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: The film opens with Colin Smith (Tom Courtenay) running, alone, along a bleak country road somewhere in rural England. In a brief voiceover, Colin tells us that running is the way his family has always coped with the world's troubles, but that in the end, the runner is always alone and cut off from spectators, left to deal with life on his own.Colin is then shown with a group of other young men, all handcuffed. They are being taken to Ruxton Towers, a detention centre for juvenile offenders, an approved school. It is overseen by "the Governor", who believes that the hard work and discipline imposed on his charges will ultimately make them useful members of society. Colin, sullen and rebellious, immediately catches his eye as a test of his beliefs.An important part of the Governor's rehabilitation programme is athletics, and he soon notices that Colin is a talented runner, easily able to outrun Ruxton's reigning long-distance runner. As the Governor was once a runner himself, he is especially keen on Colin's abilities because, for the first time, his charges have been invited to compete in a five-mile cross country run against Ranley, a nearby public school with privileged pupils from upper-class families. The Governor sees the invitation as an important way to demonstrate the success of his rehabilitation programme.The Governor takes Colin under his wing, offering him outdoor gardening work and eventually the freedom of practice runs outside Ruxton's barbed wire fences. A series of flashbacks shows how Colin came to be incarcerated: his difficult, poverty-stricken family life in a lower class workers' complex in industrial Nottingham. Without a job, Colin indulges in petty crime in the company of his best friend, Mike (James Bolam). Meanwhile, at home, his father's long years of toil in a local factory have resulted in a terminal illness for which he refuses treatment. Colin is angered by the callousness of his mother (Avis Bunnage), who he knows already has a "fancy man", and who Colin finds has neglected to give his father a herbal concoction for pain and (as Colin believes) brings about his father's death.Colin rebels by refusing a job offered to him at his father's factory. His father's company has paid Â£500 in insurance money, and he watches with disdain as his mother spends it on clothes, a television and new furniture. When his mother moves her lover into the house and after an argument when she tells him to leave, Colin and Mike take to the streets. Colin uses his portion of the insurance money to treat Mike and two girls they meet to an outing in Skegness, where Colin falls in love with his date, Audrey (Topsy Jane), and confesses to her that she is the first woman he's ever had sex with. She eventually extracts a half-hearted promise from Colin that he might look for work, implying his feelings for her are such that they might marry.But one night, while prowling the streets of Nottingham with Mike, the two spot an open window at the back of a bakery. There is nothing worth stealing except the cashbox, which contains about Â£70. Mike is all for another outing to Skegness with the girls, but Colin is more cautious and hides the money in a drainpipe outside his "prefab". Soon the police call, accusing Colin of the robbery. He tells the surly detective (Dervis Ward) he knows nothing about it. The detective produces a search warrant on a subsequent visit, but finds nothing. Finally, frustrated and angry, he returns to say he'll be watching Colin. As the two stand at Colin's front door in the rain, the torrent of water pouring down the drainpipe dislodges the money, which washes out around Colin's feet.This backstory is interspersed in flashbacks with Colin's present-time experiences at Ruxton Towers, where he must contend with the jealousy of his fellow inmates over the favouritism shown to him by the Governor, especially when the Governor decides not to discipline Colin, as he does the others, over a dining hall riot over Ruxton's poor food. Colin also witnesses the kind of treatment given to his fellows who are not so fortunate â beatings, bread-and-water diets, demeaning work in the machine shop or the kitchen.Finally, the day of the five mile race against Ranley arrives, and Colin quickly identifies Ranley's star runner (played by James Fox). The proud Governor looks on as the starting gun is fired. Colin soon overtakes Ranley's star runner and has a comfortable lead with a sure win; but a series of jarring images run through his mind, jumpcut flashes of his life at home and his mother's neglect, his father's dead body, stern lectures from detectives, police, the Governor, the hopelessness of any future life with Audrey. Just yards from the finish line, he stops running and remains in place, despite the calls, howls and protests from the Ruxton Towers crowd, especially the Governor. In close-up, Colin looks directly at him with a rebellious sneer, an expression that remains as the Ranley runner passes to cross the finish line to victory. The Governor is intensely angry.At the end, Colin is back in the machine shop, punished and ignored by the Governor. But he seems calm â even content â with his loneliness, because he has refused to submit to authority., Question: how much money is in the cashbox?

