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PROBLEM: Passage: Unable to purchase a bottle of beer due to Prohibition (despite it being repealed 13 years ago), the Stooges opt to brew some of the stuff themselves.  The recipe that they use calls for three small cubes of yeast.  A mix-up with the telephone causes each Stooge to think he is the one to put in the yeast.  Nine cubes end up in the tub being used to make the beer.  The yeast continuously expands causing them to pour the beer into every container they can find, until Curly brings in the bath tub.  They successfully bottle their brew only to leave the bottles too close to an open flame.  Many of the bottles explode sending corks and suds all over the kitchen.
Unfortunately, Curly ends up selling a bottle at the black market price to a detective, landing the trio in jail. They were due to serve a short amount of time, but Curly tries to smuggle a barrel of beer in jail under his overcoat.  The barrel explodes under the heat of lights while the trio has their mugshots taken.
While in prison, the Stooges begin to plot their escape, and end up destroying the saws being used to whittle down the iron bars in their cell. A few days later, the Stooges have a run-in with a fellow convict, leading them to knock the warden (Vernon Dent) out cold, and landing them on the rock pile. While hammering away, the boys stumble on an old friend also in the clink, Percy Pomeroy, and work together to flee the prison. They are ultimately captured, and sent to solitary confinement.
After nearly half a century later, the graying trio are finally released as senior citizens, in which Curly quips upon leaving "You know what I'm-a gonna do? I'm gonna get myself a tall, big, beautiful bottle of beer!"  Moe and Larry become irate and throw Curly back into the jail, leaving him there.

SOLUTION: What is the full name of the Stooges' old friend in jail?

PROBLEM: Passage: In mid-2011, Oklahoma had a civilian labor force of 1.7 million and non-farm employment fluctuated around 1.5 million. The government sector provides the most jobs, with 339,300 in 2011, followed by the transportation and utilities sector, providing 279,500 jobs, and the sectors of education, business, and manufacturing, providing 207,800, 177,400, and 132,700 jobs, respectively. Among the state's largest industries, the aerospace sector generates $11 billion annually.Tulsa is home to the largest airline maintenance base in the world, which serves as the global maintenance and engineering headquarters for American Airlines. In total, aerospace accounts for more than 10 percent of Oklahoma's industrial output, and it is one of the top 10 states in aerospace engine manufacturing. Because of its position in the center of the United States, Oklahoma is also among the top states for logistic centers, and a major contributor to weather-related research.The state is the top manufacturer of tires in North America and contains one of the fastest-growing biotechnology industries in the nation. In 2005, international exports from Oklahoma's manufacturing industry totaled $4.3 billion, accounting for 3.6 percent of its economic impact. Tire manufacturing, meat processing, oil and gas equipment manufacturing, and air conditioner manufacturing are the state's largest manufacturing industries.

SOLUTION: What state has the largest airline maintenance base in the world?

PROBLEM: Passage: The film opens with two small-time crooks Tommy Uva and Rosie DeToma getting high and robbing a florist on Valentine's Day. Tommy holds up the cashier with a pistol while Rosie waited in the car she inherited from her father. Tommy is arrested and sent to prison for 18 months. In the meantime, Rosie gets a job at a debt collection agency run by Dave Lovell, who went to jail for bilking major companies out of $800,000 through fraudulent invoices. Lovell reformed his life and mainly hires ex-cons at his firm. He is happy to give Tommy a job and a second chance. Tommy is restless and instead of following the call script, he often counsels people on how to defraud Lovell's company.
When Tommy sees some mafiosos in his neighborhood, he grows enraged. He calls them fat old guys living off their reputation, and he resents the way the mafia treated his father. Over the course of the film, it is revealed that Tommy's father started his shop with a mafia loan, and he suffered frequent beatings when he was late with payments. Tommy's mother and brother still run the shop, but his mother blames Tommy's criminal activity for breaking her husband's heart and leading to his death. Whereas, Tommy blames his father's death completely on the humiliation he suffered at the hands of the mafia.
Tommy skips work one day to attend the trial of John Gotti. He watches Sammy the Bull's testimony, and he perks up when Sammy explains that no guns are allowed in mafia social clubs. He cases one of the clubs that Sammy mentioned, and then he pitches the idea to rob the club to Rosie. He explains that it will be safe since no one will have a gun, and that the mafia would never call the cops to report the crime. He gets an Uzi, which he does not know how to use. Rosie reluctantly shows him how to load it, and agrees to the plan.

SOLUTION:
Who does Tommy call names?

