sentence-transformers/squad huggingface dataset:
Passage: The first settlement is defined as Paleapolis (Παλεάπολις), the Ancient Greek world for "old city", in order to distinguish it from a second settlement built during the 5th century BC, called Neapolis (Νεάπολις), "new city". The neapolis was erected towards the east and along with it, monumental walls around the whole settlement were built to prevent attacks from foreign threats. Some part of this structure can still be seen in the Cassaro district. This district was named after the walls themselves; the word Cassaro deriving from the Arab al-qsr (castle, stronghold). Along the walls there were few doors to access and exit the city, suggesting that trade even toward the inner part of the island occurred frequently. Moreover, according to some studies, it may be possible that there were some walls that divided the old city from the new one too. The colony developed around a central street (decumanus), cut perpendicularly by minor streets. This street today has become the Corso Vittorio Emanuele.

Question: Why was the first settlement named Paleapolis?

Question: What were the walls of Neapolis meant to do?

Question: Which district was named for the walls surrounding it?
Passage: Carthage was Palermo’s major trading partner under the Phoenicians and the city enjoyed a prolonged peace during this period. Palermo came into contact with the Ancient Greeks between the 6th and the 5th centuries BC which preceded the Sicilian Wars, a conflict fought between the Greeks of Syracuse and the Phoenicians of Carthage for control over the island of Sicily. During this war the Greeks named the settlement Panormos (Πάνορμος) from which the current name is derived, meaning "all port" due to the shape of its coast. It was from Palermo that Hamilcar I's fleet (which was defeated at the Battle of Himera) was launched. In 409 B.C. the city was looted by Hermocrates of Syracuse. The Sicilian Wars ended in 265 BC when Carthage and Syracuse stopped warring and united in order to stop the Romans from gaining full control of the island during the First Punic War. In 276 BC, during the Pyrrhic War, Panormos briefly became a Greek colony after being conquered by Pyrrhus of Epirus, but returned to Phoenician Carthage in 275. In 254 BC Panormos was besieged and conquered by the Romans in the first battle of Panormus (the name Latin name). Carthage attempted to reconquer Panormus in 251 BC but failed.

Question: In which War did Greeks and Phoenicians fight over control of Sicily?

Question: Why did the Sicilian Wars end?

Question: Who conquered Panormos and briefly turned it into a Greek colony?

Question: Why did the Greeks name Palermo Panormos?
Passage: As the Roman Empire was falling apart, Palermo fell under the control of several Germanic tribes. The first were the Vandals in 440 AD under the rule of their king Geiseric. The Vandals had occupied all the Roman provinces in North Africa by 455 establishing themselves as a significant force. They acquired Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily shortly afterwards. However, they soon lost these newly acquired possessions to the Ostrogoths. The Ostrogothic conquest under Theodoric the Great began in 488; Theodoric supported Roman culture and government unlike the Germanic Goths. The Gothic War took place between the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire. Sicily was the first part of Italy to be taken under control of General Belisarius who was commissioned by Eastern Emperor. Justinian I solidified his rule in the following years.

Question: How had the Vandals earned their strong reputation?

Question: Whom took control of the Vandal's territory after 488?

Question: How was Theodoric different than the Germanic Goths?

Question: What name was the Eastern Roman Empire also known by?
Passage: The Muslims took control of the Island in 904, after decades of fierce fighting, and the Emirate of Sicily was established. Muslim rule on the island lasted for about 120 years and was marked by cruelty and brutality against the native population, which was reduced into near slavery[clarification needed] and Christian churches across the island were all completely destroyed.[page needed] Palermo (Balarm during Arab rule) displaced Syracuse as the capital city of Sicily. It was said to have then begun to compete with Córdoba and Cairo in terms of importance and splendor. For more than one hundred years Palermo was the capital of a flourishing emirate. The Arabs also introduced many agricultural crops which remain a mainstay of Sicilian cuisine.

Question: How long did Muslim control of Palermo last?

Question: What did the Arabs introduce that continues to be relevant to Palermo's culture today?

