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: Concepts of women's social rights and social status during the Tang era were notably liberal-minded for the period. However, this was largely reserved for urban women of elite status, as men and women in the rural countryside labored hard in their different set of tasks; with wives and daughters responsible for more domestic tasks of weaving textiles and rearing of silk worms, while men tended to farming in the fields. There were many women in the Tang era who gained access to religious authority by taking vows as Daoist priestesses. The head mistresses of the bordellos in the North Hamlet of the capital Chang'an acquired large amounts of wealth and power. Their high-class courtesans, who likely influenced the Japanese geishas, were well respected. These courtesans were known as great singers and poets, supervised banquets and feasts, knew the rules to all the drinking games, and were trained to have the utmost respectable table manners.Although they were renowned for their polite behavior, the courtesans were known to dominate the conversation amongst elite men, and were not afraid to openly castigate or criticize prominent male guests who talked too much or too loudly, boasted too much of their accomplishments, or had in some way ruined dinner for everyone by rude behavior (on one occasion a courtesan even beat up a drunken man who had insulted her). When singing to entertain guests, courtesans not only composed the lyrics to their own songs, but they popularized a new form of lyrical verse by singing lines written by various renowned and famous men in Chinese history.It was fashionable for women to be full-figured (or plump). Men enjoyed the presence of assertive, active women. The foreign horse-riding sport of polo from Persia became a wildly popular trend amongst the Chinese elite, and women often played the sport (as glazed earthenware figurines from the time period portray). The preferred hairstyle for women was to bunch their hair up like "an elaborate edifice above the forehead", while affluent ladies wore extravagant head ornaments, combs, pearl necklaces, face powders, and perfumes. A law was passed in 671 which attempted to force women to wear hats with veils again in order to promote decency, but these laws were ignored as some women started wearing caps and even no hats at all, as well as men's riding clothes and boots, and tight-sleeved bodices.There were some prominent court women after the era of Empress Wu, such as Yang Guifei (719–756), who had Emperor Xuanzong appoint many of her relatives and cronies to important ministerial and martial positions.

SOLUTION: What is the name of the sport that glazed earthenware figurines portrayed women playing?

PROBLEM: Passage: Fifteen-year-old Ellis Whitman is leaving his home in Tucson, Arizona, for his freshman year at Gates Academy, an East Coast prep school. He leaves behind Wendy, his flaky, New Age mother and Goat Man, a weed-smoking goat trekker and botanist. Goat Man is the only real father  Ellis has ever known, since his biological father, Frank, left when he was a baby.
Upon arriving Gates Academy, Ellis befriends his roommate Barney Cannel, a cross-country runner, and Rosenberg, who usually does not get anything higher than a C in his classes, but is smart enough to sneak in marijuana. Ellis also takes an interest in Minnie, a local girl who works in the school library; his friends often refer to her as a prostitute, according to rumors. Meanwhile, Goat Man and Wendy have been incommunicado, which Barney points out often. On a phone call, Ellis discovers that his mother has a new boyfriend named Bennet, who is rude and disrespectful.
One day, Ellis receives a letter in the mail from his long-estranged father from Washington, DC, requesting for Ellis to spend Thanksgiving dinner with him. Ellis decides to fly to Washington with Barney, who is also having Thanksgiving with his mother there. Ellis finally meets his father and his father's pregnant and kind-hearted wife, Judy. One night, Ellis gets a call from Barney telling him that he is in possession of marijuana. Ellis sneaks out for the night, but Frank finds out that he left. On the way back from his flight from DC, Barney and Ellis get drunk and fight with each other in their dorm room, resulting in a dent in the wall which costs Wendy $700 and Ellis to end up in the school hospital. Afterwards, Ellis begins to get closer to Minnie.

SOLUTION: Who has a flaky New Age mother?

PROBLEM: Passage: "R U Professional" was made available on YouTube and MediaFire on February 3, 2009. The video description on YouTube by the group stated, "Song By The Mae Shi celebrating the life and work of Xtian Bale. Bale's performance as John Connor in the upcoming Terminator 4 'Redemption' Film will no doubt be one of the greatest of all time. He will win every Oscar for his performance, even the special effects and animation ones." The Independent reported that the band would appear at a music festival, "The Fans Strike Back", and requested they perform "R U Professional".Several media outlets attempted to place the work within a particular genre. MTV compared the song's style to the group Devo and new wave music. El País described the piece as an electropop song that contributed to the viral spread of the Christian Bale rant after its release on the Internet. Dose described it as an electro jam session which made adept use of sampling from the audio of Bale's rhetoric. The Los Angeles Times called the piece a lively pop music tribute to the actor. USA Today called the song fun dance music and creatively motivated. The Toronto Sun praised its original lyrics and use of audio from the incident, and described the piece as a fusion of electro-pop styles and a good song for dancing. New Musical Express recommended the piece, and described it as electro-rock which astutely sampled Bale throughout the song. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch described the piece as a form of new wave music which used the most spasmodic segments of the incident, and commented that the end product was comedic. The Arizona Daily Star described the piece as a pop music dance song.Multiple sources remarked upon the speed with which The Mae Shi were able to put the song together and release it. The A.V. Club highlighted the song among Internet memes inspired by the Bale melee, and wrote that though the piece was put together quickly it was quite entertaining and inventive. The Irish Independent was surprised at the speed multiple different satirical adaptations of the Bale commotion audio including "R U Professional" were put together. The newspaper questioned whether the song was composed in one day, and speculated that the melody might have been written by the group previously and modified to use with audio from the Bale incident. Pitchfork Media was impressed that "R U Professional" was made in twenty-four hours.Various websites commented that the song was a unique way to pay tribute to Christian Bale and his body of work. Boing Boing called the song an amusing homage to Bale. C7nema commented that the song was hilarious and dedicated to Bale's odd behavior. The Celebrity Cafe wrote that the piece was better than "Bale Out" by RevoLucian which also dealt with the incident. Chicagoist wrote that the song by The Mae Shi was their favorite of the Christian Bale remixes.  Chico News & Review called the piece a caring accolade to Bale's on-set tirade.

SOLUTION:
What is the name of the newspaper that questioned how long the song about the Bale incident took to make?