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: Human populations are on the rise. The human population passed the 7 billion mark in October of 2011, and will pass 8 and 9 billion probably before the middle of the century. All these people will need resources such as places to live, food to eat, and water to drink, and they will use energy and create waste. Essentially, human population growth can effect all other causes of extinction. For example, more people on the Earth means more people contributing to global warming and pollution. More people also means more clearing of land for agriculture and development. Recall that development by humans often causes habitats to be destroyed. This destruction can force species to go extinct, or move somewhere else.
Story: There are two identical neighboring planets, Krypton and Gotham, inhabited by the same species of creature. Both civilizations utilize the same technology and have the same city structures. However, the creatures on Krypton use substantially more energy than the people on Gotham. Furthermore, the inhabitants of Krypton have started clearing more land than Gotham.
Question: Which planet has a larger population?

SOLUTION: Krypton.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: During May, June, and July, the Northern Hemisphere is exposed to more direct sunlight because the hemisphere faces the Sun. The same is true of the Southern Hemisphere in November, December, and January. It is Earth's axial tilt that causes the Sun to be higher in the sky during the summer months, which increases the solar flux. However, due to seasonal lag, June, July, and August are the warmest months in the Northern Hemisphere while December, January, and February are the warmest months in the Southern Hemisphere.
Story: Bill has a friend that lives in New Zealand and he always gets confused about the weather and the seasons when they chat, because the Southern Hemisphere has different seasons than people from the Northern Hemisphere.
Question: Which hemisphere experiences lower temperatures in July?

SOLUTION: Southern.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: The dangers of global warming are being increasingly studied by a wide global consortium of scientists. These scientists are increasingly concerned about the potential long-term effects of global warming on our natural environment and on the planet. Of particular concern is how climate change and global warming caused by anthropogenic, or human-made releases of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide, can act interactively, and have adverse effects upon the planet, its natural environment and humans' existence. It is clear the planet is warming, and warming rapidly. This is due to the greenhouse effect, which is caused by greenhouse gases, which trap heat inside the Earth's atmosphere because of their more complex molecular structure which allows them to vibrate and in turn trap heat and release it back towards the Earth. This warming is also responsible for the extinction of natural habitats, which in turn leads to a reduction in wildlife population.The most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the group of the leading climate scientists in the world) concluded that the earth will warm anywhere from 2.7 to almost 11 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 to 6 degrees Celsius) between 1990 and 2100.
Story: Spain and Italy participated in a global warming global forum this year. it turns out that Spain uses lots of fossil fuel and natural gas for their economy, while Italy relies on ecological alternatives.
Question: Which country caused the extinction of natural habitats?

SOLUTION:
Spain.