Question: How were the indigenous Palermo population treated under Muslim rule?
Passage: After dynastic quarrels however, there was a Christian reconquest in 1072. The family who returned the city to Christianity were called the Hautevilles, including Robert Guiscard and his army, who is regarded as a hero by the natives. It was under Roger II of Sicily that Norman holdings in Sicily and the southern part of the Italian Peninsula were promoted from the County of Sicily into the Kingdom of Sicily. The Kingdom's capital was Palermo, with the King's Court held at the Palazzo dei Normanni. Much construction was undertaken during this period, such as the building of Palermo Cathedral. The Kingdom of Sicily became one of the wealthiest states in Europe.

Question: Who is considered a hero by natives for ending Muslim control of Palermo?

Question: What was the family name who returned Palermo to Christianity after reconquest in 1072?

Question: Where was the Kings Court held in the Kingdom of Sicily?

Question: How did the Kingdom of Sicily compare monetarily with the other European staes?
Passage: Sicily fell under the control of the Holy Roman Empire in 1194. Palermo was the preferred city of the Emperor Frederick II. Muslims of Palermo emigrated or were expelled during Holy Roman rule. After an interval of Angevin rule (1266–1282), Sicily came under control of the Aragon and Barcelona dynasties. By 1330, Palermo's population had declined to 51,000. From 1479 until 1713 Palermo was ruled by the Kingdom of Spain, and again between 1717 and 1718. Palermo was also under Savoy control between 1713 and 1717 and 1718–1720 as a result of the Treaty of Utrecht. It was also ruled by Austria between 1720 and 1734.

Question: What year did Sicily become ruled by the Holy Roman Empire?

Question: What happened to Muslims during Holy Roman rule?

Question: What was Palermos population in 1330?

Question: During what years did Austria rule Palermo?
Passage: After the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), Sicily was handed over to the Savoia, but by 1734 it was again a Bourbon possession. Charles III chose Palermo for his coronation as King of Sicily. Charles had new houses built for the growing population, while trade and industry grew as well. However, by now Palermo was now just another provincial city as the Royal Court resided in Naples. Charles' son Ferdinand, though disliked by the population, took refuge in Palermo after the French Revolution in 1798. His son Alberto died on the way to Palermo and is buried in the city. When the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was founded, the original capital city was Palermo (1816) but a year later moved to Naples.

Question: After what treaty did Savoia gain control of Italy?

Question: For what event did Charles III choose Sicily as the location?

Question: Where did the Royal Court reside?

Question: Where did the capital city move in 1817?

Question: Whose son died on the way to Palermo and is buried there?
Passage: From 1820 to 1848 Sicily was shaken by upheavals, which culminated on 12 January 1848, with a popular insurrection, the first one in Europe that year, led by Giuseppe La Masa. A parliament and constitution were proclaimed. The first president was Ruggero Settimo. The Bourbons reconquered Palermo in 1849, and remained under their rule until the time of Giuseppe Garibaldi. The famous general entered Palermo with his troops (the “Thousands”) on 27 May 1860. After the plebiscite later that year Palermo, along with the rest of Sicily, became part of the new Kingdom of Italy (1861).

Question: Who led the first insurrection in Europe in 1848?

Question: Who was the first president of Palermo?

Question: Who regained control of Palermo in 1849?

Question: Sicily and Palermo became part of what Kingdom in 1861?
Passage: The majority of Sicilians preferred independence to the Savoia kingdom; in 1866, Palermo became the seat of a week-long popular rebellion, which was finally crushed after Martial law was declared. The Italian government blamed anarchists and the Church, specifically the Archbishop of Palermo, for the rebellion and began enacting anti-Sicilian and anti-clerical policies. A new cultural, economic and industrial growth was spurred by several families, like the Florio, the Ducrot, the Rutelli, the Sandron, the Whitaker, the Utveggio, and others. In the early twentieth century Palermo expanded outside the old city walls, mostly to the north along the new boulevards Via Roma, Via Dante, Via Notarbartolo, and Viale della Libertà. These roads would soon boast a huge number of villas in the Art Nouveau style. Many of these were designed by the famous architect Ernesto Basile. The Grand Hotel Villa Igiea, designed by Ernesto Basile for the Florio family, is a good example of Palermitan Art Nouveau. The huge Teatro Massimo was designed in the same period by Giovan Battista Filippo Basile, and built by the Rutelli & Machì building firm of the industrial and old Rutelli Italian family in Palermo, and was opened in 1897.

