TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you're given a question, along with three passages, 1, 2, and 3. Your job is to determine which passage can be used to answer the question by searching for further information using terms from the passage. Indicate your choice as 1, 2, or 3.
PROBLEM: Question: How old was the British Admiral when he took control of the Southeast Asia Command? Passage 1:Silvanus was born in Gaul, the son of Bonitus, a Laetic Frankish general who had supported Constantine I in the civil war against Licinius. Like so many other Franks of his times, and like his father before him, he was a loyal and thoroughly romanized "barbarian" in the military service of the Empire. By AD 351, he held the rank of tribune and was one of the senior officers who defected to Emperor Constantius II at the Battle of Mursa Major, after initially supporting the usurper Magnentius. An able soldier, Silvanus was eventually promoted to the rank of Magister militum per Gallias, a crucial post, then in AD 352-353, Constantius personally entrusted him with the difficult task of driving the Alamanni tribesmen raiding and looting in Gaul back beyond the Rhine, and restoring the fast eroding Roman authority in the province. This Silvanus fulfilled partly by bribing the Alamanni chieftains with the taxes he had collected, partly by defeating the Alamanni in battle and partly by suppressing the local bagaudae insurrections flaring up again in central and northern Gaul.
 Passage 2:At the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Combined Chiefs of Staff decided that Indochina south of latitude 16° north was to be included in the Southeast Asia Command under British Admiral Mountbatten. Japanese forces located south of that line surrendered to him and those to the north surrendered to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. In September 1945, Chinese forces entered Tonkin, and a small British task force landed at Saigon. The Chinese accepted the Vietnamese government under Hồ Chí Minh, then in power in Hanoi. The British refused to do likewise in Saigon, and deferred to the French there from the outset, against the ostensible support of the Việt Minh authorities by American OSS representatives. On V-J Day, September 2, Hồ Chí Minh had proclaimed in Hanoi the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). The DRV ruled as the only civil government in all of Vietnam for a period of about 20 days, after the abdication of Emperor Bảo Đại, who had governed under Japanese rule. On 23 September 1945, with the knowledge of the British commander in Saigon, French forces overthrew the local DRV government, and declared French authority restored in Cochinchina. Guerrilla warfare began around Saigon immediately, but the French gradually retook control of the South and North of Indochina. Hồ Chí Minh agreed to negotiate the future status of Vietnam, but the talks, held in France, failed to produce a solution. After over one year of latent conflict, all-out war broke out in December 1946 between French and Việt Minh forces as Hồ Chí Minh and his government went underground. The French tried to stabilize Indochina by reorganizing it as a Federation of Associated States. In 1949, they put former Emperor Bảo Đại back in power, as the ruler of a newly established State of Vietnam.
 Passage 3:Like the star Epsilon Draconis in the constellation of Draco, Beta Cephei is visible primarily in the northern hemisphere, given its extreme northern declination of 70 degrees and 34 minutes. It is nevertheless visible to most observers throughout the world reaching as far south as cities like Harare in Zimbabwe, Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia or other settlements north ± 19° South latitude. It is circumpolar throughout all of Europe, northern Asia, and North American cities as far south as Guadalajara in west central Mexico. All other locations around the globe having a latitude greater than ± 20° North will notice that the star is always visible in the night sky. Because Beta Cephei is a faint third magnitude star, it may be difficult to identify in most light polluted cities, though in rural locations the star should be easily observable.


