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: With US experts and politicians increasingly anxious over how to manage the chaos in Iraq, where around 129,000 US troops are fighting insurgents and training local forces, a new defence secretary was to take office. Gates, a former Central Intelligence Agency director, was to be sworn in at the Pentagon just three days after his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld, blamed for the current mess in Iraq, was given a full honours send-off.

was