Question: Who was blamed for the week long rebellion of 1866?

Question: Which families help to start cultural, industrial, and economic growth in Palermo?

Question: In what style were the villas in the new expanded Palermo?

Question: Which theatre was designed by Giovan Battista Filippo Basile ans opened in 1897?
Passage: The so-called "Sack of Palermo" is one of the major visible faces of the problem. The term is used to indicate the speculative building practices that have filled the city with poor buildings. The reduced importance of agriculture in the Sicilian economy has led to a massive migration to the cities, especially Palermo, which swelled in size, leading to rapid expansion towards the north. The regulatory plans for expansion was largely ignored in the boom. New parts of town appeared almost out of nowhere, but without parks, schools, public buildings, proper roads and the other amenities that characterise a modern city.

Question: To what does the term "Sack of Palermo" refer?

Question: Why did Palermo substancially grow in size?

Question: What did Palermo expansion lack?
Passage: Palermo experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa). Winters are cool and wet, while summers are hot and dry. Temperatures in autumn and spring are usually mild. Palermo is one of the warmest cities in Europe (mainly due to its warm nights), with an average annual air temperature of 18.5 °C (65.3 °F). It receives approximately 2,530 hours of sunshine per year. Snow is usually a rare occurrence, but it does occur occasionally if there is a cold front, as the Apennines are too distant to protect the island from cold winds blowing from the Balkans, and the mountains surrounding the city facilite the formation of snow accumulation in Palermo, especially at night. Between the 1940s and the 2000s there have been eleven times when considerable snowfall has occurred: In 1949, in 1956, when the minimum temperature went down to 0 °C (32 °F) and the city was blanketed by several centimeters of snow. Snow also occurred in 1999, 2009 and 2015. The average annual temperature of the sea is above 19 °C (66 °F); from 14 °C (57 °F) in February to 26 °C (79 °F) in August. In the period from May to November, the average sea temperature exceeds 18 °C (64 °F) and in the period from June to October, the average sea temperature exceeds 21 °C (70 °F).

Question: What is Palermo's climate classification?

Question: How do Palermo's temperatures compare to the rest of Europe?

Question: How many did snow fall in Palermo between 1940and the 2000s?

Question: How much sun does Palermo see each year?
Passage: Palermo has at least 2 circuits of City Walls - many pieces of which still survive. The first circuit surrounded the ancient core of the punic City - the so-called Palaeopolis (in the area east of Porta Nuova) and the Neopolis. Via Vittorio Emanuele was the main road east-west through this early walled city. The eastern edge of the walled city was on Via Roma and the ancient port in the vicinity of Piazza Marina. The wall circuit was approximately Porto Nuovo, Corso Alberti, Piazza Peranni, Via Isodoro, Via Candela, Via Venezia, Via Roma, Piazza Paninni, Via Biscottari, Via Del Bastione, Palazzo dei Normanni and back to Porto Nuovo.

Question: Where does the first of Palermo's circuits suround?

Question: What was the name of the primary east-west road within the walls of Palaeopolis?

Question: On what road was the eastern edge of the walled city?
Passage: In the medieval period the wall circuit was expanded. Via Vittorio Emanuele continued to be the main road east-west through the walled city. West gate was still Porta Nuova, the circuit continued to Corso Alberti, to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele Orlando where it turned east along Via Volturno to Piazza Verdi and along the line of Via Cavour. At this north-east corner there was a defence, Castello a Mare, to protect the port at La Cala. A huge chain was used to block La Cala with the other end at S Maria della Catena (St Mary of the Chain). The sea-side wall was along the western side of Foro Italico Umberto. The wall turns west along the northern side of Via Abramo Lincoln, continues along Corso Tukory. The wall turns north approximately on Via Benedetto, to Palazzo dei Normanni and back to Porta Nuova. Source: Palermo - City Guide by Adriana Chirco, 1998, Dario Flaccovio Editore.

