20. A computer-program product, comprising: a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising: instructions for receiving a fill-the-blank query comprising one or more term segments and one or more missing term identifiers signifying missing information sought by a user; instructions for converting the fill-the-blank query into a corresponding search pattern, wherein the search pattern includes: one or more missing content identifiers corresponding to the one or more missing term identifiers, and a set of one or more query expressions corresponding to each term segment; instructions for identifying a set of documents matching the search pattern; instructions for identifying content in the set of documents corresponding to the search pattern, the identified content including one or more potential answers corresponding to the one or more missing term identifiers; and instructions for responding to the query by providing at least one of the one or more potential answers.
20. A computer-program product, comprising: a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising: instructions for receiving a fill-the-blank query comprising one or more term segments and one or more missing term identifiers signifying missing information sought by a user; instructions for converting the fill-the-blank query into a corresponding search pattern, wherein the search pattern includes: one or more missing content identifiers corresponding to the one or more missing term identifiers, and a set of one or more query expressions corresponding to each term segment; instructions for identifying a set of documents matching the search pattern; instructions for identifying content in the set of documents corresponding to the search pattern, the identified content including one or more potential answers corresponding to the one or more missing term identifiers; and instructions for responding to the query by providing at least one of the one or more potential answers. 25. The computer program product of claim 20 , wherein the fill-the-blank query includes a respective missing term identifier is located between two respective term segments.