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: A baby is born with zones of cartilage in its bones that allow growth of the bones. These areas, called growth plates , allow the bones to grow longer as the child grows. By the time the child reaches an age of about 18 to 25 years, all of the cartilage in the growth plate has been replaced by bone. This stops the bone from growing any longer. Even though bones stop growing in length in early adulthood, they can continue to increase in thickness throughout life. This thickening occurs in response to strain from increased muscle activity and from weight-lifting exercises. 
Story: Two brothers, Tom, aged 26, and Paul, aged 16 were into sports. Tom started weight-lifting to gain more muscle mass. Three years later he was 20-25 lbs. heavier. Paul started track and field, he liked running. 
Question: Which brother had thicker bones after three years?

SOLUTION: Tom.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: Unfortunately, the layer of good ozone is being destroyed by air pollution. The chief culprits are chlorine and bromine gases. They are released in aerosol sprays, coolants, and other products. Loss of ozone has created an ozone hole over Antarctica. Ozone depletion results in higher levels of UV radiation reaching Earth. In humans, this increases skin cancers and eye cataracts. It also disturbs the nitrogen cycle, kills plankton, and disrupts ocean food webs. The total loss of the ozone layer would be devastating to most life. Its rate of loss has slowed with restrictions on pollutants, but it is still at risk. 
Story: Two teams of researchers studied the environment in Antarctica. Team Black studied air pollution and the ozone layer, Team Red studied the water. 
Question: Which team observed higher levels of UV reaching Earth?

SOLUTION: Black.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: Candied fruit, also known as crystallized fruit or glacé fruit, has existed since the 14th century. Whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel, are placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually preserves it. Depending on size and type of fruit, this process of preservation can take from several days to several months.[1] This process allows the fruit to retain its quality for a year.[2]

The continual process of drenching the fruit in syrup causes the fruit to become saturated with sugar, preventing the growth of spoilage microorganisms due to the unfavourable osmotic pressure this creates.[3]. 
Story: Helen got lots of different fruit as a gift from a friend that owned an orchard. She received apples, pears, apricots, peaches, plums, quince, among others. She decided to candy apples, apricots, and pears, and to keep the others fresh for as long as possible. 
Question: Which fruit lasted longer, apricots or plums?

SOLUTION:
apricots.