cinnamons bakery all in late 1991 and early 1992. Despite these closures, the mall also gained Champs Sports and a dollar store, and its occupancy level of 92 percent was higher than the average occupancy rate of 85 percent for malls in the Midwestern United States at the time. Limited Brands (now L Brands) opened three stores then under its ownership in 1993: a combination Limited Express/Structure store (now known as Express and Express Men, respectively) and Victoria's Secret. The combined Limited Express/Structure took the place of Herman's World of Sporting Goods, which had closed earlier in the year. According to the mall's then-general manager, Limited Brands had wanted to open all three brands at the mall for several years, and that all three were highly demanded by shoppers due to their presence at Meridian Mall. Following these additions, Lansing and Meridian malls had nearly 60 stores in common with each other and nearly 40 others that were unique to each. In 1995, the mall received new planters and an enlarged customer service booth. Meanwhile, RadioShack and Regis Hairstylists moved to new storefronts, Lane Bryant expanded its existing store, and Buckle, Bombay Company, and Pacific Sunwear joined. These were followed in 1996 by Gymboree, Bath & Body Works, and the second Disney Store in the state of Michigan.


SOLUTION: a

PROBLEM: Question: What is the hometown of the man Slobe married in 1940? Passage:Slobe was born in Pittsburgh to a well-to-do Jewish family, and grew up in Chicago, enrolling in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago at 16; by 19 she was exhibiting paintings and winning prizes. She began exhibiting sculpture as well by the late 1930s, and came eventually to be known more as a sculptor than as a painter. In 1939 and 1940 she worked for the Works Progress Administration, creating art and teaching in a number of states, including Oregon. She became acquainted at this point with George Perle, whom she married in 1940; in 1942 the couple joined the Socialist Workers Party, and she took the pseudonym "Laura Gray". She was soon tasked with assisting in the organization of automotive workers, and it was at this time that she began her cartooning career. Encouraged to submit drawings to The Militant, her first appeared in the paper on March 4, 1944; she went on to become the paper's staff artist, submitting at least one cartoon almost weekly for the rest of her life. These drawings, which have been compared to the work of Boardman Robinson, Hugo Gellert, and Robert Minor, would be published in Trotskyist publications around the world. Some of her cartoons on the subject of civil rights would also be published in the African-American press.


SOLUTION:
b