Context and question: Abnormal discoloration of wood often denotes a diseased condition, indicating unsoundness. The black check in western hemlock is the result of insect attacks. The reddish-brown streaks so common in hickory and certain other woods are mostly the result of injury by birds. The discoloration is merely an indication of an injury, and in all probability does not of itself affect the properties of the wood. Certain rot-producing fungi impart to wood characteristic colors which thus become symptomatic of weakness; however an attractive effect known as spalting produced by this process is often considered a desirable characteristic. Ordinary sap-staining is due to fungal growth, but does not necessarily produce a weakening effect.
What other property can you assume of wood that is diseased?
Answer: unsoundness
Context and question: General Electric heavily contaminated the Hudson River with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) between 1947-77. This pollution caused a range of harmful effects to wildlife and people who eat fish from the river or drink the water. In response to this contamination, activists protested in various ways. Musician Pete Seeger founded the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and the Clearwater Festival to draw attention to the problem. The activism led to the site being designated by the EPA as one of the superfund sites requiring extensive cleanup. Other sources of pollution, including mercury contamination and sewage dumping, have also contributed to problems in the Hudson River watershed.
In what year did GE start polluting the Hudson River with mercury?
Answer: unanswerable
Context and question: The existence of literary and colloquial readings (), called thak-im (), is a prominent feature of some Hokkien dialects and indeed in many Sinitic varieties in the south. The bulk of literary readings (, bun-thak), based on pronunciations of the vernacular during the Tang Dynasty, are mainly used in formal phrases and written language (e.g. philosophical concepts, surnames, and some place names), while the colloquial (or vernacular) ones (, peh-thak) are basically used in spoken language and vulgar phrases. Literary readings are more similar to the pronunciations of the Tang standard of Middle Chinese than their colloquial equivalents.
What is a prominent feature of the Tang standard and also in Sinitic varieties?
Answer:
unanswerable