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: Is Carl Linnaeus older than the French zoologist who introduced the horned screamer in the genus Anhima? Passage:The horned screamer was described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae. He introduced the binomial name Palamedea cornuta. The horned screamer is now the only species placed in the genus Anhima that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The specific epithet cornuta is the Latin word for "horned". The German naturalist Georg Marcgrave had used the Latin name Anhima in 1648 for the horned screamer in his Historia naturalis Brasiliae. The name was from the word for the bird in the Tupi language of South America.


SOLUTION: b

PROBLEM: Question: Was the stadium where Swann's most notable performance occurred built before 1990? Passage:For 2003, he signed with the Baltimore Orioles and again spent a few games in the majors. His most notable performance as a major leaguer occurred at Camden Yards on September 18, 2003. An attempt to avoid Hurricane Isabel by changing the game's start time from 7:05 pm (ET) to 12:35 pm proved futile as the contest was played entirely in a downpour. With the score tied at one, Swann opened the bottom of the fifth inning with a double off Mike Mussina. When Brian Roberts hit a one-out single to left field, Orioles third-base coach Tom Trebelhorn had initially waved Swann home. He abruptly put up the stop sign when left fielder Hideki Matsui quickly threw the ball to third baseman Aaron Boone. Swann, who was too far past third base, got caught in a rundown and was tagged out. When the inning ended with the Orioles failing to score a run, the match was suspended and replayed in its entirety eight days later on September 26 as part of a twi-night doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. The Orioles would have had a 2–1 victory had Swann successfully crossed home plate because the game became official upon the completion of the fifth inning.


SOLUTION: b

PROBLEM: Question: Leaders of which countries signed a joint declaration on 12 May 1990? Passage:On 12 May 1990 the leaders of the Baltic republics signed a joint declaration known as the Baltic Entente. By mid-June the Soviets started negotiations with the Baltic republics on condition they agreed to freeze their declarations of independence. The Soviets had a bigger challenge elsewhere, in the form of the Russian Federal Republic proclaiming sovereignty in June. Simultaneously the Baltic republics also started to negotiate directly with the Russian Federal Republic. In Autumn 1990, they set up a customs border between the Baltic states, the Russian Federation and Belarus. After the failed negotiations the Soviets made a dramatic attempt to break the deadlock and sent troops to Lithuania and Latvia in January 1991. The attempts failed, dozens of civilians were killed, and the Soviet troops decided to retreat. In August 1991, the hard-line members of the Soviet government attempted to take control of the Soviet Union. One day after the coup on 21 August, the Estonians proclaimed independence. Shortly afterwards Soviet paratroops seized the Tallinn television tower. The Latvian parliament made similar a declaration at the same day. The coup failed but the Collapse of the Soviet Union became unavoidable. On 28 August, the European Community welcomed the restoration of the sovereignty and independence of the Baltic states. The Soviet Union recognised the Baltic independence on 6 September 1991. The Russian troops stayed for an additional three years, as Boris Yeltsin linked the issue of Russian minorities with troop withdrawals. Lithuania was the first to have the Russian troops withdrawn from its territory in August 1993. On 26 July 1994 Russian troops withdrew from Estonia and on 31 August 1994, Russian troops withdrew from Latvia. The Russian Federation ended its military presence in Estonia after it relinquished control of the nuclear facilities in Paldiski on 26 September 1995 and in Latvia after Skrunda-1 suspended operations on 31 August 1998 and subsequently dismantled. The last Russian soldier left Skrunda-1 in October 1999, thus marking a symbolic end to the Russian military presence on the soil of the Baltic countries.


SOLUTION:
b