SOLUTION: Answer: 70 pounds

PROBLEM: In 1984, Tre Styles lives with his divorced single mother, Reva in Inglewood, California. After Tre gets in a fight at school, his teacher informs Reva that Tre is highly intelligent but has a volatile temper and lacks respect. Worried about Tre's future, Reva sends him to live in the Crenshaw neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles with his father, Furious Styles, from whom she hopes Tre will learn valuable life lessons. In Crenshaw, Tre reunites with his friends, Darrin "Doughboy" Baker, Doughboy's maternal half-brother Ricky, and Chris, their mutual friend. That night, Tre hears his father shooting at a burglar who tried to steal from the house. Two policemen arrive an hour later, and while the white officer is civil, the black officer treats Furious with disrespect and contempt. The next day, Tre and his friends go out with Chris who shows them a dead body. While there, a group of older Crip gang members steal Ricky's football and Doughboy aggressively tries to get it back but is easily defeated. While the boys walk away, one of the members gives Ricky back his ball and a frustrated Doughboy says he is going with Chris to the store. Later in the day, Furious spends quality time with Tre, taking him to the seaside for fishing and telling the boy more about his life story, including the time that he even went to Vietnam in hopes of making his boy proud of him. He concludes by advising Tre to not ever join the army, stating that the black man has no place in the army. While returning home, they see Doughboy and Chris getting arrested for stealing something at the store, while Ricky and Tre look on.The film then jumps forward to seven years later. At a backyard party, Doughboy is now a Crip and is celebrating his recent release from jail, along with most of his friends, including Chris, who is now in a wheelchair from a gunshot wound, and new friends Dooky and Monster, also Crips. Ricky, now a star running back for Crenshaw High School, lives with his mother Brenda, girlfriend Shanice, and their infant son. Tre has grown into a mature and responsible teenager, works at a clothing store at the local mall, and hopes to attend college with his girlfriend, Brandi.Furious takes Tre and Ricky to Compton to talk about the dangers of decreasing property values in the black community. That night, during a local street racing gathering, Ricky is provoked by Ferris, a member of the Bloods. In response, Doughboy brandishes his handgun, leading to a brief argument between the two gangs. While the two gangs were done arguing, Ferris shoots his gun in the air to signal everyone to leave. While Tre talks about leaving Los Angeles, he and Ricky are pulled over by the police. The lead officer, the same one who was disrespectful to Furious seven years earlier, deliberately intimidates and threatens Tre with his gun, knowing he can't do anything. Distraught, Tre goes to Brandi's house, where he finally breaks down. After she consoles him, they have sex for the first time.The next day, Ricky has a fight with Doughboy, with Brenda quickly taking Ricky's side and berating Doughboy. While Ricky and Tre walk to a nearby store, they see Ferris and his gang driving around the neighborhood and to avoid them, cut through back alleys and separate. Ferris's car closes in on Ricky, and one of Ferris's gang members guns Ricky down, killing him. Both Tre and Doughboy's gang catch up to the location of the shooting. Helpless, Tre and Doughboy carry Ricky's lifeless body back home. When Brenda and Shanice find out that Ricky is dead, they hysterically blame Doughboy, who unsuccessfully tries to comfort them. That night, Brenda sobs over Ricky's SAT results, discovering he scored just enough to qualify for the USC scholarship he wanted.The remaining boys vow vengeance on Ferris and his group. Furious finds Tre preparing to take Furious's revolver, but convinces Tre to abandon his plans for revenge. However, Brandi and Furious catch Tre sneaking out of his bedroom window to join Doughboy. That night, as the gang drives around the city, Tre asks to be let out of the car and returns home, realizing that his father was right to keep him from falling into a cycle of violence. When Tre gets back, Furious is waiting for him; they look at each other without saying a word, and then Furious retreats to his bedroom. Doughboy finds Ferris's gang at a local fast food restaurant, and Monster opens fire on them, killing one and wounding the other two. Doughboy gets out and personally executes the other wounded gang member and Ferris, avenging Ricky's death.The next day, Doughboy visits Tre, now understanding Tre's reasons for abandoning the gang. Doughboy knows that he will soon face retaliation for Ferris' death, and accepts the consequences of his crime-ridden life. He plaintively questions why America "don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the hood". He sorrowfully says that he has no brothers left now after Ricky's death, but is embraced by Tre, who says to Doughboy "You still got one brother left."The epilogue reveals that Doughboy saw Ricky buried the next day and was murdered two weeks later. Tre and Brandi resume their relationship, and go on to attend Morehouse and Spelman Colleges in Atlanta, respectively. This closes the film., Question: Did Brandi go to Spelman or Morehouse College?

