TASK DEFINITION: Given a question and a context passage, generate the answer having the word or phrase from the context passage. Here, the answer should be a shortest continous span from the passage.
PROBLEM: Context: Cells were first discovered in the mid-1600s. The cell theory came about some 200 years later. You can see a re- enactment of some of the discoveries that led to the cell theory in this video: MEDIA Click image to the left or use the URL below. URL: British scientist Robert Hooke first discovered cells in 1665. He was one of the earliest scientists to study living things under a microscope. He saw that cork was divided into many tiny compartments, like little rooms. (Do the cells in Figure 3.1 look like little rooms to you too?) Hooke called these little rooms cells. Cork comes from trees, so what Hooke observed was dead plant cells. In the late 1600s, Dutch scientist Anton van Leeuwenhoek made more powerful microscopes. He used them to observe cells of other organisms. For example, he saw human blood cells and bacterial cells. Over the next century, microscopes were improved and more cells were observed. By the early 1800s, scientists had seen cells in many different types of organisms. Every organism that was examined was found to consist of cells. From all these observations, German scientists Theodor Schwann and Matthias Schleiden drew two major conclusions about cells. They concluded that: cells are alive. all living things are made of cells. Around 1850, a German doctor named Rudolf Virchow was observing living cells under a microscope. As he was watching, one of the cells happened to divide. Figure 3.2 shows a cell dividing, like the cell observed by Virchow. This was an aha moment for Virchow. He realized that living cells produce new cells by dividing. This was evidence that cells arise from other cells. The work of Schwann, Schleiden, and Virchow led to the cell theory. This is one of the most important theories in life science. The cell theory can be summed up as follows: All organisms consist of one or more cells. Cells are alive and the site of all life processes. All cells come from pre-existing cells. All cells have certain parts in common. These parts include the cell membrane, cytoplasm, DNA, and ribosomes. The cell membrane is a thin coat of phospholipids that surrounds the cell. Its like the skin of the cell. It forms a physical boundary between the contents of the cell and the environment outside the cell. It also controls what enters and leaves the cell. The cell membrane is sometimes called the plasma membrane. Cytoplasm is the material inside the cell membrane. It includes a watery substance called cytosol. Besides water, cytosol contains enzymes and other substances. Cytoplasm also includes other cell structures suspended in the cytosol. DNA is a nucleic acid found in cells. It contains genetic instructions that cells need to make proteins. Ribosomes are structures in the cytoplasm where proteins are made. They consist of RNA and proteins. These four components are found in all cells. They are found in the cells of organisms as different as bacteria and people. How did all known organisms come to have such similar cells? The answer is evolution. The similarities show that all life on Earth evolved from a common ancestor. Besides the four parts listed above, many cells also have a nucleus. The nucleus of a cell is a structure enclosed by a membrane that contains most of the cells DNA. Cells are classified in two major groups based on whether or not they have a nucleus. The two groups are prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells. Prokaryotic cells are cells that lack a nucleus. The DNA in prokaryotic cells is in the cytoplasm, rather than enclosed within a nuclear membrane. All the organisms in the Bacteria and Archaea Domains have prokaryotic cells. No other organisms have this type of cell. Organisms with prokaryotic cells are called prokaryotes. They are all single-celled organisms. They were the first type of organisms to evolve. They are still the most numerous organisms today. You can see a model of a prokaryotic cell in Figure 3.3. The cell in the figure is a bacterium. Notice how it contains a cell membrane, cytoplasm, ribosomes, and several other structures. However, the cell lacks a nucleus. The cells DNA is circular. 
 Question: The smallest unit of living things that can carry out the chemical reactions of life is the

