TASK DEFINITION: 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.
PROBLEM: Question: Was the U.S. Congressman from Suffolk County older than the candidate he opposed in the 2000 Senate race? Passage:Suffolk County had long been a Republican bastion in New York State. U.S. Congressman Rick Lazio, who opposed Hillary Clinton in the 2000 Senate race, was from Suffolk County. However, recent elections have turned the county more toward the Democrats. In 2003, Democrat Steve Levy was elected county executive, ending longtime Republican control. In 2001, Democrat Thomas Spota was elected District Attorney, and ran unopposed in 2005. Although Suffolk voters gave George H. W. Bush a victory here in 1992, the county voted for Bill Clinton in 1996 and continued the trend by giving Al Gore an 11-percent victory in the county in 2000. 2004 Democratic candidate John Kerry won by a much smaller margin of one percent, in 2008 Democratic candidate Barack Obama won by a slightly larger 4.4 percent margin, 52%-47%. In 2016, Republican candidate Donald Trump won Suffolk County by a 6.9 percent margin after absentees, marking the largest margin of victory for the Republicans since 1988. It was the only large county (over 200,000 voters) in New York State that Donald Trump won.

SOLUTION: b

PROBLEM: Question: What profession did Fritz Haber work in the year Barschall received his Ph.D? Passage:Barschall was born as Heinrich Hermann Barschall in Berlin, Germany; his father was a patent attorney who had received a Ph.D. in chemistry after studying with Nobel Laureates Emil Fischer and Fritz Haber. After beginning study in several universities in Germany, he emigrated to the United States in 1937 during the early Holocaust period; though raised as a Lutheran, he had some Jewish ancestry. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1940 under the direction of Rudolf Ladenburg; he also worked closely with John A. Wheeler. After a suggestion by Niels Bohr, he carried out in only a few days with fellow graduate student Morton H. Kanner the first demonstration of fission by fast neutrons and thorium and uranium. His thesis was on the interaction of fast neutrons with helium. In a paper with John A. Wheeler he reported the discovery of spin-orbit coupling in neutron scattering.

SOLUTION: b

PROBLEM: Question: Did the organization that Hal Hinson worked for begin printing newspapers before the one that Vincent Canby was an employee of did? Passage:Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that the film was "kind of sweet and kind of goofy, and works because its heart is in the right place". Hal Hinson of The Washington Post said that the film "is hopelessly syrupy, preposterous and more than a little bit lame, but, still, somehow it got to me". Vincent Canby of The New York Times, said that the film "is to the mind what freshly discarded chewing gum is to the sole of a shoe: an irritant that slows movement without any real danger of stopping it". Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B" rating and Owen Gleiberman praised Tomei's performance: "With her flashing dark eyes and libidinous overbite, Tomei is adorable she looks like a flirtatious bunny rabbit but what's astonishing is the range of expression that passes over those delectable features". Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers wrote, "The Rain Man-Dying Young elements in Tom Sierchio's script are pitfalls that Slater dodges with a wonderfully appealing performance. His love scenes with the dazzling Tomei have an uncommon delicacy". In his review for The New Yorker, Anthony Lane praised Tomei for bringing "startling high spirits to a dullish role. She snatches moments of happiness out of the air and shares them out to anyone who's around". Mike Clark, in his review for USA Today, wrote, "Director Tony Bill (My Bodyguard) is adept both in the yarn's meticulous buildup and in his handling of the actors".

SOLUTION:
b