SOLUTION: 2

PROBLEM: Question: How many years passed between Jackson's first single and her last? Passage 1:The singles discography of Wanda Jackson, an American recording artist, consists of seventy-eight singles, nine international singles, one charting b-side, and three music videos. In 1954 at age sixteen, she signed as a country artist with Decca Records. Her debut single was a duet recording with Billy Gray which reached the eighth spot on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, also in 1954. Refusing to tour until completing high school, Jackson's further singles for Decca failed gaining success. She signed with Capitol Records in 1956 and began incorporating rock and roll into her musical style. Jackson's first Capitol single exemplified this format ("I Gotta Know") and became a national top-twenty country hit. Follow-up rock singles between 1957 and 1959 failed gaining enough attention to become hits including, "Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad", "Fujiyama Mama", and "Honey Bop". In 1960 however, the rock and roll-themed, "Let's Have a Party", became Jackson's first Billboard top-forty pop hit after it was picked up by an Iowa disc jockey.
 Passage 2:Whitman's poem appears in the Broadway musical Street Scene (1946) which was the collaboration of composer Kurt Weill, poet and lyricist Langston Hughes, and playwright Elmer Rice. Rice adapted his 1929 Pulitzer prize-winning play of the same name for the musical. In the play, which premiered in New York City in January 1947, the poem's third stanza is recited, followed by duet, "Don't Forget The Lilac Bush", inspired by Whitman's verse. Weill received the first Tony Award for Best Original Score for this work African-American composer George T. Walker, Jr. (born 1922) set Whitman's poem in his composition Lilacs for voice and orchestra which was awarded the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Music. The work, described as "passionate, and very American," with "a beautiful and evocative lyrical quality" using Whitman's words, was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra on February 1, 1996. Composer George Crumb (born 1929) set the Death Carol in his 1979 work Apparition (1979), an eight-part song cycle for soprano and amplified piano.
 Passage 3:At the 1989 election, Buchanan successfully transferred to the newly recreated seat of Ashburton, with her replacement in Pilbara, Larry Graham, retaining that seat for Labor. The re-elected Dowding government persisted only until February 1990, when it was replaced by the Lawrence government following Dowding's forced resignation. New premier Carmen Lawrence elevated Buchanan to the ministry as Minister for Works and Services and Minister for Regional Development. She was also made assistant minister to Lawrence in her capacity as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. However, the regional development portfolio was abolished in December 1990, and Buchanan lost her remaining portfolios in February 1991, as part of a ministerial reshuffle prompted by an internal spill motion. Jeff Carr and Gavan Troy were also removed as ministers, with Carr consequently resigning from parliament. Buchanan herself resigned to sit as an independent on 1 February 1991, before the new ministry was sworn in four days later. She consequently became the first woman in the Parliament of Western Australia to sit as an independent. Buchanan resigned due to ill health just over a year later, in March 1992, and died at the end of that month, aged 55. She had married George Maitland Buchanan in April 1957, with whom she had two daughters. Her resignation prompted a by-election in Ashburton, which was won by the Labor candidate Fred Riebeling.


SOLUTION: 1

PROBLEM: Question: Who is the current Duke of Somerset? Passage 1:Vandenberg graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1951 (where Buzz Aldrin was one of his classmates). In 1953, Vandenberg was assigned to the 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing. Later he would serve as a flight commander with the 413th Tactical Fighter Wing and the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing. He graduated from the Air Command and Staff College in 1961, after which he was assigned to the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing. In 1963, Vandenberg was appointed Operations Officer with the 23rd Tactical Fighter Squadron. During the Vietnam War, Vandenberg commanded the 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Upon returning stateside he was assigned to The Pentagon to work in the Office of the Director of Plans. He would graduate from the National War College in 1969 and return to The Pentagon to work with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 1971, Vandenberg became commander of the 12th Flying Training Wing. Vandenberg was named Vice Commandant of Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy in 1972. He would serve as Commandant from 1973 to 1975, during which time he assumed the rank of brigadier general. From 1976 to 1979, Vandenberg served at Headquarters U.S. Air Force, first as Deputy Director of Plans, later as Director of Operations and Readiness, and finally as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans, and Readiness. Vandenberg was ultimately named Vice Commander in Chief of the Pacific Air Forces. His retirement was effective as of January 1, 1981.
 Passage 2:Penhow is best known for Penhow Castle, which has claims to be the oldest inhabited castle in Wales. It was built by Sir Roger de St Maur, one of the Norman knights who served the Norman Lord of Striguil at Chepstow Castle. He built a tower house, and documentary evidence shows that he was at Penhow by 1129. It is the first known British home of the St Maur alias Seymour family which rose to national prominence in the 16th century in the person of Queen Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII, represented today by the Duke of Somerset. Later the Seymour family, which moved to Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset and Wulfhall in Wiltshire, sold Penhow Castle to the Lewis family of St. Pierre, who converted the castle to a modern residence in 1674. Thomas Lewis' son Thomas was High Sheriff of the county, and married the daughter of Sir Richard Levett, Lord Mayor of London. The Lewis family retained ownership of Penhow Castle for several centuries.
 Passage 3:Wiley was the Republican candidate for governor of Wisconsin in 1936, but his bid failed. Philip La Follette and the new Wisconsin Progressive Party, which split from the Republicans in 1934, won the election. In 1938, Wiley was elected to the U.S. Senate by defeating incumbent F. Ryan Duffy. In 1944, he was challenged by United States Marine Corps Captain Joseph R. McCarthy in the Republican primary. He defeated McCarthy and won the general election. Wiley, then an isolationist in foreign policy, and Governor Walter S. Goodland supported Republican presidential nominee Thomas E. Dewey in the 1944 race over incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Dewey won Wisconsin's electoral votes but fell far short nationally.


SOLUTION:
2