Question: What was the purpose of Castello a Mare?

Question: What was used to block passage through the La Cala port?

Question: During which historical period was the wall circuit expanded?
Passage: The cathedral has a heliometer (solar "observatory") of 1690, one of a number built in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries. The device itself is quite simple: a tiny hole in one of the minor domes acts as pinhole camera, projecting an image of the sun onto the floor at solar noon (12:00 in winter, 13:00 in summer). There is a bronze line, la Meridiana on the floor, running precisely N/S. The ends of the line mark the positions as at the summer and winter solstices; signs of the zodiac show the various other dates throughout the year.

Question: What is a heliometer?

Question: What name is given to the bronze line on the floor of a heliometer?

Question: Which direction does la Meridiana run?

Question: What image is projected on the floor of the heliometer?
Passage: In 2010, there were 1.2 million people living in the greater Palermo area, 655,875 of which resided in the City boundaries, of whom 47.4% were male and 52.6% were female. People under age 15 totalled 15.6% compared to pensioners who composed 17.2% of the population. This compares with the Italian average of 14.1% people under 15 years and 20.2% pensioners. The average age of a Palermo resident is 40.4 compared to the Italian average of 42.8. In the ten years between 2001 and 2010, the population of Palermo declined by 4.5%, while the population of Italy, as a whole, grew by 6.0%. The reason for Palermo's decline is a population flight to the suburbs, and to Northern Italy. The current birth rate of Palermo is 10.2 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.3 births.

Question: How many people were living in the Palermo area in 2010?

Question: What percentage of Palermo residents were female in 2010?

Question: What is the average age of a Palermo resident?

Question: Why has Palermo's population declined from 2001 to 2010?
Passage: Being Sicily's administrative capital, Palermo is a centre for much of the region's finance, tourism and commerce. The city currently hosts an international airport, and Palermo's economic growth over the years has brought the opening of many new businesses. The economy mainly relies on tourism and services, but also has commerce, shipbuilding and agriculture. The city, however, still has high unemployment levels, high corruption and a significant black market empire (Palermo being the home of the Sicilian Mafia). Even though the city still suffers from widespread corruption, inefficient bureaucracy and organized crime, the level of crime in Palermo's has gone down dramatically, unemployment has been decreasing and many new, profitable opportunities for growth (especially regarding tourism) have been introduced, making the city safer and better to live in.

Question: On what does Palermo's economy rely?

Question: Palermo is the home of what mafia?

Question: Has the level of crime in Palermo risen or declined?

Question: What negative qualities does Palermo carry?
Passage: The port of Palermo, founded by the Phoenicians over 2,700 years ago, is, together with the port of Messina, the main port of Sicily. From here ferries link Palermo to Cagliari, Genoa, Livorno, Naples, Tunis and other cities and carry a total of almost 2 million passengers annually. It is also an important port for cruise ships. Traffic includes also almost 5 million tonnes of cargo and 80.000 TEU yearly. The port also has links to minor sicilian islands such as Ustica and the Aeolian Islands (via Cefalù in summer). Inside the Port of Palermo there is a section known as "tourist marina" for sailing yachts and catamarans.

Question: Which port is Sicily's primary port?

Question: How many passengers travel by Palermo ferry annually?

Question: How many passengers do Palermo's ferries carry each year?

Question: For what is the "tourist marina" dedicated?

Question: What cities do the ferries of Palermo travel to?
Passage: The patron saint of Palermo is Santa Rosalia, who is widely revered. On 14 July, people in Palermo celebrate the annual Festino, the most important religious event of the year. The Festino is a procession which goes through the main street of Palermo to commemorate the miracle attributed to Santa Rosalia who, it is believed, freed the city from the Black Death in 1624. Her remains were discovered in a cave on Monte Pellegrino, and her remains were carried around the city three times, banishing the plague. There is a sanctuary marking the spot where her remains were found which can be reached via a scenic bus ride from the city.

Question: Who is the popular patron saint of Palermo?

