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: The Zambian newspaper quoted the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA) as reporting the amount of private equity funds dropped to 557 million U.S. dollars from 971.8 million dollars in 2004. The level of overall private equity investment in Africa fell by 27 percent to 948.3 million dollars in 2005.

quoted