TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you're given passages that contain mentions of names of people, places, or things. Some of these mentions refer to the same person, place, or thing. Your job is to write questions that evaluate one's understanding of such references. Good questions are expected to link pronouns (she, her, him, his, their, etc.) or other mentions to people, places, or things to which they may refer. Do not ask questions that can be answered correctly without understanding the paragraph or having multiple answers. Avoid questions that do not link phrases referring to the same entity. For each of your questions, the answer should be one or more phrases in the paragraph, and it should be unambiguous.
PROBLEM: Passage: Joséphine-Éléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn (1825–1860) married Albert de Broglie on 18 June 1845, and they had five sons together. Although not high royalty, on the occasion of their marriage, they styled themselves Prince and Princesse respectively. Pauline was a highly intelligent and religious woman, who was well read and wrote a number of texts in her lifetime. Her shyness was well known; she was widely considered strikingly beautiful and charming, but those around her would often avoid eye contact so as not to embarrass her. Albert was devoted to his wife, and commissioned the painting after being impressed by Ingres' 1845 portrait of his sister, the Comtesse d'Haussonville.
Albert approached Ingres around 1850 to undertake the portrait. Ingres dined with the de Broglie family in January 1850, and according to one eye witness, "seemed to be very happy with his model."Although Ingres' main source of income came from portraiture, it distracted from his main interest in history painting, which early in his career, was far less lucrative. He found acclaim in the 1840s, when he became successful enough to no longer depend on commissions. This painting was Ingres' second-last female portrait, and final society portrait.Influenced by the working methods of Jacques-Louis David, Ingres began with a number of nude preparatory sketches, for which he employed professional models. He built up a picture of the sitter's underlying anatomical structure, as seen in the Musée Bonnat study, before deciding on how to build the lavish costume and accessories. Although there is no surviving record of the commissions, and the exact sequence of events is uncertain, the sketches can be dated from 1850, the year the style of her evening dress came into fashion. Ingres signed and dated the final picture at the left center "J. INGRES. pit 1853".Pauline died in 1860 aged 35 from tuberculosis. After her death, Albert published three volumes of her essays on religious history. Albert (who in 1873 became the 28th Prime Minister of France) lived until 1901, but was heartbroken and did not remarry. He kept her portrait for the remainder of his life draped in fabric and hidden behind a velvet curtain, only lending it to select exhibitions. After his own death, the painting passed within the family until 1958 when it was sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art via the banker and art collector Robert Lehman, and is today held in the Lehman Wing. The family kept most of the jewelry and accessories seen in the painting, although the marabou feathers were sold to the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum.

SOLUTION: What is the full name of the person who bought the portrait of the wife of the man who was heartbroken and did not remarry?

PROBLEM: Passage: Going west where gold is being found, Jan Morell and wife Mary meet in the Napa, California, valley with his prospector brother Frank, but soon hired gunmen Jack Welch and Hank Purvis steal the gold they have panned and kill Mary.
In town, Frank is killed, as well, and Jan seriously wounded. He is cared for by Felipe de Ortega and sister Elena, who explain that Welch and Purvis work for dishonest Mayor Thomas Ainsworth, who also stole the Ortega family's land and property. An approval of statehood for California could restore law and order, as well as citizens' rights.
Elena fears for their safety, but Jan joins forces with Felipe's men to create havoc in Ainsworth's life, rustling horses and stealing money. A new U.S. marshal, Henderson, places a $5,000 reward on him, but Jan nevertheless captures Purvis and threatens to lynch him if he does not confess to Ainsworth's misdeeds. Elizabeth Ainsworth now begins to understand her father's corrupt ways.
As the gunfighting intensifies, both Welch and Felipe are killed. Jan is arrested and faces the hangman, but Henderson believes in his innocence and is able to release him when statehood wins approval and a general amnesty is granted. Jan and Elena plan a new life together.

SOLUTION: What is the first name of the person who hired someone to kill Mary?

PROBLEM: Passage: With a population of 80.2 million according to the 2011 census, rising to at least 81.9 million as of 31 December 2015, Germany is the most populous country in the European Union, the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the 16th most populous country in the world. Its population density stands at 227 inhabitants per square kilometre (588 per square mile). The overall life expectancy in Germany at birth is 80.19 years (77.93 years for males and 82.58 years for females). The fertility rate of 1.41 children born per woman (2011 estimates), below the replacement rate of 2.1, it remains considerably below the high of 5.28 children born per woman in 1884, or 8.33 births per 1000 inhabitants, is one of the lowest fertility rates in the world. Since the 1970s, Germany's death rate has exceeded its birth rate. However, Germany is witnessing increased birth rates and migration rates since the beginning of the 2010s, particularly a rise in the number of well-educated migrants. Germany has the 3rd oldest population in the world, with the average age of 47.4 years.Four sizeable groups of people are referred to as "national minorities" because their ancestors have lived in their respective regions for centuries: There is a Danish minority (about 50,000) in the northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein; the Sorbs, a Slavic population of about 60,000, are in the Lusatia region of Saxony and Brandenburg.; the Roma and Sinti live throughout country; and the Frisians are concentrated in Schleswig-Holstein's western coast and in the north-western part of Lower Saxony.Approximately 5 million Germans live abroad (Auslandsdeutsche).

SOLUTION:
What remains considerably below the high of 5.28 children born per woman in 1884?