Question: When is Palermo's most important religious event of the year held?

Question: Who is said to have ended the Black Death in 1624?

Question: What is The Festino?
Passage: Zinc is a chemical element with symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element of group 12 of the periodic table. In some respects zinc is chemically similar to magnesium: its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2. Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in Earth's crust and has five stable isotopes. The most common zinc ore is sphalerite (zinc blende), a zinc sulfide mineral. The largest mineable amounts are found in Australia, Asia, and the United States. Zinc production includes froth flotation of the ore, roasting, and final extraction using electricity (electrowinning).

Question: What is the symbol for Zinc?

Question: What is the atomic number for Zinc?

Question: What is zinc chemically close to?

Question: What is the oxidation state for zinc?

Question: How many stable isotopes does zinc have?

Question: What is the symbol for zinc?

Question: What is zinc's atomic number?

Question: What other element on the periodic table is zinc similar to?

Question: What is the most common zinc ore?

Question: What is used to extract zinc during the production process?
Passage: Brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc, has been used since at least the 10th century BC in Judea and by the 7th century BC in Ancient Greece. Zinc metal was not produced on a large scale until the 12th century in India and was unknown to Europe until the end of the 16th century. The mines of Rajasthan have given definite evidence of zinc production going back to the 6th century BC. To date, the oldest evidence of pure zinc comes from Zawar, in Rajasthan, as early as the 9th century AD when a distillation process was employed to make pure zinc. Alchemists burned zinc in air to form what they called "philosopher's wool" or "white snow".

Question: What two metals are mixed to create Brass?

Question: When was brass first used?

Question: Where was zinc first produced on a large scale?

Question: When was zinc introduced to Europe?

Question: Where is the oldest evidence of pure zinc?

Question: Brass is an alloy of what two elements?

Question: The earliest uses of brass has been attributed to what ancient location?

Question: We have evidence of zinc production dating back to the 6th century thanks to what mine?

Question: What early process was used to make zinc?

Question: What were the names given to zinc by early alchemists?
Passage: The element was probably named by the alchemist Paracelsus after the German word Zinke (prong, tooth). German chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf is credited with discovering pure metallic zinc in 1746. Work by Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta uncovered the electrochemical properties of zinc by 1800. Corrosion-resistant zinc plating of iron (hot-dip galvanizing) is the major application for zinc. Other applications are in batteries, small non-structural castings, and alloys, such as brass. A variety of zinc compounds are commonly used, such as zinc carbonate and zinc gluconate (as dietary supplements), zinc chloride (in deodorants), zinc pyrithione (anti-dandruff shampoos), zinc sulfide (in luminescent paints), and zinc methyl or zinc diethyl in the organic laboratory.

Question: Who named the element zinc?

Question: What was zinc named after?

Question: Who is credited with discovering zinc?

Question: What two people discovered the electrochemical properties of zinc?

Question: Where can you find zinc chloride?

Question: Who is credited as giving zinc its name?

Question: What does the name zinc or zinke mean?

Question: Who discovered pure metallic zinc?

Question: What is the most common use for zinc?

Question: What is a common use for zinc chloride?
Passage: Zinc is an essential mineral perceived by the public today as being of "exceptional biologic and public health importance", especially regarding prenatal and postnatal development. Zinc deficiency affects about two billion people in the developing world and is associated with many diseases. In children it causes growth retardation, delayed sexual maturation, infection susceptibility, and diarrhea. Enzymes with a zinc atom in the reactive center are widespread in biochemistry, such as alcohol dehydrogenase in humans. Consumption of excess zinc can cause ataxia, lethargy and copper deficiency.

Question: How many people are affected by zinc deficiency?

Question: What can consumption of excess zinc cause?

Question: Where can you find enzymes with a zinc atom in the reactive center?

Question: What can a lack of zinc cause in children?

Question: What is extremely important to prenatal and postnatal development?

Question: What can cause symptoms in children ranging from diarrhea to retarded growth?

Question: In what substance can you find a zinc atom within its reactive center?

Question: What causes symptoms such as lethargy and copper deficiency?