Definition: In this task, a passage will be given and the goal is to identify an event from the passage. An event is defined as a single word representing something that happened, is happening, or may happen. An event can be factual or hypothetical, positive or negative, certain or uncertain. While most events are based on verbs, an event can also be based on a noun (ex. storm, snow, rainfall) or a copula verb (is, was, been, etc.). The event must not be a pronoun or an adjective. For noun events with multiple words, use the last word in the phrase as event.
Input: Passage: And President Bush yesterday, asked whether he was at least glad Iraq is discussing negotiations, replied: "I don't see anything to be pleasing in there at all." American strategists are calculating, though, that the trade sanctions -- enforced by an effective though perhaps undeclared naval blockade -- will hold tightly enough to convince Iraq that it will lose in the long run by simply standing pat.
Output:
asked