TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you're given a question, along with a context passage. The passage will not have a direct answer to the question, but can include some information and a clue for the answer. Assuming you can only obtain information about one entity in the passage, your job is to determine whether information from the passage can be used to answer the question. Indicate your choice as 'a' for Yes or 'b' for No.
PROBLEM: Question: How many years had the Russian leader been in power when Russia recognized Baltic independence in September 1991? Passage:On 12 May 1990 the leaders of the Baltic republics signed a joint declaration known as the Baltic Entente. By mid-June the Soviets started negotiations with the Baltic republics on condition they agreed to freeze their declarations of independence. The Soviets had a bigger challenge elsewhere, in the form of the Russian Federal Republic proclaiming sovereignty in June. Simultaneously the Baltic republics also started to negotiate directly with the Russian Federal Republic. In Autumn 1990, they set up a customs border between the Baltic states, the Russian Federation and Belarus. After the failed negotiations the Soviets made a dramatic attempt to break the deadlock and sent troops to Lithuania and Latvia in January 1991. The attempts failed, dozens of civilians were killed, and the Soviet troops decided to retreat. In August 1991, the hard-line members of the Soviet government attempted to take control of the Soviet Union. One day after the coup on 21 August, the Estonians proclaimed independence. Shortly afterwards Soviet paratroops seized the Tallinn television tower. The Latvian parliament made similar a declaration at the same day. The coup failed but the Collapse of the Soviet Union became unavoidable. On 28 August, the European Community welcomed the restoration of the sovereignty and independence of the Baltic states. The Soviet Union recognised the Baltic independence on 6 September 1991. The Russian troops stayed for an additional three years, as Boris Yeltsin linked the issue of Russian minorities with troop withdrawals. Lithuania was the first to have the Russian troops withdrawn from its territory in August 1993. On 26 July 1994 Russian troops withdrew from Estonia and on 31 August 1994, Russian troops withdrew from Latvia. The Russian Federation ended its military presence in Estonia after it relinquished control of the nuclear facilities in Paldiski on 26 September 1995 and in Latvia after Skrunda-1 suspended operations on 31 August 1998 and subsequently dismantled. The last Russian soldier left Skrunda-1 in October 1999, thus marking a symbolic end to the Russian military presence on the soil of the Baltic countries.

SOLUTION: b

PROBLEM: Question: How long had St Mary's Church been standing the year Hans Olufsson died? Passage:The Paus family (earlier spellings include Pauss and de Paus) () is a Norwegian family that first appeared as members of the elite of 16th-century Oslo. Two brothers from Oslo who both became priests, Hans (15871648) and Peder Povelsson Paus (15901653), have long been known as the family's earliest certain ancestors. In his book Slekten Paus ("The Paus family"), genealogist S.H. Finne-Grnn traced the family two further generations back, to Hans Olufsson (died 1570), a member of the royal clergy in Norway before and after the Reformation, who served as a canon at the royal chapel in Oslo, St Mary's Church, the seat of government of Norway at the time, and who belonged to the high nobility by virtue of his high ecclesiastical and governmental office. The name Paus is known in Oslo since the 14th century, notably as the name of the Lawspeaker of Oslo Nikolas Paus (mentioned 13291347) and as the name of one of medieval Oslo's "city farms" (mentioned 13241482) that was probably named after the lawspeaker or his family; while a relation between the older and the younger family of the name in Oslo is plausible, it has not been established. Regardless, the modern Paus family is likely the only surviving family to hail from the medieval city of Oslo which burned down in 1624 without being rebuilt, making it the family with the longest documented history in the Norwegian capital.

SOLUTION: a

PROBLEM: Question: Which country rules the island that SMS Kronprinzessin Erzherzogin Stephanie mediated during a dispute? Passage:SMS Kronprinzessin Erzherzogin Stephanie was an ironclad warship built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1880s, the last vessel of that type to be built for Austria-Hungary. The ship, named for Archduchess Stephanie, Crown Princess of Austria, was laid down in November 1884, was launched in April 1887 and completed in July 1889. She was armed with a pair of guns in open barbettes and had a top speed of . Her service was limited, in large part due to the rapid pace of naval development in the 1890s, which quickly rendered her obsolescent. As a result, her career was generally limited to routine training and the occasional visit to foreign countries. In 1897, she took part in an international naval demonstration to force a compromise over Greek and Ottoman claims to the island of Crete. Kronprinzessin Erzherzogin Stephanie was decommissioned in 1905, hulked in 1910, and converted into a barracks ship in 1914. After Austria-Hungary's defeat in World War I, the ship was transferred to Italy as a war prize and was eventually broken up for scrap in 1926.

SOLUTION:
b