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: As Figure above shows, the distance between particles is much smaller for the solid and liquid states than for the gas state. In the solid state, particles are fixed in place, while particles are more free to move in the liquid and gas states. The particles in the solid and liquid states “stick together,” but in the gas state, they move freely about the container. In general, it requires energy to separate individual particles. If we want to make a solid adopt a liquid form, we can add energy in the form of heat, increasing the temperature of the substance. Conversely, if we want to convert a substance from a gas to a liquid or from a liquid to a solid, we remove energy from the system and decrease the temperature. Pressure also plays an important role in changes of state, which will be discussed later on. We will study these difference in greater detail in the chapter States of Matter. 
Story: Thomas and Alexander are freshman students in an introductory chemistry laboratory course at their local college. In this week's experiment, both Thomas and Alexander will be starting their experiments with liquid water. They both follow different experimental protocols, and at the end of the experiment Thomas discovers ice in his reaction flask, while Alexander discovers steam in his reaction flask. 
Question: Which person must have decreased the temperature of their reaction?
answer:
Thomas.


question:
Background Paragraph: Hypertension , which is also called "high blood pressure," occurs when a person’s blood pressure is always high. Hypertension is said to be present when a person's systolic blood pressure is always 140 or higher, and/or if the person's diastolic blood pressure is always 90 or higher. Having hypertension increases a person’s chance for developing heart disease, having a stroke, or suffering from other serious cardiovascular diseases. Hypertension often does not have any symptoms, so a person may not know that he or she has high blood pressure. For this reason, hypertension is often called the "silent killer." Treatments for hypertension include diet changes, exercise, and medication. Foods thought to lower blood pressure include skim milk, spinach, beans, bananas and dark chocolate. 
Story: At a doctor's office, two women are having their annual physical done. Jessie goes in first and is told that that she should go see a dermatologist about the skin issues she is having. The doctor then sees Martha who is having a pain in her right arm and who also has hypertension. The doctor talks to Martha about her issues and then heads home for the day. 
Question: Is Jessie's risk for cardiovascular diseases higher or lower than Martha's?
answer:
lower.


question:
Background Paragraph: Biodiversity loss is the extinction of species (plant or animal) worldwide, and also the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat.

The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, depending on whether the environmental degradation that leads to the loss is reversible through ecological restoration / ecological resilience or effectively permanent (e.g. through land loss). Global extinction has so far been proven to be irreversible.

Even though permanent global species loss is a more dramatic phenomenon than regional changes in species composition, even minor changes from a healthy stable state can have dramatic influence on the food web and the food chain insofar as reductions in only one species can adversely affect the entire chain (coextinction), leading to an overall reduction in biodiversity, possible alternative stable states of an ecosystem notwithstanding. Ecological effects of biodiversity are usually counteracted by its loss. Reduced biodiversity in particular leads to reduced ecosystem services and eventually poses an immediate danger for food security, also for humankind.[1]. 
Story: Two neighboring lands experienced different climates. In Iceland, the actions of its people lead to a loss of animal and plant species. Denmark tried to keep the environment untouched as they understood its importance and the climate was unaffected. 
Question: Which country experienced less environmental degradation?
answer:

Denmark.