Problem: Background: Unfortunately, the layer of good ozone is being destroyed by air pollution. The chief culprits are chlorine and bromine gases. They are released in aerosol sprays, coolants, and other products. Loss of ozone has created an ozone hole over Antarctica. Ozone depletion results in higher levels of UV radiation reaching Earth. In humans, this increases skin cancers and eye cataracts. It also disturbs the nitrogen cycle, kills plankton, and disrupts ocean food webs. The total loss of the ozone layer would be devastating to most life. It's rate of loss has slowed with restrictions on pollutants, but it is still at risk. Paragraph: Planet Earth and planet Mars both had breathable atmospheres and were inhabited by humans. People of Earth destroyed the ozone layer, people of mars were more careful and protected it. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which planet had more people experiencing skin cancers?

A: Earth

Problem: Background: Ecologically, the expansion of drainage systems has had tremendous negative effects. Hundreds of thousands of wetland species experienced significant population declines as their habitat was increasingly fragmented and destroyed. Although market hunting within the Central Flyway was a contributing factor in the decline of many waterfowl species' numbers in the early decades of the twentieth century, loss of breeding habitat to agricultural expansion is certainly the most significant. Early maps of midwestern states depict many lakes and marshes that are either nonexistent or significantly reduced in area today. Channelization, a related process of concentrating and facilitating the flow of water from agricultural areas, also contributed to this degradation. Paragraph: Both Alabama and Florida boast great wetlands. The State of Alabama has experienced extensive drainage system due to expansion of farmlands. Their neighboring state Florida had similar system. But recently Florida had dismantled many of their drainage systems, mostly because of pressure from different environmental groups. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which state would have declining waterfowl species, Florida or Alabama?

A: Alabama

Problem: Background: Rain dissolves fertilizer in the soil. Runoff carries it away. The fertilizer ends up in bodies of water, from ponds to oceans. Nitrogen is a fertilizer in the water. Since there is a lot of nitrogen, it causes algae to grow out of control. Pictured below is a pond covered with algae ( Figure below ). Algae use up carbon dioxide in the water. After the algae die, decomposers break down the dead tissue. The decomposers use up all the oxygen in the water. This creates a dead zone. A dead zone is an area in a body of water where nothing grows because there is too little oxygen. There is a large dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico ( Figure below ). The U.S. states outlined on the map have rivers that drain into the Gulf of Mexico. The rivers drain vast agricultural lands. The water carries fertilizer from these areas into the Gulf. Paragraph: Jim and Greg are brothers who both run their own farms, but they rarely see each other due to them living in different states. Greg runs a farm in Texas where he rarely sees rain so he spends much of his day watering his crops. Jim lives in Illinois where it rains much more regularly so he has more time to spend dealing with his farm animals instead of watering his plants. Both men intentionally purchased their farms next to lakes since they have always loved fishing during their free time. The brothers are currently planning a fishing trip together, but they are just debating which lake to travel to. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Who should be more concerned about dead zones?

A: Jim

Problem: Background: In many ways, bacterial metabolism provides traits that are useful for ecological stability and for human society. One example is that some bacteria have the ability to fix nitrogen gas using the enzyme nitrogenase. This environmentally important trait can be found in bacteria of most metabolic types listed above. This leads to the ecologically important processes of denitrification, sulfate reduction, and acetogenesis, respectively. Bacterial metabolic processes are also important in biological responses to pollution; for example, sulfate-reducing bacteria are largely responsible for the production of the highly toxic forms of mercury (methyl- and dimethylmercury) in the environment. Non-respiratory anaerobes use fermentation to generate energy and reducing power, secreting metabolic by-products (such as ethanol in brewing) as waste. Facultative anaerobes can switch between fermentation and different terminal electron acceptors depending on the environmental conditions in which they find themselves. Paragraph: Brett and Scott were both studying bacteria for their exam. Scott read more about nitrogen-fixating and sulfate-reducing bacteria, while his colleague Brett read more about non-respiratory anaerobe bacteria and facultative anaerobes. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which student read less about the production of the highly toxic methylmercury?

A:
Brett