instruction:
You are given a background paragraph that describes one or more causal or qualitative relationships such as a relationship in economics or a scientific law and a story that makes use of the concepts or the relationship described in the provided paragraph. You are also given a question about the story that requires an understanding of the relationship described in the background paragraph and the story. You need to come up with an answer to the given question; the answer will be a span from either the question or the story. In order to correctly answer the given question, you need to understand the relationship mentioned in the background paragraph and should be able to use it to understand that in the story. Your answer can not consist of any word that is not mentioned in any of these: the background paragraph, the story, or the question. You can directly copy and paste a span from the story or the question while answering the given question.
question:
Background Paragraph: Groundwater salinization compromises buffering properties. Vegetation clearance, along with irrigation, causes serious issues. Irrigation increases the water table and mobilizes salts, and vegetation clearance allows it to come in contact with water habitats and vegetation. This stresses species not adapted to high salinity. High levels of salinity reduces water uptake in plants, by causing stomatal closure, reducing photosynthesis. Forests undergo decline in areas of high salinity and shallow groundwater depths because these conditions make them more susceptible to droughts. Forests undergo decline in areas of high salinity and shallow groundwater depths making them more susceptible to droughts. 
Story: Roger has been wanting to make a difference in the world, and has decided he wants to start a forested area in the country side. He has some areas that he has mapped out, and is trying to decide where he would like to start his new growth. The Bilton Valley area has recently been cleared of vegetation and has some irrigation channels installed for a near by farm. The other area he is looking at in an uncleared pasture called Stevens Pasture. 
Question: Will Stevens Pasture have a more reduced or increased water uptake by plants than Bilton Valley?
answer:
increased.


question:
Background Paragraph: Storing large volumes of data – When storing XML to either file or database, the volume of data a system produces can often exceed reasonable limits, with a number of detriments: the access times go up as more data is read, CPU load goes up as XML data takes more power to process, and storage costs go up. By storing XML data in Fast Infoset format, data volume may be reduced by as much as 80 percent. 
Story: Bob works for a data storage company. He has now three projects, project A, project B, and project C, simultaneously going on. All of them involves storing 
XML data. Project A has small volume of data, but project B and project C has large volume of data. He applied Fast Infoset format for project B, but didn't apply that format for project C. 
Question: Would project A have higher or lower access times compared to project C?
answer:
lower access times.


question:
Background Paragraph: The Hawaiian Islands ( Figure above ) are in the central Pacific Ocean. The islands are volcanoes that increase in age from southeast to northwest. The youngest island is the Big Island of Hawaii at the southeast end of the chain. The volcanoes get older through Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau Islands through the northwest. The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii has been erupting almost continuously since 1983. There are also eruptions at an underwater volcano called Loihi seamount. Loihi is the youngest volcano. Hawaii is a fantastic place to see volcanic eruptions and features. 
Story: Grant and Fox were talking about flying to Hawaii for a tour of the islands. Grant was born on the Big Island, while Fox never visited Hawaii. 
Question: Which friend lived closer to Lanai island?
answer:

Grant.