SOLUTION: cell

PROBLEM: Context: Hubble measured the distances to galaxies. He also studied the motions of galaxies. In doing these things, Hubble noticed a relationship. This is now called Hubbles Law: The farther away a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away from us. There was only one conclusion he could draw from this. The universe is expanding! Figure 26.15 shows a simple diagram of the expanding universe. Imagine a balloon covered with tiny dots. When you blow up the balloon, the rubber stretches. The dots slowly move away from each other as the space between them increases. In an expanding universe, the space between galaxies is expanding. We see this as the other galaxies moving away from us. We also see that galaxies farther away from us move away faster than nearby galaxies. About 13.7 billion years ago, the entire universe was packed together. Everything was squeezed into a tiny volume. Then there was an enormous explosion. After this big bang, the universe expanded rapidly (Figure 26.16). All of the matter and energy in the universe has been expanding ever since. Scientists have evidence this is how the universe formed. One piece of evidence is that we see galaxies moving away from us. If they are moving apart, they must once have been together. Also, there is energy left over from this explosion throughout the universe. The theory for the origin of the universe is called the Big Bang Theory. In the first few moments after the Big Bang, the universe was extremely hot and dense. As the universe expanded, it became less dense. It began to cool. First protons, neutrons, and electrons formed. From these particles came hydrogen. Nuclear fusion created helium atoms. Some parts of the universe had matter that was densely packed. Enormous clumps of matter were held together by gravity. Eventually this material became the gas clouds, stars, galaxies, and other structures that we see in the universe today. We see many objects out in space that emit light. This matter is contained in stars, and the stars are contained in galaxies. Scientists think that stars and galaxies make up only a small part of the matter in the universe. The rest of the matter is called dark matter. Dark matter doesnt emit light, so we cant see it. We know it is there because it affects the motion of objects around it. For example, astronomers measure how spiral galaxies rotate. The outside edges of a galaxy rotate at the same speed as parts closer to the center. This can only be explained if there is a lot more matter in the galaxy than we can see. What is dark matter? Actually, we dont really know. Dark matter could just be ordinary matter, like what makes up Earth. The universe could contain lots of objects that dont have enough mass to glow on their own. There might just be a lot of black holes. Another possibility is that the universe contains a lot of matter that is different from anything we know. If it doesnt interact much with ordinary matter, it would be very difficult or impossible to detect directly. Most scientists who study dark matter think it is a combination. Ordinary matter is part of it. That is mixed with some kind of matter that we havent discovered yet. Most scientists think that ordinary matter is less than half of the total matter in the universe. We know that the universe is expanding. Astronomers have wondered if it is expanding fast enough to escape the pull of gravity. Would the universe just expand forever? If it could not escape the pull of gravity, would it someday start to contract? This means it would eventually get squeezed together in a big crunch. This is the opposite of the Big Bang. Scientists may now have an answer. Recently, astronomers have discovered that the universe is expanding even faster than before. What is causing the expansion to accelerate? One hypothesis is that there is energy out in the universe that we cant see. Astronomers call this dark energy. We know even less about dark energy than we know about dark matter. Some scientists think that dark energy makes up 
 Question: all the matter and energy that exists and all of space and time

SOLUTION: universe

PROBLEM: Context: Friction is a force that opposes motion between two surfaces that are touching. Friction can work for or against us. For example, putting sand on an icy sidewalk increases friction so you are less likely to slip. On the other hand, too much friction between moving parts in a car engine can cause the parts to wear out. Other examples of friction are illustrated in Figure 13.7. You can see an animation showing how friction opposes motion at this URL: [Link] Friction occurs because no surface is perfectly smooth. Even surfaces that look smooth to the unaided eye appear rough or bumpy when viewed under a microscope. Look at the metal surfaces in Figure 13.8. The metal foil is so smooth that it is shiny. However, when highly magnified, the surface of metal appears to be very bumpy. All those mountains and valleys catch and grab the mountains and valleys of any other surface that contacts the metal. This creates friction. Rougher surfaces have more friction between them than smoother surfaces. Thats why we put sand on icy sidewalks and roads. The blades of skates are much smoother than the soles of shoes. Thats why you cant slide as far across ice with shoes as you can with skates (see Figure 13.9). The rougher surface of shoes causes more friction and slows you down. Heavier objects also have more friction because they press together with greater force. Did you ever try to push boxes or furniture across the floor? Its harder to overcome friction between heavier objects and the floor than it is between lighter objects and the floor. You know that friction produces heat. Thats why rubbing your hands together makes them warmer. But do you know why the rubbing produces heat? Friction causes the molecules on rubbing surfaces to move faster, so they have more heat energy. Heat from friction can be useful. It not only warms your hands. It also lets you light a match (see Figure 13.10). On the other hand, heat from friction can be a problem inside a car engine. It can cause the car to overheat. To reduce friction, oil is added to the engine. Oil coats the surfaces of moving parts and makes them slippery so there is less friction. There are different ways you could move heavy boxes. You could pick them up and carry them. You could slide them across the floor. Or you could put them on a dolly like the one in Figure 13.11 and roll them across the floor. This example illustrates three types of friction: static friction, sliding friction, and rolling friction. Another type of friction is fluid friction. All four types of friction are described below. In each type, friction works opposite the direction of the force applied to a move an object. You can see a video demonstration of the different types of friction at this URL: (1:07). Static friction acts on objects when they are resting on a surface. For example, if you are walking on a sidewalk, there is static friction between your shoes and the concrete each time you put down your foot (see Figure 13.12). Without this static friction, your feet would slip out from under you, making it difficult to walk. Static friction also allows you to sit in a chair without sliding to the floor. Can you think of other examples of static friction? Sliding friction is friction that acts on objects when they are sliding over a surface. Sliding friction is weaker than static friction. Thats why its easier to slide a piece of furniture over the floor after you start it moving than it is to get it moving in the first place. Sliding friction can be useful. For example, you use sliding friction when you write with a pencil and when you put on your bikes brakes. Rolling friction is friction that acts on objects when they are rolling over a surface. Rolling friction is much weaker than sliding friction or static friction. This explains why it is much easier to move boxes on a wheeled dolly than by carrying or sliding them. It also explains why most forms of ground transportation use wheels, including cars, 4-wheelers, bicycles, roller 
 Question: type of friction between ice skates and ice

SOLUTION:
sliding friction