Problem: Please answer correctly the following question related to the paragraph below. Which planet has an atmosphere that is more toxic to humans, Venus or Earth? Some students studied Earth's atmosphere in class. They also started studying Venus' atmosphere. They were fascinated by the subject and learned a lot. Hint: Clouds on Earth are made of water vapor. Venus's clouds are a lot less pleasant. They are made of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and large amounts of corrosive sulfuric acid! The atmosphere of Venus is so thick that the pressure on the surface of Venus is very high. In fact, it is 90 times greater than the pressure at Earth's surface! The thick atmosphere causes a strong greenhouse effect. As a result, Venus is the hottest planet. Even though it is farther from the Sun, Venus is much hotter even than Mercury. Temperatures at the surface reach 465C (860F). That's hot enough to melt lead!

A: Venus

Problem: Please answer correctly the following question related to the paragraph below. Which farmer used a an insecticidal spray produced from bacterial? Two farmers tried different methods of growing their crops. Nate used pesticides, while his buddy Don used bacterium that produces a toxin instead. Don was happy with the results. Hint: There is growing concern regarding the use of pesticides in agriculture. Therefore, many of the current commercial applications of modern biotechnology in agriculture are focused on reducing the dependence of farmers on these chemicals. For example, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a soil bacterium that produces a protein that can act as an insecticide, known as the Bt toxin . But it is a naturally occurring protein, not a foreign chemical. Could this protein be used in crops instead of pesticides? Traditionally, an insecticidal spray has been produced from these bacteria. As a spray, the Bt toxin is in an inactive state and requires digestion by an insect to become active and have any effect. Crop plants have now been engineered to contain and express the genes for the Bt toxin, which they produce in its active form. When an insect ingests the transgenic crop, it stops feeding and soon thereafter dies as a result of the Bt toxin binding to its gut wall. Bt corn is now commercially available in a number of countries to control corn borer (an insect like a moth or butterfly), which is otherwise controlled by insecticidal spraying.

A: Don

Problem: Please answer correctly the following question related to the paragraph below. Which island had more birds with bigger beaks that were better off? Two bird islands experienced different levels of rainfall. West island experienced a lengthy drought that lasted several years. Many birds were affected by this drought. East island had several normal years as far as rainfall was concerned. Hint: A period of very low rainfall occurred while the Grants were on the islands. The drought resulted in fewer seeds for the finches to eat. Birds with smaller beaks could eat only the smaller seeds. Birds with bigger beaks were better off. They could eat seeds of all sizes. Therefore, there was more food available to them. Many of the small-beaked birds died in the drought. More of the big-beaked birds survived and reproduced. Within just a couple of years, the average beak size in the finches increased. This was clearly evolution by natural selection.

A: West

Problem: Please answer correctly the following question related to the paragraph below. Would species B be less or more in number than species A? David wants to revisit the theory of evolution proposed by Darwin and Wallace. He is particularly interested in two species of deer, species A and species B. Species A has some helpful traits, but species B has some harmful traits. He is planning to write a paper on why some species are greater in number while others are smaller in number. Hint: The theory of evolution by natural selection was proposed at about the same time by both Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, shown in Figure below , and was set out in detail in Darwin's 1859 book On the Origin of Species . Natural selection is a process that causes heritable traits that are helpful for survival and reproduction to become more common, and harmful traits, or traits that are not helpful or advantageous for survival to become more rare in a population of organisms. This occurs because organisms with advantageous traits are more "fit" to survive in a particular environment and have "adapted" to the conditions of that environment. These individuals will have greater reproductive success than organisms less fit for survival in the environment. This will lead to an increase in the number of organisms with the advantageous trait(s) over time. Over many generations, adaptations occur through a combination of successive, small, random changes in traits, and natural selection of those variants best-suited for their environment. Natural selection is one of the cornerstones of modern biology.

A:
less