1. Assume a user asks a question: "When does the sun set on the longest day in summer in Helsinki?" and assume the answer is searched in the collection of the "documents" below. Describe what might happen in the question answering process in this case. You can simplify the steps and make your own assumptions as you like.
The summer nights are quite bright in Helsinki, but the sun does set every day of the year. The summer solstice, 21 June, is the longest day everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. In Helsinki the sun sets at 22.50 and rises again at 3.54 the following morning. The true Land of the Midnight Sun is Finland's northern province of Lapland, where the sun remains above the horizon for weeks on end.
Helsinki gets very cold and windy during the winter, and winter lasts for about five months. However, most people complain more about the endless darkness of winter: the sun can rise at 9:30 and set by 14:30 at the peak. During the short summers, which are fabulously sunny with no humidity, the sun stays out until very late at night. You can start a game of golf at 21:00 and easily finish before it gets dark. It's strange to leave a bar at 2:00 AM and walk into bright sunshine.
Finland's climate is similar to that of the Great Lakes area in the US and is moderated by the proximity of the Gulf Stream. Because of its location, Finland has snow five months of each year. The shortest day is December 23rd, with less than 6 hours of sunlight, and the longest day at midsummer, June 21, has 19 hours of daylight.
This was taken when the sun has just set behind the houses to the right (it sets very early, and in Finland we have very long sunsets), and there was this magical blueish haze so common in Helsinki winter evenings. I drove by, parked the car and put my G1 on a tripod and started capturing the mood. The senate square of Helsinki is full of beautiful old buildings and the big dome church, but the moodiest picture of all came out to be this one with people waiting for the bus and car and street lights mixing with the remainings of the sunset. I zoomed fully in in order to get straight lines on the houses and for compressed depth effect.
The strong seasonal changes give their own spice to the climate. The face of the landscape changes from season to season. In summer there is plenty of light: in the middle of the night the sky gets only slightly dark. The longest days last almost 19 hours. In autumn the climate continues to be pleasant, and the autumn splendour of the foliage enhances the city's beauty. In the heart of winter, there are about six hours of daylight from sunrise to sunset.
2. Assume a user asks a question: "What is the weather like in Finland during the different seasons?" Play with WordNet, a lexical database for the English language, and study how it could be used in question answering.
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