TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you will be shown an extract from a movie plot and a question. You need to provide the correct answer for it. Short answers containing words that are present in the passage are preferred.
PROBLEM: Queen Gorgo of Sparta tells her men about the Battle of Marathon, in which King Darius of Persia was killed by General Themistocles of Athens ten years earlier. Darius' son, Xerxes, witnesses his father's death, and is advised to not continue the war, since only "the gods can defeat the Greeks". Darius' naval commander, Artemisia, claims that Darius' last words were in fact a challenge and sends Xerxes on a journey through the desert. Xerxes finally reaches a cave and bathes in an otherworldly liquid, emerging as the 8-feet tall "god-King". He returns to Persia and declares war on Greece to avenge his father.As Xerxes's forces advance towards Thermopylae, Themistocles meets with the council and convinces them to provide him with a fleet to engage the Persians at the sea. Themistocles (the Athenian general) then travels to Sparta to ask King Leonidas for help, but is informed by Dilios that Leonidas is consulting the Oracle, and Gorgo is reluctant to side with Athens. Themistocles later reunites with his old friend Scyllas, who infiltrated the Persian troops and learned Artemisia was born Greek, but defected to Persia as her family was raped and murdered by Greek hoplites and she was taken as a sex slave, and subsequently left for dead in the streets. She was rescued and adopted by a Persian emissary. Her lust for vengeance gained the attention of King Darius and he made her a naval commander after she killed many of his enemies. Themistocles also learns that Leonidas has marched to fight the Persians with only 300 men.Themistocles leads his fleet of fifty warships and several thousand men, which include Scyllas, Scyllas' son Calisto and Themistocles' right-hand man Aeskylos to the Aegean Sea, starting the Battle of Artemisium. They ram their ships into the Persian ships, charge them, slaughtering several soldiers before retreating from the sinking Persian ships. The following day, the Greeks feign a retreat and lead a group of Persian ships into a crevice, where they become stuck. The Greeks charge the Persian ships from the cliffs above and kill more Persians. Impressed with Themistocles' skills, Artemisia brings him onto her ship where she has sex with him in an attempt to convince him to join the Persians as her second-in-command. He refuses, causing her to push him aside and swear revenge on him.The Persians spill tar into the sea and send suicide bombers to swim to and board the Greek ships with their flame bombs. Artemisia and her men fire flaming arrows and torches to ignite the tar, but an Athenian manages to kill one of the Persians, who falls into the tar carrying a torch, causing ships from both sides to explode. Themistocles is thrown into the sea by an explosion and nearly drowns before being rescued by Aeskylos, and stands by Scyllas' side as he succumbs to his injuries. Believing Themistocles to be dead, Artemisia and her forces withdraw. After recovering from his injuries, Themistocles learns that only a few hundred of his warriors and six of his ships survived the disastrous attack executed by Artemisia.Daxos, an Arcadian general, tells Themistocles that Leonidas and his 300 men have been killed after Ephialtes betrays the Greeks to Xerxes. Themistocles returns to Athens and confronts Ephialtes. The deformed Spartan traitor reveals that Xerxes plans to attack and burn Athens to the ground. Ephialites is regretful of his actions, and is welcoming death. Themistocles spares him instead, so he can warn Xerxes that the Greek forces are gathering at Salamis. He then visits Gorgo in Sparta while she is mourning Leonidas' death to ask for her help, but she is too overcome with grief. Before leaving, Themistocles returns Leonidas' sword, which had been delivered to him by Ephialtes under Xerxes's orders, and urges Gorgo to avenge Leonidas.In Athens, Xerxes' army is laying waste when Ephialtes arrives to deliver Themistocles' message. Upon learning he is alive, Artemisia leaves to ready her entire navy for battle. Xerxes suggests a more cautious plan but she still leaves for battle, ignoring Xerxes' advice. The remaining Greek ships charge into the Persians ships, and the two armies battle, beginning the decisive Battle of Salamis. Themistocles and Artemisia fight, which ends in a stalemate with both receiving severe injuries.At this moment Gorgo, who had been narrating the tale to the Spartans, arrives at the battle along with ships from numerous Greek city states including Delphi, Thebes, Olympia, Arcadia, and Sparta, all of them uniting against the surrounded Persians. Daxos leads the Arcadian army while Themistocles urges Artemisia to surrender. Xerxes, watching the battle from a cliff, turns his back on her, acknowledging his invasion has ended in defeat. Artemisia tries to kill Themistocles one last time but is killed as he stabs her through the stomach. Themistocles and Gorgo take a moment to silently acknowledge one another's alliance as the remaining Persians charge while Dilios leads the assault. The three then charge at the opposing Persians with the whole Greek army., Question: Who does Gorgo silently acknowledge?

