I read this background article the other day: Sand mining is a direct cause of erosion, and impacts the local wildlife.[2] Various animals depend on sandy beaches for nesting clutches, and mining has led to the near extinction of gharials (a species of crocodile) in India. Disturbance of underwater and coastal sand causes turbidity in the water, which is harmful for organisms like coral that need sunlight. It can also destroy fisheries, financially harming their operators. Removal of physical coastal barriers, such as dunes, sometimes leads to flooding of beachside communities, and the destruction of picturesque beaches causes tourism to dissipate. Sand mining is regulated by law in many places, but is often done illegally.[3] Globally, it is a $70 billion industry, with sand selling at up to $90 per cubic yard.[4] I am facing a new situation today: Two coastal Canadian towns, Hammond and Soundville decided to start sand mining to bring more money to their budgets. A few months later however, Hammond decided to stop all mining operations and find other sources of income. they wanted to protect the environment. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which village destroyed more picturesque beaches?
Ans: Soundville

I read this background article the other day: For example, if a circuit has a potential difference of 100 volts and it is intended for the circuit to contain a 100 ohm resistance, then the wires carrying the current for this circuit will be designed for 1.0 amp. If that 100 ohm resistance is suddenly cut out of the circuit and only 0.10 ohm resistance remains, then the voltage will push 1000 amps of current through the circuit. This current overheats the wires and may damage the circuits or start a fire in the walls or the appliance. There are many possible causes of a short circuit, one possible cause could be something overheating, melting wires, and thereby fusing the circuit closed, bypassing the resistance. Another cause might be something damaging the insulation of a wire, allowing the incoming and grounds wires to touch. In any case, once the resistance is lost, the voltage pushes a huge amount of charge through the wires causing them to overheat. I am facing a new situation today: Customers bought two types of electrical ovens, type A and type B. They were all happy at first but type B ovens started to short circuit. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which type of oven had more instances of incoming and grounds wires touching?
Ans: type B

I read this background article the other day: 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. I am facing a new situation today: Two ancient continents both had a great bird population on them. At some point in time, the continent of Mu experienced a great drought that lasted for several years. The other continent, Lemuria, was unaffected by the drought. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which continent had more birds with bigger beaks that survived?
Ans: Lemuria

I read this background article the other day: There are many examples in the chemical world of changes in entropy. Phase transitions are one obvious example. When a substance makes a transition from the liquid state to the gaseous state, the particles have many more possible arrangements, because they are no longer confined to a specified volume in which they are close to each other; gas particles can move freely throughout their container. Vaporization represents an increase in entropy. In the opposite direction, a liquid loses entropy when it freezes to a solid. Because solids have very ordered structures, there are fewer possible arrangements of particles that would result in the properties associated with a solid. I am facing a new situation today: Jack is making breakfast and decides he wants a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice with ice. He first pours milk into a bowl and then goes over to the freezer and puts one ice cube into a glass. Before he can finish assembling the rest of his breakfast, he gets an important phone call he has to take. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Does the milk or the ice have higher entropy?
Ans: milk