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: Predators play an important role in an ecosystem. For example, if they did not exist, then a single species could become dominant over others. Grazers on a grassland keep grass from growing out of control. Predators can be keystone species . These are species that can have a large effect on the balance of organisms in an ecosystem. For example, if all of the wolves are removed from a population, then the population of deer or rabbits may increase. If there are too many deer, then they may decrease the amount of plants or grasses in the ecosystem. Decreased levels of producers may then have a detrimental effect on the whole ecosystem. In this example, the wolves would be a keystone species.
Story: Two students studied animal behavior for the biology class. Ned studied more about predators, while Kim studied more about herbivores.
Question: Which student studied less about keeping grass from growing out of control?

SOLUTION: Ned.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: A wood-decay fungus is any species of fungus that digests moist wood, causing it to rot. Some species of wood-decay fungi attack dead wood, such as brown rot, and some, such as Armillaria (honey fungus), are parasitic and colonize living trees. Excessive moisture above the fibre saturation point in wood is required for fungal colonization and proliferation.[1] Fungi that not only grow on wood but permeate its fibrous structure and actually cause decay, are called lignicolous fungi. In nature, this process causes the breakdown of complex molecules and leads to the return of nutrients to the soil.[2] Various lignicolous fungi consume wood in various ways; for example, some attack the carbohydrates in wood and some others decay lignin. The rate of decay of wooden materials in various climates can be estimated by empirical models.[3].
Story: Bob is a botanist. His interest is in different kinds of fungi. He went to Brazil last month to study fungi in
the Amazon rain forest. First day he searched for fungi in a location with excessive moisture. Second day he searched for fungi in a location with no moisture. In all his search he found two specimens of fungi. Specimen A is a brown rot fungus, and specimen B is a honey fungus.
Question: Would specimen A fungus live on dead woods or not live on dead woods?

SOLUTION: live on dead woods.

PROBLEM: Background Paragraph: For an inclined plane, the input distance is the length of the sloping surface, and the output distance is the maximum height of the inclined plane. This was illustrated in Figure above . Because the sloping surface is always greater than the height of the inclined plane, the ideal mechanical advantage of an inclined plane is always greater than 1. An inclined plane with a longer sloping surface relative to its height has a gentler slope. An inclined plane with a gentler slope has a greater mechanical advantage and requires less input force to move an object to a higher elevation.
Story: Martin is moving and he needs to make a ramp so he can load heavy furniture into his truck. He has a bad back, so he wants to use the least effort possible. Before he cuts the wood, he is trying to decide how long the ramp should be so he can move the heavy furniture easily.
Question: If Martin builds a ramp with a very gentle slope will he need to exert more or less effort?

SOLUTION:
less.