Problem: Given the background: The Mercator projection is best within 15 degrees north or south of the equator. Landmasses or countries outside that zone get stretched out of shape. The further the feature is from the equator, the more out of shape it is stretched. For example, if you look at Greenland on a globe, you see it is a relatively small country near the North Pole. Yet, on a Mercator projection, Greenland looks almost as big the United States. Because Greenland is closer to the pole, the continent's shape and size are greatly increased. The United States is closer to its true dimensions. and the situation: Bob is looking at a map with Mercator projection to help him with his geography class. He noticed that Ecuador is within fifteen degrees north or south of the equator, but Norway is farther north of the equator. Bob starts to see how a country's location on a map affects how they look. Answer the following question: Would Equador be closer to or further from its true dimentions?

A: closer

Problem: Given the question: Given the background: Around 5.4 billion years from now, the core of the Sun will become hot enough to trigger hydrogen fusion in its surrounding shell. This will cause the outer layers of the star to expand greatly, and the star will enter a phase of its life in which it is called a red giant. Within 7.5 billion years, the Sun will have expanded to a radius of 1.2 AU256 times its current size. At the tip of the red giant branch, as a result of the vastly increased surface area, the Sun's surface will be much cooler (about 2600 K) than now and its luminosity much higherup to 2,700 current solar luminosities. For part of its red giant life, the Sun will have a strong stellar wind that will carry away around 33% of its mass. During these times, it is possible that Saturn's moon Titan could achieve surface temperatures necessary to support life.As the Sun expands, it will swallow the planets Mercury and Venus. Earth's fate is less clear; although the Sun will envelop Earth's current orbit, the star's loss of mass (and thus weaker gravity) will cause the planets' orbits to move farther out. If it were only for this, Venus and Earth would probably escape incineration, but a 2008 study suggests that Earth will likely be swallowed up as a result of tidal interactions with the Sun's weakly bound outer envelope.Gradually, the hydrogen burning in the shell around the solar core will increase the mass of the core until it reaches about 45% of the present solar mass. At this point the density and temperature will become so high that the fusion of helium into carbon will begin, leading to a helium flash; the Sun will shrink from around 250 to 11 times its present (main-sequence) radius. Consequently, its luminosity will decrease from around 3,000 to 54 times its current level, and its surface temperature will increase to about 4770 K. The Sun will become a horizontal giant, burning helium in its core in a stable fashion much like it burns hydrogen today. The helium-fusing stage will last only 100 million years. Eventually, it will have to... and the situation: Keith was playing a simulation game. In the game he could travel around the Sun in the future. He started the game in present time, which was denoted as time A. Then he traveled 5.4 billion years into the future, which was denoted as time B. Finally, he reached 7.5 billion years into the future, which was denoted as time C. He was amazed to find how the Sun would change over time. Answer the following question: When would the size of the Sun be bigger, time A or time C?
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The answer is:
time C

input question: Given the background: In grassland, much of the organic matter added to the soil is from the deep, fibrous, grass root systems. By contrast, tree leaves falling on the forest floor are the principal source of soil organic matter in the forest. Another difference is the frequent occurrence in the grasslands of fires that destroy large amounts of aboveground material but stimulate even greater contributions from roots. Also, the much greater acidity under any forests inhibits the action of certain soil organisms that otherwise would mix much of the surface litter into the mineral soil. As a result, the soils under grasslands generally develop a thicker A horizon with a deeper distribution of organic matter than in comparable soils under forests, which characteristically store most of their organic matter in the forest floor (O horizon) and thin A horizon. and the situation: Kim and Jane inherited some land. Kim inherited some grassland, while Jane inherited a forest. They both took good care of their properties. Answer the following question: Which person inherited a parcel where leaves are the principal source of soil organic matter????
output answer: Jane

Given the background: Vapor pressure is a measure of the pressure exerted by a gas above a liquid in a sealed container. While viscosity and surface tension increase as the strength of intermolecular forces increase, vapor pressure decreases . This is because the stronger the intermolecular forces are, the harder it is for liquid molecules to escape into the gas phase. Vapor pressure a measure of how much of a substance is in the gas phase when that substance is at equilibrium; that is, the number of molecules in the gas and liquid phases are not changing. The more molecules that are able to escape into the gas phase, the higher the vapor pressure. Vapor pressure is also proportional to temperature. As temperature increases, vapor pressure also increases. and the situation: Jacob is performing a chemistry experiment using two different liquids. Before starting the experiment, Jacob is told that liquid A molecules have strong intermolecular forces, while liquid B molecules have weak intermolecular forces. Jacob now has to decide how to use this information to guide him as he develops the experimental procedures for these two liquids. Answer the following question: Which liquid will have higher vapor pressure?
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Answer: liquid B

Q: Given the background: No doubt you already have a good idea of what temperature is. You might say that it's how warm or cool something feels. In physics, temperature is defined as the average kinetic energy of the particles of matter. When particles of matter move more quickly, they have more kinetic energy, so their temperature is higher. With a higher temperature, matter feels warmer. When particles move more slowly, they have less kinetic energy on average, so their temperature is lower. With a lower temperature, matter feels cooler. and the situation: Matt is reheating some leftover pizza in the microwave for his stepchildren, Lauren and Emily. Lauren likes her pizza at a high temperature when reheated so Matt cooks it for a long time. Emily likes her pizza at a lower temperature so Matt only puts hers in the microwave for a couple seconds. Answer the following question: Are the particles in Lauren's pizza moving faster or slower than in Emily's pizza?
A: faster

[Q]: Given the background: Carbon monoxide is used in modified atmosphere packaging systems in the US, mainly with fresh meat products such as beef, pork, and fish to keep them looking fresh. The carbon monoxide combines with myoglobin to form carboxymyoglobin, a bright-cherry-red pigment. Carboxymyoglobin is more stable than the oxygenated form of myoglobin, oxymyoglobin, which can become oxidized to the brown pigment metmyoglobin. This stable red color can persist much longer than in normally packaged meat. Typical levels of carbon monoxide used in the facilities that use this process are between 0.4% to 0.5%. and the situation: Mike went to his local grocery store. He noticed that meats had two different packaging, product A and product B. When he looked closely, he found that in product A packaging carbon monoxide was used, but in product B carbon monoxide was not used. He asked the store clerk what difference it made. Answer the following question: Would product A more likely or less likely look fresher than product B?
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[A]:
more likely