SOLUTION: Answer: Themistocles.

PROBLEM: Chris Emerson (Tad Hilgenbrink), a young former surfing pro, and his younger sister Nicole (Autumn Reeser) move to Luna Bay following the death of their parents, to live in a house owned by their Aunt Jillian (Gabrielle Rose). Chris leaves his address at the home of Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman), the town's surfboard shaper, in hopes of getting a job. Chris is approached at their new home by former pro surfer Shane Powers (Angus Sutherland), who invites him to a party that night.Chris and Nicole go to the party, where Shane and his friends Kyle (Shaun Sipos), Erik (Merwin Mondesir), and Jon (Kyle Cassie) are entertaining themselves with the human guests. Chris showers with a sexy girl named Lisa (Moneca Delain) and Shane gets Nicole alone, chats with her for a bit, and then tricks her into drinking his blood. When Chris learns that Nicole has been with Shane, he angrily, and protectively, takes her home, where she begins to manifest vampiric strength and rage. But before she hurts Chris, she is knocked out by Edgar, who reveals that he is a vampire hunter, and Nicole has been infected with vampirism. Chris throws Edgar out of the house. Then, Lisa shows up and pretends to chat with Chris for a bit before she finally tries to seduce and feed on him. In fending her off, he accidentally impales her on a mounted rack of antlers, killing her explosively when she turns into stone and explodes.Finally convinced of the situation, remembering what Edgar said and believing that he was right, Chris seeks out Edgar's help. Edgar explains that Nicole is only half-vampire, and will remain that way unless she feeds, and she can be turned human again if they kill the head vampire before that. Chris interrupts her just before she can feed on Evan (Greyston Holt), a nice guy who has been courting her, and explains what is happening to her, and Nicole is surprised at what she almost did (because she believes herself to be a vegetarian). However, Shane draws her to their lair and they have sex.Chris and Edgarâwho lost an unnamed sibling to the vampiresâplot for Chris to "join" the tribe of vampires in order to learn the location of their lair. He drinks Shane's blood and begins to develop vampire traits, but when the tribe (minus Shane and Nicole) feed on a group of girls, he refuses, and kills Jon by impaling him with a stick in self-defense. Edgar joins him and they go to the lair, killing Erik and Kyle. Chris impales Erik with a large drill and Edgar kills Kyle by making his head explode with a holy water balloon.Meanwhile, Shane goads Nicole to kill Evan, whom they have bound and gagged for her, but she refuses. With Chris' help, she kills Shane by impaling him with a sword and decapitates him with it, returning them both to normal. They thank Edgar, who promises to bill them for his services, and Evan takes the opportunity to ask Nicole for a date. At home, they are confronted by their aunt, who believes they have been doing drugs, and promises zero tolerance.In a mid-credits scene, Edgar encounters Sam Emerson (Corey Haim), now a vampire. They exchange some dialogue and charge at each other as the credits resume.Alternate endings[edit]In one alternate ending, Edgar is cleaning up after the vampire hunt, when Sam Emerson (who is not a vampire) knocks on his door. Sam warns him that his brother Alan is coming to settle the score. Edgar is reluctant to accept Sam's help, but Sam insists he needs it. The scene ends with vampiric Alan and a female companion driving wildly to confront Edgar.Another alternate ending is a slightly extended version of the first, but with Sam wearing black sunglasses and showing Edgar bite marks on his neck., Question: Who does Edgar encounter as a vampire?

