The Dutch Take Over: Intent on capturing a piece of the Portuguese trade in pepper and other spices, the Java-based Dutch Ailied with the Malays in 1633 to blockade Melaka. The trade blockade was to last eight years, and ended in a seven-month siege. The Portuguese surrendered in 1641, wracked by malaria and dysentery and denied their usual reinforcements from Goa. By then, the city had become a stagnant backwater. Unlike the Portuguese, the Dutch decided to do business with the Malays of Johor, who controlled the southern half of the peninsula together with Singapore and the neighboring Riau islands. A trade treaty gave the Dutch command of the spice trade but reserved Johor's rights in tin exports from Perak, Selangor, and Klang. Without ever retrieving the supremacy of the old Melaka sultanate, Johor had become the strongest Asian power in the region. For the Dutch, Johor provided a buffer against other Europeans. Meanwhile, fresh blood came in with the migration into the southern interior of hardy Minangkabau farmers from Sumatra, while tough Bugis warriors from the east Indonesian Celebes (Sulawesi) roved the length and breadth of the peninsula. The Minangkabau custom of freely electing their leaders provided the model for rulership elections in modern federal Malaysia. Their confederation of States became today's Negeri Sembilan ("Nine States"), with Seremban as its capital. The name Minangkabau itself means roughly "buffalo horns" and is reflected in the distinctive upward curving roof in museums and government offices built in the traditional Minangkabau style. The Bugis were energetic merchants and great sailors. With the Dutch concentrating once more on Java and the Moluccas in the 18th century, the Bugis took advantage of the vacuum by raiding Perak and Kedah, imposing their chieftains in Selangor and becoming the power behind the throne in Johor. The Bugis in Johor's administration provided much of the spirit in that State's independent stand in the 19th and 20th centuries. Throughout this period, the east coast states enjoyed a relatively tranquil prosperity, Terengganu notably thriving from its textile industry and trading in pepper and gold with the Thais, Cambodians, and Chinese. The British, under the private auspices of the East India Company (EIC), were beginning to poke their noses into North Borneo.

Question: "Who's confederation of States became today's Negeri Sembilan?"

OPTIONS:
- no
- yes

Answer: "Dutch"

Response: no

IBM opened a sprawling and sophisticated semiconductor factory here on Wednesday that cost more than $2.5 billion to build and equip, the largest single capital investment the company has ever made. The factory, which opens as the computer chip business is in a slump, is a costly and risky move for IBM. But it is also an expression of confidence by the company that it can remain a technology leader in the highly competitive global semiconductor industry, and a commitment that the best place to execute that strategy is in upstate New York. IBM is an exception among computer makers in that it still invests heavily in research to advance the design, manufacture and materials used in semiconductor chips. It is spending more than $500 million a year on semiconductor research and development. The factory will produce a wide range of specialized semiconductors used in everything from the largest mainframe computers to cell phones and video-game consoles. The new plant is part of IBM's push to gain a strong lead in chip-making beyond the personal computer business, where Intel and East Asian chip producers hold the advantage. "The core of our strategy is to lead in technology and attack the high-performance segments of the market," said John Kelly, senior vice president in charge of IBM's technology group. An advantage to having the semiconductor fabricating factory here, Kelly explained, was that it was very close to its research laboratories in nearby Westchester County, N.Y. To stay ahead in advanced chip technology, he said, moving innovations out of the labs and into the factory as fast as possible is crucial. "What we call the lab-to-fab time should be as close to zero as possible," Kelly said. "If our strategy were anything but to be on the leading edge, we'd have put the plant in Asia." The new factory, which will begin normal production early next year, will employ about 1,000 people.

Question: "What doe "lab-to-fab" time mean?"

Response: "Strategy were anything but to be on the leading edge"
OPTIONS:
- no
- yes

A: no

Problem: Mechanical energy is a combination of the energy of motion or position. This type of energy describes objects that are moving or could move. A moving ball can have energy from motion. An arrow can also have the energy of motion. Both are types of mechanical energy. Can you think of some other examples? Where does the energy of motion come from? It comes from the energy created by position. This energy is stored energy. This means it is not moving yet, but it has the potential to move. How can you store energy? The arrow gains energy from the drawn bow. As the arrow is released, the bow releases its stored energy and puts the arrow into motion. Can you think of some other ways to store energy using position?

Question: "What type of energy is created by position?"

Answer: "Energy of movement"

OPTIONS:
- no
- yes
Answer: no

Question:
Have you ever looked closely at a globe? That continents look like a giant jig-saw puzzle. North America looks like it could fit next to Europe. The edge of South America matches Africa. Scientists noticed these same features. It caused them to start asking questions. They wanted to know if these continents were was connected? If so, how can something so large move so far? What could possibly have enough force to move such a giant slab of rock? Is there other evidence that can provide clues to the past positions of continents? How can answering these questions help us? A scientist named Alfred Wegener had these same questions. Wegener look at rocks on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. He noticed they were the same type and age. He thought that the rocks must have formed side by side. He proposed that the rocks then drifted apart. One part went with North America. The other part stayed with Europe. After reading the above, is "They look like they could fit next to each other" the correct answer to the question "Why does Wegener propose the continents look like a giant jigsaw puzzle?"? OPTIONS:
- no
- yes

Answer:
yes

At 8:38, Ong told Gonzalez that the plane was flying erratically again. Around this time Sweeney told Woodward that the hijackers were Middle Easterners, naming three of their seat numbers. One spoke very little English and one spoke excellent English. The hijackers had gained entry to the cockpit, and she did not know how. The aircraft was in a rapid descent. At 8:41, Sweeney told Woodward that passengers in coach were under the impression that there was a routine medical emergency in first class. Other flight attendants were busy at duties such as getting medical supplies while Ong and Sweeney were reporting the events. At 8:41, in American's operations center, a colleague told Marquis that the air traffic controllers declared Flight 11 a hijacking and "think he's [American 11] headed toward Kennedy [airport in New York City]. They're moving everybody out of the way. They seem to have him on a primary radar. They seem to think that he is descending." At 8:44, Gonzalez reported losing phone contact with Ong. About this same time Sweeney reported to Woodward, "Something is wrong. We are in a rapid descent . we are all over the place." Woodward asked Sweeney to look out the window to see if she could determine where they were.

Question: "How many minutes passed until Sweeney confirmed the ground operations belief that the plane was descending and trying to land."

OPTIONS:
- no
- yes

Answer: "2 minutes"

Response:
no