Problem: Background: While the Grants were on the Galapagos, a drought occurred. As a result, fewer seeds were available for finches to eat. Birds with smaller beaks could crack open and eat only the smaller seeds. Birds with bigger beaks could crack and eat seeds of all sizes. As a result, many of the small-beaked birds died in the drought. Birds with bigger beaks survived and reproduced (see Figure below ). Within 2 years, the average beak size in the finch population increased. Evolution by natural selection had occurred. Paragraph: Two islands inhabited by many species of finches went through some climatic changes during the past several years. While Park island hat wetter than average years, Boat island experienced years of drought, so many birds died. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which island had fewer birds that could eat only smaller seeds?

A: Park

Problem: Background: Marine pollution is a generic term for the entry into the ocean of potentially hazardous chemicals or particles. The biggest culprits are rivers and with them many agriculture fertilizer chemicals as well as livestock and human waste. The excess of oxygen-depleting chemicals leads to hypoxia and the creation of a dead zone.Marine debris, which is also known as marine litter, describes human-created waste floating in a body of water. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and coastlines, frequently washing aground where it is known as beach litter. Paragraph: Two rivers, The Minninnippi and The Cedar, flow into the same ocean. The Minninnippi is surrounded almost entirely by farm lands due its location in a flat area of the country that sees regular rainfall. The majority of these farms will have runoff from their crop soil flow into the river. The Cedar is located mostly inside an unpopulated forest. Currently, not much industrialization or settling by humans has happened near The Cedar. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which river is less responsible for marine pollution flowing into the ocean?

A: The Cedar

Problem: Background: A large log placed in a fire will burn relatively slowly. If the same mass of wood were added to the fire in the form of small twigs, they would burn much more quickly. This is because the twigs provide a greater surface area than the log does. An increase in the surface area of a reactant increases the rate of a reaction. Surface area is larger when a given amount of a solid is present as smaller particles. A powdered reactant has a greater surface area than the same reactant as a solid chunk. In order to increase the surface area of a substance, it may be ground into smaller particles or dissolved into a liquid. In solution, the dissolved particles are separated from each other and will react more quickly with other reactants. Paragraph: Two groups of teens studied fire for the physics class. Group S made a fire using large logs, while group F made a fire using small twigs and sawdust. Both groups used the same volume of wood. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which group made a fire that burned faster?

A: group F

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: Two neighboring towns from Texas produced their food in different ways. Silver town was sustainable and didn't use any fertilizers or pesticides, while Gold town did. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which town played its part in causing a large dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico ?

A:
Gold