SOLUTION: Answer: Spelman

PROBLEM: In 1926, Machinist's Mate First Class Jake Holman transfers to the Yangtze River Patrol gunboat USS San Pablo. The ship is nicknamed the "Sand Pebble" and its sailors "Sand Pebbles".The officers have hired coolies to do most of the work, leaving the sailors free for military drills. Because he takes an interest in mechanical work, Holman involves himself directly in the operation and maintenance of the ship's engine. As a result, the chief engine room coolie, Chien, is insulted. Holman also earns the antipathy of most of his fellow sailors. He does become close friends with one seasoned, sensitive seaman, Frenchy.Holman eventually discovers a serious problem with a crank bearing that the superstitious coolies, believing the engine is haunted, have not fixed. Holman informs the captain, Lieutenant Collins, who declines to repair it. Only after the executive officer declares an emergency does the angry Collins acquiesce. Chien insists on taking Holman's place to make the repair and is accidentally killed. The chief coolie, Lop-eye Shing, blames Holman, believing that the "ghost in the machine" killed Chien. As a replacement for Chien, Holman selects Po-Han, and trains him. In time, the two become friends.Po-Han is harassed by a large, heavy-drinking, bullying sailor named Stawski, leading to a boxing match on which the crewmen place bets. Holman is in the corner of his friend Po-Han, who ends up winning. His victory leads to more friction between Holman and the rest of the crew.An (off screen) incident involving British gunboats leads to Collins ordering the crew not to fire on, or return fire from, the Chinese, to avoid a diplomatic incident or providing fuel for xenophobic propaganda, especially by the Communists. The boat is quickly prepared and disembarks. As revenge for the death of Chien and what he viewed as Holman's usurpation of his power, Lop-eye Shing had sent Po-Han ashore, where he is chased down the beach, captured, and tortured by a mob of Chinese in full view of the crew. Collins attempts to buy Po-Han's release, but without success. Po-Han begs for someone to kill him. Holman disobeys orders and ends Po-Han's torture with a rifle shot.The San Pablo is moored on the Xiang River at Changsha, due to low water levels, during the winter of 1926â27. It must deal with increasingly hostile crowds surrounding it in numerous smaller boats. Lt. Collins also fears a possible mutiny.Frenchy has saved an educated Chinese woman, Maily, from prostitution by paying her debts. He marries her and regularly swims to shore to visit her, but he dies of pneumonia one night. Holman finds Maily sitting by Frenchy's corpse. Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) militia burst in, beat Holman, and drag Maily away. The next day, several Chinese demand Holman be turned over to them as the "murderer" of Maily and her unborn baby. When the demand is rejected, the Chinese blockade the gunboat. The crew fear for their safety and demand that Holman surrender to the Chinese. Order is not restored until Collins fires a Lewis gun across the bow of one of the Chinese sampans.With spring's arrival, Collins orders preparations to restart their river patrols, but soon receives word of the Nanking Incident, with orders to return to the Yangtze River and the coast. On his own, he chooses to disobey orders and decides to first travel upstream of Dongting Lake to evacuate idealistic, anti-imperialist missionary Jameson and his school-teacher assistant, Shirley Eckert, from their remote China Light Mission. Holman had met Eckert in Hangkow months earlier, and the two had romantic feelings for each other that did not have time to develop.To reach the missionaries, the San Pablo must fight past a boom made up of junks carrying a massive bamboo rope blocking the river. A boarding party is sent to cut the rope. Fighting breaks out in which about a dozen sailors and many Chinese are killed. Holman cuts the rope while under fire. He kills a Chinese attacker, a friend of Jameson and Eckert. The ship then proceeds upriver.Collins leads three sailors, including Holman, ashore. Jameson resists being rescued, claiming that Eckert and he have renounced their U.S. citizenship. Collins orders Holman to forcibly remove Eckert and Jameson, but as Holman declares he is going to stay with them, Nationalist soldiers suddenly attack the mission. They kill Jameson, despite his attempt to assure them he has no sympathy with the San Pablo rescue mission. Collins orders the patrol to return to the ship with Eckert, and remains behind to provide covering fire. Collins is killed, ironically leaving the normally rebellious Holman in command. Holman and Eckert have a tearful parting, finally making clear their love for each other. Eckert only leaves after Holman assures her he will be along shortly. Holman kills several soldiers before he himself is fatally shot just when he is about to rejoin the others. His last bewildered words are: "I was home...what happened...what the hell happened?" Eckert and the remaining sailors reach the ship, and the San Pablo sails away., Question: What do they demand Holman do to the Chinese?

SOLUTION:
Answer: Surrender