In this task, a passage will be given and the goal is to identify an event from the passage. An event is defined as a single word representing something that happened, is happening, or may happen. An event can be factual or hypothetical, positive or negative, certain or uncertain. While most events are based on verbs, an event can also be based on a noun (ex. storm, snow, rainfall) or a copula verb (is, was, been, etc.). The event must not be a pronoun or an adjective. For noun events with multiple words, use the last word in the phrase as event.
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Question: Passage: The company had retained the Fluor Daniel unit of Fluor Corp. as general contractor. But in recent weeks, construction-industry sources reported that early preparation work was slowing at the 185-acre site.

Answer: retained

Question: Passage: Mexico City's IPC stock index dropped by 0.22 percent to close at 24,266.03 points. A total of 116 million shares were traded at 339 million U.S. dollars.

Answer: dropped

Question: Passage: Moreover, the company said higher sales and shipments to service centers from its Armco Steel Co. joint venture failed to offset weakness in the automotive market, higher production costs and a poorer product mix. Armco shares closed unchanged at $10.625 in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Answer:
said