Problem: Given the question: Extract the answer to the question from the following context. Question: Which does not take precedence: a lower- or a higher- ranked constraint? Context: In a course at the LSA summer institute in 1991, Alan Prince and Paul Smolensky developed optimality theoryan overall architecture for phonology according to which languages choose a pronunciation of a word that best satisfies a list of constraints ordered by importance; a lower-ranked constraint can be violated when the violation is necessary in order to obey a higher-ranked constraint. The approach was soon extended to morphology by John McCarthy and Alan Prince, and has become a dominant trend in phonology. The appeal to phonetic grounding of constraints and representational elements (e.g. features) in various approaches has been criticized by proponents of 'substance-free phonology', especially Mark Hale and Charles Reiss.
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The answer is:
lower

Problem: Given the question: Extract the answer to the question from the following context. Question: What allowed us to break numbers down into more than just whole numbers? Context: Three Han mathematical treatises still exist. These are the Book on Numbers and Computation, the Arithmetical Classic of the Gnomon and the Circular Paths of Heaven and the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. Han-era mathematical achievements include solving problems with right-angle triangles, square roots, cube roots, and matrix methods, finding more accurate approximations for pi, providing mathematical proof of the Pythagorean theorem, use of the decimal fraction, Gaussian elimination to solve linear equations, and continued fractions to find the roots of equations.
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The answer is:
decimal fraction

Problem: Given the question: Extract the answer to the question from the following context. Question: Which political party was less hostile to African-Americans in the late 19th century? Context: Democrats were elected to the legislature and governor's office, but the Populists attracted voters displeased with them. In 1896 a biracial, Populist-Republican Fusionist coalition gained the governor's office. The Democrats regained control of the legislature in 1896 and passed laws to impose Jim Crow and racial segregation of public facilities. Voters of North Carolina's 2nd congressional district elected a total of four African-American congressmen through these years of the late 19th century.
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The answer is:
Republican