[Q]: I read this background article the other day: Huge amounts of chemicals, such as fertilizers and pesticides, are applied to farm fields (see Figure below ). Some of the chemicals are picked up by rainwater. Runoff then carries the chemicals to nearby rivers or lakes. Dissolved fertilizer causes too much growth of water plants and algae. This can lead to dead zones where nothing can live in lakes and at the mouths of rivers. Some of the chemicals can infiltrate into groundwater. The contaminated water comes up in water wells. If people drink the polluted water, they may get sick. I am facing a new situation today: Lucy and Sarah are two people who each own a lake that they enjoy spending time at. They have to take care of the lake though and make sure everything is healthy so that the lake can continue to thrive and people will want to visit it. Sarah says she heard a secret that if you dump fertilizer into your lake, the fish will grow twice as large. Sarah says she has just started doing it this past week and can't wait to see the results. Lucy is skeptical and waits to see what happens at Sarah's lake. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Will Lucy or Sarah have a lake with less plants in it?
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[A]: Lucy
input: Please answer the following: I read this background article the other day: The Gaia hypothesis states that the biosphere is its own living organism. The hypothesis suggests that the Earth is self-regulating and tends to achieve a stable state, known as homeostasis . For example the composition of our atmosphere stays fairly consistent, providing the ideal conditions for life. When carbon dioxide levels increase in the atmosphere, plants grow more quickly. As their growth continues, they remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In this way, the amount of carbon dioxide stays fairly constant without human intervention. I am facing a new situation today: Two boys read about the Earth, Evolutionism and the Gaia hypothesis. Brad liked Evolutionism more, while Stan preferred the Gaia theory, and agreed with it. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which boy agreed that the biosphere is its own living organism?
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output: Stan
Please answer this: I read this background article the other day: One result of air pollution is acid rain. Acid rain is precipitation with a low (acidic) pH. This rain can be very destructive to wildlife. When acid rain falls in forests, freshwater habitats, or soils, it can kill insects and aquatic life. It causes this damage because of its very low pH. Sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides in the air both cause acid rain to form ( Figure below ). Sulfur oxides are chemicals that are released from coal-fired power plants. Nitrogen oxides are released from motor vehicle exhaust. I am facing a new situation today: Italy and Greece attended the World Ecological Conference. they were looking for solutions to improve their environment. Italy's air was very polluted, while Greece had problems with drought. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which country had less acid precipitation fall in freshwater habitats?
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Answer: Greece
Problem: I read this background article the other day: They feed on living hosts. As parasites , fungi live in or on other organisms and get their nutrients from their host. Parasitic fungi use enzymes to break down living tissue, which may causes illness in the host. Disease-causing fungi are parasitic. Recall that parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species in which one, the parasite, benefits from a close association with the other, the host, which is harmed. I am facing a new situation today: Bill and Larry did some research on fungi. Larry researched saprophytic fungi, while Bill researched parasitic fungi. They later exchanged findings. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which researcher learned less about fungi using enzymes to break down living tissue?

A: Larry
Problem: Given the question: I read this background article the other day: Weather conditions include air temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, and precipitation. Weather is temporary. People in many states have the joke, "if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change." One way to change the weather is to have a different air mass move over the region. Interactions between air masses bring about a lot of weather. For example, thunderstorms and tornadoes form along a front. A front is where air masses meet. Fronts can bring about blizzards, thunderstorms, tornadoes and other types of weather. Weather prediction is much better than it was in past years. This is due in part to information from satellites. Climate is the long-term average of weather. The climate of a location depends on its latitude, position relative to the atmospheric circulation cells, position on a continent, altitude, and position relative to mountains. Areas with roughly the same climate make up a climate zone. The organisms that live within a climate zone create a unique biome. Earth's climate has changed throughout the planet's history. Earth was frigid at the end of the Pleistocene ice age, but has been warming since then. Since the Industrial Revolution the pace of warming has increased. In the past few decades the rate has really intensified. This is related to greenhouse gas emissions, primary from fossil fuel burning. The destruction of forests also increasing warming. The effects of global warming are already being seen. Treaties and voluntary actions are needed to reduce emissions to lessen the amount of global warming that will take place in the future. I am facing a new situation today: Two neighbors attended the same school. Mike learned about biology while Dan learned more about the weather. They both were among the best in the school. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which person read more about air temperature?
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The answer is:
Dan
Problem: I read this background article the other day: Lactose intolerance is due to the lack of enzyme lactase in the small intestines to break lactose down into glucose and galactose.[3] There are four types: primary, secondary, developmental, and congenital.[1] Primary lactose intolerance occurs as the amount of lactase declines as people age.[1] Secondary lactose intolerance is due to injury to the small intestine such as from infection, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, or other diseases.[1][4] Developmental lactose intolerance may occur in premature babies and usually improves over a short period of time.[1] Congenital lactose intolerance is an extremely rare genetic disorder in which little or no lactase is made from birth.[1] I am facing a new situation today: David works for a large pharmaceutical company as a research scientist. He has devised a procedure which can detect lactose intolerance in patients easily. To test his procedure he picked up four subjects form a large pool of sample. The four subjects are subject A, subject B, subject C, and subject D. Subject A has primary lactose intolerance; subject B has secondary lactose intolerance; subject C has developmental lactose intolerance; and subject D has congenital lactose intolerance. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which subject's condition would deteriorate over time, subject A or subject C?

A:
subject A