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The MultiText QA System performs question answering using a two step passage selection method. In the first step, an arbitrary passage retrieval algorithm efficiently identifies hotspots in a large target corpus where the answer might be located. In the second step, an answer selection algorithm analyzes these hotspots, considering such factors as answer type and candidate redundancy, to extract short answer snippets. This chapter describes both steps in detail, with the goal of providing sufficient information to allow independent implementation. The method is evaluated using the test collection developed for the TREC 2001 question answering track.