[Q]: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: Who was annoyed by Courtney's hamster?  When two grade-school boys get into a fight in the park that results in one boy, Zachary Cowan, hitting the other, Ethan Longstreet, in the face with a stick, their parents meet in a Brooklyn apartment to discuss the matter. Zachary's parents, Alan and Nancy Cowan, visit the home of Michael and Penelope Longstreet, Ethan's parents. Their meeting is initially intended to be short, but due to various circumstances, the conversation continues to draw out. In fact, Alan and Nancy begin to leave the apartment on two occasions, but are drawn back in to further discussion. At first, the couples are friendly to each other, but their respective comments start to hurt feelings, making everyone argue with one another. Apart from fighting among themselves, the couples blame each other about who is responsible for the fight between their sons. Nancy calls the Longstreets "superficially fair-minded" and Penelope and Michael complain about Alan's arrogant and dull attitude. Everyone also gets irritated with Alan when he accepts endless business phone calls on his BlackBerry, interrupting the discussion, and showing he has more interest in his business problems than the matter at hand. Michael also receives many phone calls from his ailing mother, to his frustration. Nancy accuses Michael of being a murderer because he, annoyed by the constant noise it made during the night, had earlier turned his daughter Courtney's pet hamster loose in the street. Penelope becomes emotional about the hamster and with everyone arguing with each other. Other issues include a risky drug Alan is working to defend and Michael's mother has been prescribed, and the question of idealism and responsibility that is part of Penelope's current work.
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[A]: Michael


[Q]: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: What is the name of the piece written by the man that visited the US in spring 1972 that premiered six months after his death?  Messiaen's next work was the large-scale La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ. The composition occupied him from 1965 to 1969 and the musicians employed include a 100-voice ten-part choir, seven solo instruments and large orchestra. Its fourteen movements are a meditation on the story of Christ's Transfiguration. Shortly after its completion, Messiaen received a commission from Alice Tully for a work to celebrate the U.S. bicentennial.  He arranged a visit to the US in spring 1972, and was inspired by Bryce Canyon in Utah, where he observed the canyon's distinctive colours and birdsong. The twelve-movement orchestral piece Des canyons aux étoiles... was the result, first performed in 1974 in New York.In 1971, he was asked to compose a piece for the Paris Opéra. While reluctant to undertake such a major project, he was persuaded in 1975 to accept the commission and began work on his Saint-François d'Assise. The composition was intensive (he also wrote his own libretto) and occupied him from 1975 to 1979; the orchestration was carried out from 1979 until 1983. Messiaen preferred to describe the final work as a "spectacle" rather than an opera. It was first performed in 1983. Some commentators at the time thought that the opera would be his valediction (at times Messiaen himself believed so), but he continued to compose. In 1984 he published a major collection of organ pieces, Livre du Saint Sacrement; other works include birdsong pieces for solo piano, and works for piano with orchestra.In the summer of 1978, Messiaen retired from teaching at the Conservatoire. He was promoted to the highest rank of the Légion d'honneur, the Grand-Croix, in 1987. An operation prevented his participation in the celebration of his 70th birthday in 1978, but in 1988 tributes for Messiaen's 80th included a complete performance in London's Royal Festival Hall of St. François, which the composer attended, and Erato's publication of a seventeen-CD collection of Messiaen's music including a disc of the composer in...
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[A]: Éclairs sur l'au-delà


[Q]: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: What is the last name of the person who purchased 320 acres of land in Silver Springs in October 1900?  Monte Ne was entirely conceived and funded by William "Coin" Hope Harvey, a well-known businessman, politician, lecturer and author during the 1890s. Although Harvey was financially successful at silver mining in Colorado, Monte Ne seems to have been funded mostly by the sales of Harvey's writings which dealt with the subject of free silver. His most popular pamphlet, entitled Coin's Financial School, was published in 1893. Sales were buoyed by Harvey's involvement in the 1896 presidential campaign of William Jennings Bryan, and it sold two million copies. Though Bryan lost his bid for President, Harvey had become so important to the campaign that he was made chairman of the Democratic Ways & Means Committee to collect money for the 1900 campaign. However, as a result of an argument before the campaign, he resigned.After Bryan lost his bid for President, Harvey retreated to the Ozark mountains of Northwest Arkansas. In October 1900 he purchased 320 acres (130 ha) of land in Silver Springs (close to present day Rogers) from Reverend Bailey. From that time on he lived in Arkansas, and claimed that he preferred the state because it had no large cities or extremely wealthy people. Leaving his family behind in Chicago, Harvey moved into Reverend Bailey's run-down log house. Harvey's son Tom joined him shortly thereafter to help prepare the house for the rest of the family. They were joined later by Harvey's wife Anna and their children, Annette and Hal. The house burned down a few months after they took up residence, and all of the family's possessions, including Harvey's large library, were lost. Harvey carried no insurance on the house, and after its destruction Anna went back to Chicago, returning to Arkansas only a few times thereafter for brief visits.Harvey's land purchase in Silver Springs coincided with a desire by the local postmaster to change the name of the area, because it was often confused with Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Harvey chose the name Monte Ne, which supposedly combined the Spanish and Omaha...
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[A]: Harvey


[Q]: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: What is the full name of the person who anxiously hopes to be promoted to manager?  Maya Vargas is the assistant manager of the Value Shop store she has worked at for the past 15 years.  During that time she dramatically improved sales, customer relations, and general store culture through her intuitive and innovative methods.  She awaits a store visit by an executive of her company, Mr. Weiskopf, anxiously hoping to be promoted to manager.  Her boyfriend Trey, co-workers, and several regular customers all assure Maya she's guaranteed the promotion, but instead she's passed up in favor of Arthur, a non-local company employee with an MBA from Duke.  Mr. Weiskopf explains that while he values Maya's dedication and success, she only has a GED and no college degree, which makes her ineligible for the promotion by company policy.  Maya is bitterly disappointed but reluctantly agrees to stay on as Arthur's second-in-command at the store.
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[A]:
Maya Vargas