In this task, you're given a question, along with a context passage. The passage will not have a direct answer to the question, but can include some information and a clue for the answer. Assuming you can only obtain information about one entity in the passage, your job is to determine whether information from the passage can be used to answer the question. Indicate your choice as 'a' for Yes or 'b' for No.

Question: How many years had the Russian leader been in power when Russia recognized Baltic independence in September 1991? Passage:On 12 May 1990 the leaders of the Baltic republics signed a joint declaration known as the Baltic Entente. By mid-June the Soviets started negotiations with the Baltic republics on condition they agreed to freeze their declarations of independence. The Soviets had a bigger challenge elsewhere, in the form of the Russian Federal Republic proclaiming sovereignty in June. Simultaneously the Baltic republics also started to negotiate directly with the Russian Federal Republic. In Autumn 1990, they set up a customs border between the Baltic states, the Russian Federation and Belarus. After the failed negotiations the Soviets made a dramatic attempt to break the deadlock and sent troops to Lithuania and Latvia in January 1991. The attempts failed, dozens of civilians were killed, and the Soviet troops decided to retreat. In August 1991, the hard-line members of the Soviet government attempted to take control of the Soviet Union. One day after the coup on 21 August, the Estonians proclaimed independence. Shortly afterwards Soviet paratroops seized the Tallinn television tower. The Latvian parliament made similar a declaration at the same day. The coup failed but the Collapse of the Soviet Union became unavoidable. On 28 August, the European Community welcomed the restoration of the sovereignty and independence of the Baltic states. The Soviet Union recognised the Baltic independence on 6 September 1991. The Russian troops stayed for an additional three years, as Boris Yeltsin linked the issue of Russian minorities with troop withdrawals. Lithuania was the first to have the Russian troops withdrawn from its territory in August 1993. On 26 July 1994 Russian troops withdrew from Estonia and on 31 August 1994, Russian troops withdrew from Latvia. The Russian Federation ended its military presence in Estonia after it relinquished control of the nuclear facilities in Paldiski on 26 September 1995 and in Latvia after Skrunda-1 suspended operations on 31 August 1998 and subsequently dismantled. The last Russian soldier left Skrunda-1 in October 1999, thus marking a symbolic end to the Russian military presence on the soil of the Baltic countries.

b

Question: What is the largest city near the village that preserved the Waga name? Passage:The manor is recorded in the Domesday Book where it is listed as Holehale, one of the lands of Robert de Stafford. "In Ferncombe Hundred in Holehale (Ullenhall) 1 hide. Land for 15 ploughs. 17 villagers and 11 smallholders with 6 ploughs. Woodland league long and 1 furlong wide. The value was and is 3 Waga held it." Waga, whose name is preserved in the nearby village of Wootton Wawen, was one of the witness's to Earl Leofric's, husband of Lady Godiva, foundation of the monastery at Coventry during the first year of the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042/3). His lands extended beyond those at Ullenhall, but, following the Conquest, Ullenhall was bestowed by the conqueror on Robert de Stafford, descended from the de Tonei family and who had fought stoutly with Duke William against King Harold. He made Stafford his principal seat, where he had a strong castle and assumed his surname from thence.

a

Question: How long is the body of water that Whittier Narrows is part of? Passage:During the expedition, Father Crespi observed a location along the river that would be good for a settlement or mission. However, in 1771, Father Serra instead commissioned two missionaries to establish the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel-San Gabriel Mission near the present day Whittier Narrows section of the San Gabriel River. The missionaries encountered resistance from the Tongva to their attempts to resettle the Natives on the mission. The mission encountered further trouble in 1776 when a flood damaged the mission, convincing the missionaries to move and rebuild the mission on a higher and more defensible location: its present site in San Gabriel. The first Spanish governor of Las Californias, Felipe de Neve had, as well, recommended to Viceroy Bucareli Father Crespi's location on the Rio Porciuncula (Los Angeles River) for a mission. Instead, in 1781, King Charles III mandated that a pueblo be built on the site instead, which would be the second town in Alta California, after San Jose de Guadalupe in 1777. The monarch, disregarding the production and trade roles of the missions, saw a greater need for secular pueblos to be established as the centers of agriculture and commerce to supply the crown's ever-growing military presence in "Nueva California." The priests at the missions ignored the royal mandate and continued their ranching, trading and production of tallow, soap, hides, and beef, often in competition with new pueblo ventures.
b