TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you're given a question, along with three passages, 1, 2, and 3. Your job is to determine which passage can be used to answer the question by searching for further information using terms from the passage. Indicate your choice as 1, 2, or 3.
PROBLEM: Question: What country is it perceived that Marcos went on a diplomatic mission to in 1417? Passage 1:He first appears in Constantinople in 1401, qualified as an oikeios of the emperor. In 1417 he was possibly sent on a diplomatic mission to the Venetians in the Morea. In 1422 and again in 1429 he was sent by Emperor John VIII Palaiologos as an envoy to the Ottoman Sultan Murad II. At the time he had the relatively lowly rank of protovestiarites, but was quickly promoted to protostrator and then to the senior rank of megas stratopedarches, which he held already during his mission in 1430 to Pope Martin V. During his return from the mission to the Pope, on orders from the Emperor, he raised Thomas Palaiologos to the rank of Despot in the Morea. He led two more missions abroad, one in 1433 to Pope Eugene IV, and one in 1438 to Venice.
 Passage 2:Truman had acceded to the presidency in April 1945 after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Defeating attempts to drop him from the ticket, Truman won the presidential nomination at the 1948 Democratic National Convention. The Democratic convention's civil rights plank caused a walk-out by several Southern delegates, who launched a third-party "Dixiecrat" ticket led by Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. The Dixiecrats hoped to win enough electoral votes to force a contingent election in the House of Representatives, where they could extract concessions from either Dewey or Truman in exchange for their support. Truman also faced a challenge from the left in the form of former Vice President Henry A. Wallace, who launched the Progressive Party and challenged Truman's confrontational Cold War policies. Dewey, who was the leader of his party's moderate eastern wing and had been the 1944 Republican presidential nominee, defeated Senator Robert A. Taft and other challengers at the 1948 Republican National Convention.
 Passage 3:The 2nd World Water Forum held in The Hague in March 2000 raised some controversies that exposed the multilateral nature and imbalance the demand and supply management of freshwater. While donor organizations, private and government institutions backed by the World Bank, believe that freshwater should be governed as an economic good by appropriate pricing, NGOs however, held that freshwater resources should be seen as a social good. The concept of network governance where all stakeholders form partnerships and voluntarily share ideas towards forging a common vision can be used to resolve this clash of opinion in freshwater management. Also, the implementation of any common vision presents a new role for NGOs because of their unique capabilities in local community coordination, thus making them a valuable partner in network governance.


SOLUTION: 1

PROBLEM: Question: What year was the state founded that Gorham's Rangers started in? Passage 1:Gorham's Rangers was one of the most famous and effective ranger units raised in the colonial North America. Formed by John Gorham, the unit served as the prototype for many subsequent ranger forces, including the better known Rogers' Rangers. The unit started out as a Massachusetts provincial auxiliary company, which means it was not part of the province's normal militia system. Recruited in the summer of 1744 at the start of King George's War, Governor William Shirley ordered the unit raised as reinforcements for the then-besieged British garrison at Fort Anne in Annapolis Royal. Over the next eight years the unit proved remarkably effective at suppressing Acadian and Mi'kmaq resistance to British rule in Nova Scotia and helped to both expand and secure the British sphere of influence in the region. Initially a sixty-man all-Indian company led by British colonial officers, the original Native American members of the unit were gradually replaced by Anglo-Americans and recent Scots and Irish immigrants and were a minority in the unit by the mid-1750s. The company were reconnaissance experts as well as renowned for their expertise at both water-borne operations and frontier guerrilla warfare. They were known for surprise amphibious raids on Acadian and Mi'kmaq coastal or riverine settlements, using large whaleboats, which carried between ten and fifteen rangers each. This small unit was the main British military force defending Nova Scotia from 1744 to 1749. The company became part of the British army and was expanded during the Seven Years' War and went on to play an important role in fighting in Nova Scotia as well as participating in many of the important campaigns of the war, particularly distinguishing itself at the Siege of Quebec in 1759.
 Passage 2:He tied the UT freshman record for rebounds in a game (LaSalle Thompson, 1979–80) with 17 boards at Texas Tech. He recorded a team-high of eight double-doubles, and pulled down 10 or more rebounds in a game 10 times. His put-back of a Kris Clack miss with 15 seconds left proved to be the game-winner in UT's 81-80 Big Monday victory at Texas A&M. Mihm got a piece of Rayford Young's last-second shot to preserve an 82-80 win at Texas Tech, he has hit a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to provide the final margin in an 86-83 UT win over Texas Tech in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. He blocked at least one shot in 29 of 31 games, Mihm would miss the first month of practice (his foot was in a plastic boot for three weeks) while recovering from a mild stress injury in his right foot. He was limited to four practices prior to the season opener.
 Passage 3:After the battery returned from the Philippines in 1899, March was assigned as the aide to Major General Arthur MacArthur, Jr. during the Philippine–American War. Later that year he was promoted to major. He continued to serve in the Philippines, participated as part of General Loyd Wheaton's expedition in battles at San Fabian, Buntayan Bridge and San Jacinto. He commanded the U.S. forces in the Battle of Tirad Pass, 2 December 1899, where General Gregorio del Pilar was killed, and received the surrender of General Venacio Concepción, Chief of Staff to Philippine President Aguinaldo at Cayan, 5 December 1899. He served as provincial governor of districts including Lepanto-Bontoc and Ilocos Sur from February to June 1900, and then the Abra Province from June 1900 to February 1901. He then served as Commissary General of Prisoners for the Philippine Islands through 30 June 1901, when he mustered out of the U.S. Volunteers.