SOLUTION: Answer: Sam Emerson

PROBLEM: On August 12, 2011, large masses thought to be meteors land in the oceans near several major coastal cities. The objects are discovered to be spacecraft containing hostile extraterrestrial life. Marines from Camp Pendleton arrive in Los Angeles, including SSgt. Michael Nantz (Eckhart), an Iraq War veteran. Nantz was to begin retirement, but because of the attack, he is made the acting platoon sergeant for 1st Platoon, Echo Company, of the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines.[5]Under the command of 2ndLt William Martinez (RodrÃ­guez), the platoon arrives at Santa Monica Airport, now a Forward Operating Base. The alien ground forces have no apparent air support, so the Air Force prepares to carpet bomb the Santa Monica area, and the platoon is tasked with rescuing civilians from an LAPD police station in West Los Angeles before the bombing. As they advance through the city, they are ambushed and suffer multiple casualties, namely Grayston, Guerrero and Lenihan in the firefight. Nantz takes Imlay and Harris to look for Lenihan, who is missing from the group after having been wounded. After fighting off a hostile alien, they manage to regroup and team up with a group of Army National Guard soldiers from the 40th Infantry Division, and an Air Force intelligence TSgt, Elena Santos (Michelle Rodriguez). At the police station, the platoon finds five civilians: veterinarian Michele (Moynahan), children Hector Rincon (Cass), Kirsten (King) Amy (Gould), and Hector's father Joe (PeÃ±a). A helicopter arrives to evacuate the wounded Marines, but cannot rescue the civilians due to weight restrictions. As the helicopter takes off, it is destroyed by alien air forces, killing Grayston, Guerrero, Lenihan and Simmons.[5]The Marines commandeer a city bus for evacuation. They also vivisect a wounded alien with the help of Santos and find a vulnerable spot in its torso, as well as learning that the alien aircraft are drones that track down humans through radio transmissions. Santos reveals that her original mission was to locate the aliens' central command center, believing that its destruction would deactivate the drones. On the I-10 freeway, the bus comes under attack. Because the off-ramp is destroyed, the Marines are forced to rappel the civilians off the freeway. Marines Stavrou (Pesi) and Mottola (Liao) and the National Guard soldiers are killed, while Joe and Lieutenant Martinez are wounded. Martinez detonates explosives inside the bus, killing himself and the aliens, leaving Nantz in command. The surviving Marines Nantz, Santos, Imlay, Kerns, Lockett, Harris, Adukwu and the civilians escape the bombing zone. A news report speculates that the aliens are seeking Earth's water for fuel while attempting to colonize the planet and eradicate humans. The team prepares for the bombing, but nothing happens. Returning to the FOB, the Marines find that it is destroyed and the military is retreating from Los Angeles. The Marines plan to escort the civilians to an alternate extraction point. Joe dies from his wounds and Lockett confronts Nantz over his brother, Cpl Dwayne G. Lockett and the others who were killed in Nantz's last tour. They come to peace when Nantz explains that he thinks of them every day, and recites each person's name, rank and serial number. Nantz then says that the surviving Marines should move forward united to honor their fallen comrades, including Joe. They successfully reach the extraction point and evacuate through a helicopter.[5]In mid-air, the chopper experiences a brief loss of power. Nantz theorizes that they are hovering over a location occupied by the alien command center as it relays radio energy to its drones. He decides to recon the area alone, but his team insists on accompanying him. Searching underground, the Marines confirm the presence of a large alien vessel. Kerns radios in to request for missiles, which Nantz manually directs using a laser designator while the others defend his position. Despite Kerns being killed when a Drone spots his signals, the Marines succeed in routing a missile to the command module, which is destroyed. The alien ground forces retreat as their uncontrolled drones crash, just as reinforcements for the Marines arrive. At a Temporary Operating Base in the Mojave Desert, Nantz, Imlay, Lockett, Harris, and Adukwu, the six survivors of the original platoon along with Santos, are greeted as heroes. Despite orders to rest, they re- arm themselves and join the rest of the Marines in retaking Los Angeles as other countries wage similar military operations against the hostile species.[5], Question: what do the marines learn about the alien craft?

SOLUTION:
Answer: they are drones that track down humans through radio transmissions.