I read this background article the other day: 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. I am facing a new situation today: Croatia and Italy were two countries of similar size and population located on opposite shores of the same sea. Croatia based its economy on tourism and fishing, while Italy based its economy on conventional agriculture. Both countries had thriving economies, but they both polluted the sea in different ways. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which country used more fertilizer chemicals?
Ans: Italy

I read this background article the other day: Gasoline-powered vehicles emit a lot of harmful materials. Nitrogen oxides are formed when atmospheric nitrogen reacts with oxygen at the high temperatures found in a car engine. Carbon monoxide is a by-product of incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. Evaporated and unused fuel releases volatile hydrocarbons into the atmosphere to help form smog. The presence of a catalytic converter in the exhaust system of the car causes these materials to react and be changed into less harmful products. I am facing a new situation today: Berg city used only gas powered vehicles while Hill city used electrical vehicles. The two cities had a similar population and vehicle numbers. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which city had fewer problems with carbon monoxide?
Ans: Hill

I read this background article the other day: The increase in electrons across the periodic table explains why elements go from metals to metalloids and then to nonmetals from left to right across the table. Look at period 2 in Figure below as an example. Lithium (Li) is a metal, boron (B) a metalloid, and fluorine (F) and neon (Ne) are nonmetals. The inner energy level is full for all four elements. This level has just one orbital and can hold a maximum of two electrons. The outer energy level is a different story. This level has four orbitals and can hold a maximum of eight electrons. Lithium has just one electron in this level, boron has three, fluorine has seven, and neon has eight. I am facing a new situation today: James is memorizing the periodic table and some of the features of the elements on it. He is currently working on the fourth row which starts with Potassium (K) on the far left and ends with Krypton (Kr) to the far right. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Given two elements are in the same row of the periodic table, which element will have a higher number of elections, a metal or a nonmetal?
Ans: nonmetal

I read this background article the other day: In Windows 2000 and later the threads in the System Idle Process are also used to implement CPU power saving. The exact power saving scheme depends on the operating system version and on the hardware and firmware capabilities of the system in question. For instance, on x86 processors under Windows 2000, the idle thread will run a loop of halt instructions, which causes the CPU to turn off many internal components until an interrupt request arrives. Later versions of Windows implement more complex CPU power saving methods. On these systems the idle thread will call routines in the Hardware Abstraction Layer to reduce CPU clock speed or to implement other power-saving mechanisms. I am facing a new situation today: John spends most of his time on computers. While at work his work computer does not need modern capabilities. So, he still uses Windows 2000 at his office computer. At home it's a complete different ball game. He plays so much computer games at home that he needs a better computer. In his home computer he installed the latest version of Windows. Now, there is no lag in his system. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: In John's office computer the idle thread will run or will not run a loop of halt instructios?
Ans: will run