Background: The benefits provided by no-tillage to predators may lead to larger predator populations, which is a good way to control pests (biological control), but also can facilitate predation of the crop itself. In corn crops, for instance, predation by caterpillars can be higher in no-till than in conventional tillage fields.In places with rigorous winter, untilled soil can take longer to warm and dry in spring, which may delay planting to less ideal dates. Another factor to be considered is that organic residue from the prior year's crops lying on the surface of untilled fields can provide a favorable environment to pathogens, helping to increase the risk of transmitting diseases to the future crop. And because no-till farming provides good environment for pathogens, insects and weeds, it can lead farmers to a more intensive use of chemicals for pest control. Other disadvantages of no-till include underground rot, low soil temperatures and high moisture.Based on the balance of these factors, and because each farm has different problems, agroecologists will not attest that only no-till or complete tillage is the right way of farming. Yet, these are not the only possible choices regarding soil preparation, since there are intermediate practices such as strip-till, mulch-till and ridge-till, all of them just as no-till categorized as conservation tillage. Agroecologists, then, will evaluate the need of different practices for the contexts in which each farm is inserted. Paragraph: Barb and Jill practiced small scale farming. Jill farmed the conventional way, while barb used the no-tillage method. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which farmer had soil that took longer to dry in spring?
Ans: Barb

Background: Wildfires occur when all the necessary elements of a fire triangle come together in a susceptible area: an ignition source is brought into contact with a combustible material such as vegetation, that is subjected to enough heat and has an adequate supply of oxygen from the ambient air. A high moisture content usually prevents ignition and slows propagation, because higher temperatures are needed to evaporate any water in the material and heat the material to its fire point. Dense forests usually provide more shade, resulting in lower ambient temperatures and greater humidity, and are therefore less susceptible to wildfires. Less dense material such as grasses and leaves are easier to ignite because they contain less water than denser material such as branches and trunks. Plants continuously lose water by evapotranspiration, but water loss is usually balanced by water absorbed from the soil, humidity, or rain. When this balance is not maintained, plants dry out and are therefore more flammable, often a consequence of droughts.A wildfire front is the portion sustaining continuous flaming combustion, where unburned material meets active flames, or the smoldering transition between unburned and burned material. As the front approaches, the fire heats both the surrounding air and woody material through convection and thermal radiation. First, wood is dried as water is vaporized at a temperature of 100 C (212 F). Next, the pyrolysis of wood at 230 C (450 F) releases flammable gases. Finally, wood can smoulder at 380 C (720 F) or, when heated sufficiently, ignite at 590 C (1,000 F). Even before the flames of a wildfire arrive at a particular location, heat transfer from the wildfire front warms the air to 800 C (1,470 F), which pre-heats and dries flammable materials, causing materials to ignite faster and allowing the fire to spread faster. High-temperature and long-duration surface wildfires may encourage flashover or torching: the drying of tree canopies and their subsequent ignition from... Paragraph: David is an environmental scientist. He needed to find causes of wildfires and suggest preventive measures. First, he visited a dense forest. He marked it as location A. Then he visited a grassland, which he marked as location B. After that, he visited a location where he did not find any sign of drought. He marked it as time A. He then visited the same location a year later, and found that the place was facing a severe drought. He marked it as time B. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which place would have higher ambient temperature, locaion A or location B?
Ans: location B

Background: So much rain falling so fast causes some of the damage from a hurricane. But a lot of the damage is caused by storm surge. Storm surge is very high water located in the low pressure eye of the hurricane. The very low pressure of the eye allows the water level to rise above normal sea level. Storm surge can cause flooding when it reaches land ( Figure below ). High winds do a great deal of damage in hurricanes. High winds can also create very big waves. If the large waves are atop a storm surge, the high water can flood the shore. If the storm happens to occur at high tide, the water will rise even higher. Paragraph: Two cities were located 50 miles away from each other. They received a hurricane warning. Twin city got hit by the Hurricane, while Big city missed most of the effects. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which city experienced smaller waves?
Ans: Big

Background: A red giant star is a star with a mass like the Sun that is in the last phase of its life, when Hydrogen fusion reactions in the core decrease due to the lack of fuel. With the gravitational collapse of the core, the fusion reactions now occur in a shell surrounding the core. The outer layer of the star expands enormously up to 1000 times the size of the Sun. When the Sun becomes a red giant, its volume will include the orbit of Mercury and Venus and maybe even Earth. The increased size increases the luminosity even though the outer layer cools to only 3000 K or so. The cooler outer layer causes it to be a red star. After a few more million years, the star evolves into a white dwarf-planetary nebula system. Paragraph: Two stars have just been discovered that are identical in terms of chemical composition. The scientist who discovered them was given the right to name them, and he chose the names Enterprise and Vader. As said before, these stars are very similar, but the main difference is that Vader is a red giant, and Enterprise is not. Scientists are very eager to study these two newly discovered stars and see if they can learn anything new from them. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Does Enterprise have more or less fusion reactions in the shell around its core than Vader does?
Ans: less