SOLUTION: 1

PROBLEM: Question: How old was the businessman that Nobel signed an agreement with in Berlin? Passage 1:Emanuel Nobel was a very forward-looking businessman, just like his father, who had instigated the construction of Russia's first pipeline and the world's first oil tanker in 1878, as well as the world's first railway tank cars in 1883. On 16 February 1898 Emanuel signed a licence agreement in Berlin with Rudolf Diesel, after having heard Diesel describing his new engine in a public lecture. The agreement allowed Nobel to build the world's first diesel engine plant in St Petersburg, and the engines were used to propel Branobel's fleet of oil tankers. Emanuel led Baku to a dominating role in the global oil industry and Branobel activities soon developed throughout the Caspian Sea, operating also in Grozny and Dosser.
 Passage 2:Dean Clark took over as head coach shortly after James' resignation, and led the 1997–98 Hitmen to a remarkable turnaround. The team improved to a 40–28–4 record and first-place finish in the Central Division, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. They defeated the Saskatoon Blades and Swift Current Broncos to reach the Eastern Conference final before falling to the Brandon Wheat Kings. Clark was awarded the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as the WHL's top coach, and also won the Canadian Hockey League's Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award. Calgary improved to 51–13–8 in 1998–99, finishing one point ahead of the Kamloops Blazers for the regular season title. Led by Brad Moran, Pavel Brendl and goaltender Alexandre Fomitchev, the Hitmen lost just five games in the playoffs en route to their first league championship. They won the title at home before a WHL playoff record crowd of 17,139. They became the first Calgary-based team to qualify for the Memorial Cup since the Calgary Canadians won the 1926 title.
 Passage 3:Secondly, those teams who had backed out of the 1982 San Marino boycott were harshly dealt with. The Tyrrell team was the last team to obtain a turbocharged engine contract (essential in order to be competitive in Formula One from 1983 onward), finally signing a deal to run "customer" Renault turbos in the latter part of 1985 (roughly three years before turbo engines were ultimately banned). Toleman was effectively squeezed out of the Formula One world championship in 1985 when their tyre supplier pulled out of Formula One. In both cases, it must be said, the teams had previously blotted their copybook with inappropriate acts. In Tyrrell's case, they had backed out of a 1974 contract to run Renault turbo engines, leading directly to the carmaker's entry into Formula One as a factory team in 1977. While in Toleman's case, they broke a Pirelli tyre contract in favour of Michelin tyres in 1984, only to be left without a contract when Michelin withdrew at the end of 1984. Pirelli, understandably, felt they could not reasonably supply the team in 1985. Goodyear, the other supplier, refused to do so on grounds of capacity. This was resolved before the Monaco Grand Prix in 1985, when Toleman bought the Pirelli contract from the recently closed Spirit team, after signing a long-term sponsorship with Luciano Benetton.


SOLUTION:
1