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: 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: Mary and Ann got some fruit as a gift from a friend. Mary decided to candy the fruit, while Ann decided to eat them fresh, Mary received plums, peaches, apples and oranges. Ann got pears, quince, cherries and blackberries. 
Question: Which fruit retained their quality longer plums or quince?

SOLUTION: plums.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: Mantle melting can come about three ways: (1) when the temperature rises, (2) if the pressure lowers (which lowers the melting point), and (3) if water is added, which lowers the melting point. Two of these (1 and 3) might explain why there are volcanoes at convergent plate boundaries the temperature of the subducting plate increases as it sinks into the hot mantle (1). Sediments lying on top of the subducting plate contain water. As the sediments subduct, the water rises into the overlying mantle material. This lowers the melting temperature of the mantle (3). When the mantle above the subducting plate melts, volcanoes form above it. This leads to volcanoes in an island arc or continental arc. 
Story: Two geologists studied the Earth's crust. Benny studied mantle melting, while Vinny studied more about crust displacement. 
Question: Which scientist observed more volcanoes forming?

SOLUTION: Benny.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: White blood cells also make chemicals that cause a fever. A fever is a higher-than-normal body temperature. Normal human body temperature is 98.6°F (37°C). Most bacteria and viruses that infect people reproduce fastest at this temperature. When the temperature is higher, the pathogens cannot reproduce as fast, so the body raises the temperature to kill them. A fever also causes the immune system to make more white blood cells. In these ways, a fever helps the body fight infection. 
Story: Stephanie is a nurse at the local high school. Recently, the flu has been going around and she has had many students come into her office feeling ill. When a student comes in, the first thing she does is check their temperature to test for a fever.       
                                                  A research facility is testing the immune response of patients with immune deficiency who are infected with a virus. Some of the patients are given a trial of a new medication that is supposed to increase their immune system's response to illness while others are in the control group. 
Question: If a patient taking the medication has a lower white blood cell count than a patient in the control group is their body temperature higher or lower?

SOLUTION:
lower.