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: Earthquakes may take place every day near a volcano. But before an eruption, the number and size of earthquakes increases. This is the result of magma pushing upward into the magma chamber. This motion causes stresses on neighboring rock to build up. Eventually the ground shakes. A continuous string of earthquakes may indicate that a volcano is about to erupt. Scientists use seismographs to record the length and strength of each earthquake.
Story: Pam and Jane were two researchers. Pam studied sedimentary rocks while Jane studied volcanoes and related phenomena, such as earthquakes.
Question: Which researcher didn't observe what happens before a volcanic eruption?

SOLUTION: Pam.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: Alkali, or Alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH (> 8.5), a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico-chemical properties mainly to the dominating presence of sodium carbonate, which causes the soil to swell[1] and difficult to clarify/settle. They derive their name from the alkali metal group of elements, to which sodium belongs, and which can induce basicity. Sometimes these soils are also referred to as alkaline sodic soils.
Alkaline soils are basic, but not all basic soils are alkaline.
Story: Mike grew tomatoes on his parcel of land and so did John. Mike's attempt was very successful, because he adjusted the soil's pH to a viable level for growing vegetables, and John didn't. Both parcels had soils with lots of sodium carbonate in them. John's experiment failed.
Question: Which soil had less unfavorable physico-chemical properties?

SOLUTION: Mike's.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: Cavitation is, in many cases, an undesirable occurrence. In devices such as propellers and pumps, cavitation causes a great deal of noise, damage to components, vibrations, and a loss of efficiency. Cavitation has also become a concern in the renewable energy sector as it may occur on the blade surface of tidal stream turbines.When the cavitation bubbles collapse, they force energetic liquid into very small volumes, thereby creating spots of high temperature and emitting shock waves, the latter of which are a source of noise. The noise created by cavitation is a particular problem for military submarines, as it increases the chances of being detected by passive sonar.
Story: Stephanie and Barb are two friends that belong to a sailing club. They are having a lunch at the cafe in the club and discussing their latest boat purchases. Stephanie mentions that her latest boat she has been using has cavitation. Barb takes a bite of her sandwich and remarks that the boat she is currently using doesn't have any cavitation.
Question: Will Barb's boat require more or less fuel than Stephanie's to travel the same distance?

SOLUTION:
less.