Problem: A friend asked me to answer this question: How much did Le Pole Nord cost?, using the article: The audience was convinced by these arguments, so disconnected were they from the realities of the Arctic summer storms, fogs, high humidity, and the ever-present threat of ice formation. The academy approved Andree's expense calculation of 130,800 kronor in all, corresponding in today's money to just under a million U.S. dollars, of which the single largest sum, 36,000 kronor, was for the balloon. With this endorsement, there was a rush to support his project, headed by King Oscar II, who personally contributed 30,000 kronor, and Alfred Nobel, the dynamite magnate and founder of the Nobel Prize.There was also considerable international interest, and the European and American newspaper-reading public was curious about a project that seemed as modern and scientific as the books of the contemporary author Jules Verne. The press fanned the interest with a wide range of predictions, from certain death for the explorers to a safe and comfortable "guidance" of the balloon (upgraded by the reporter to an "airship") to the North Pole in a manner planned by Parisian experts and Swedish scientists. "In these days, the construction and guidance of airships have been improved greatly", wrote The Providence Journal, "and it is supposed, both by the Parisian experts and by the Swedish scientists who have been assisting M. Andree, that the question of a sustained flight, in this case, will be very satisfactorily answered by the character of the balloon, by its careful guidance and, providing it gets into a Polar current of air, by the elements themselves." Faith in the experts and in science was common in the popular press, but with international attention came also for the first time informed criticism. Andree being Sweden's first balloonist, no one had the requisite knowledge to second-guess him about buoyancy or drag ropes; but both Germany and France had long ballooning traditions and several of their more experienced balloonists expressed skepticism about Andree's methods and inventions.However, just as with the Svea..., what would be the answer ?

A: 36,000 kronor

Problem: A friend asked me to answer this question: What is the full name of the person who was awarded a Worts Travelling Bachelorship by the University of Cambridge?, using the article: Edmund Sharpe was born on 31 October 1809 at Brook Cottage, Brook Street in Knutsford, Cheshire, the first child of Francis and Martha Sharpe. His father, a peripatetic music teacher and organist at Knutsford parish church, came from Stamford in Lincolnshire. At the time of marriage his wife, Martha Whittaker, was on the staff of an academy for young ladies, Belvedere House, in Bath, Somerset. During his childhood in Knutsford, the young Edmund played with Elizabeth Stevenson, the future Mrs Gaskell. In 1812 the Sharpe family moved across town from Over Knutsford to a farm in Nether Knutsford called Heathside, when Francis Sharpe then worked as both farmer and music teacher. Edmund was initially educated by his parents, but by 1818 he was attending a school in Knutsford. Two years later he was a boarder at a school near Runcorn, and in 1821 at Burney's Academy in Greenwich. Edmund's father died suddenly in November 1823, aged 48, and his mother moved to Lancaster with her family, where she later resumed her teaching career.Edmund continued his education at Burney's Academy, and became head boy. In August 1827 he moved to Sedbergh School (then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, now in Cumbria), where he remained for two years. In November 1829 he entered St John's College, Cambridge as a Lupton scholar. At the end of his course in 1832 he was awarded a Worts Travelling Bachelorship by the University of Cambridge, which enabled him to travel abroad for three years' study. At this time his friend from Lancaster at Trinity College, William Whewell, was Professor of Mineralogy. John Hughes, Edmund Sharpe's biographer, is of the opinion that Whewell was influential in gaining this award for Sharpe. Edmund graduated BA in 1833, and was admitted to the degree of MA in 1836. During his time abroad he travelled in Germany and southern France, studying Romanesque and early Gothic architecture. He had intended to travel further into northern France, but his tour was curtailed in Paris owing to "fatigue and illness"...., what would be the answer ?

A: Edmund Sharpe

Problem: A friend asked me to answer this question: What is the name of the band whose popularity in the college circuit, according to Select, was "probably due to the celebrity status of their drummer, Shannon Doughton"?, using the article: Spiderland received widespread critical acclaim from music critics, including Spin, NME, and The Village Voice. In a contemporary review for Melody Maker, Steve Albini, producer of Slint's 1989 album Tweez, gave the album ten stars and called it "a majestic album, sublime and strange, made more brilliant by its simplicity and quiet grace." Albini found its unadorned production impeccable and said that it vividly captures McMahan and Pajo's playing so well that their guitars "seem to hover in space directly past the listener's nose", while "the incredibly precise-yet-instinctive drumming has the same range and wallop it would in your living room." Select noted that the band's popularity in the college circuit was "probably due to the college circuit celebrity status of their drummer Shannon Doughton, aka Britt Walford, the only male member of the 'all-female' indie supergroup The Breeders". Their review noted the multiple listens it may take to appreciate it, acknowledging the album as "immediate as a snail trail to hell, 'Spiderland' needs several plays to burn its way into your consciousness, but when it does..."In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Mark Deming said that Spiderland is "one of the most important indie albums of the '90s" and a "singular achievement" which found the band "working with dynamics that made the silences every bit as much presence as the guitars and drums, manipulating space and time as they stretched out and juggled time signatures, and conjuring melodies that were as sparse and fragmented as they were beautiful". Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic and wrote that, despite their "sad-sack affect", Slint are actually "art-rockers without the courage of their pretensions" with poor lyrics. In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, Rolling Stone journalist Mac Randall felt that the album's music lacks songform, even though it sounds more accessible than Tweez: "[t]he absence of anything resembling a tune continues to nag."In 2003, Pitchfork wrote of Spiderland: "a heady, chilling..., what would be the answer ?

A:
Slint