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 large log placed in a fire will burn relatively slowly. If the same mass of wood were added to the fire in the form of small twigs, they would burn much more quickly. This is because the twigs provide a greater surface area than the log does. An increase in the surface area of a reactant increases the rate of a reaction. Surface area is larger when a given amount of a solid is present as smaller particles. A powdered reactant has a greater surface area than the same reactant as a solid chunk. In order to increase the surface area of a substance, it may be ground into smaller particles or dissolved into a liquid. In solution, the dissolved particles are separated from each other and will react more quickly with other reactants. 
Story: Two groups of scientists examined two fires. Group A put a large log on it, and group B made a fire with small twigs. They wanted to see which fire would last longer. 
Question: Which group had a fire that burned faster?

SOLUTION: group B.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: Hepatitis B is a contagious virus that affects the liver, infection can last from a few weeks to a serious lifelong illness. Two different types of infection exist for this disease, "acute" and "chronic." Acute Hepatitis B is a short term illness that occurs within 6 months of exposure, Chronic Hepatitis B is long term and happens when the virus remains in the body. The younger the child is, the greater their chance of developing a chronic infection and this risk goes down as the child gets older. Approximately 90% of infected infants will develop a chronic infection.[3]. 
Story: A 1st grade classroom photo was held today. They all gathered by age.  Lawrence was the oldest. Nicholas was the 2nd oldest. Roy was the 3rd oldest. Benjamin was the 4th oldest. Bruce was the 5th oldest. Brandon was the 6th oldest. The last one was Adam, who was the youngest. They all looked handsome that day. 
Question: Who has a greater chance of developing a chronic infection: Benjamin or Adam?

SOLUTION: Adam.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: Machines make work easier by increasing the amount of force that is applied, increasing the distance over which the force is applied, or changing the direction in which the force is applied. Contrary to popular belief, machines do not increase the amount of work that is done. They just change how the work is done. So if a machine increases the force applied, it must apply the force over a shorter distance. Similarly, if a machine increases the distance over which the force is applied, it must apply less force. 
Story: John wanted to invent a machine. To that end, he devised an experiment in which he used three components, comp A, comp B, and comp C. Comp A was a machine that applied force over a shorter distance. Comp B was also a machine, but it applied force over a longer distance. Comp C was not a machine. 
Question: Would comp C less likely or more likely make work easier than comp A?

SOLUTION:
less likely.