I read this background article the other day: This individual monetary gain creates an increase in the overall economic productivity of a country. Girls are underrepresented in schooling, meaning that investments aimed specifically at educating women should produce bigger dividends.[9] Although investment in women's education is not present everywhere, David Dollar and Roberta Gatti have presented findings that show that this decision, along with other failures to invest in women are not “an efficient economic choice for developing countries” and that "countries that under-invest grow more slowly.”[3] Looking holistically at the opportunity cost of not investing in girls, the total missed GDP growth is between 1.2% and 1.5%.[10] When looking at different regions, it is estimated that 0.4–0.9% of the difference in GDP growth is accounted for solely by differences in the gender gap in education.[1] The effect of the educational gender gap is more pronounced when a country is only moderately poor.[3] Thus the incentive to invest in women goes up as a country moves out of extreme poverty.[3]  I am facing a new situation today: Ethiopia and Sudan are two neighboring countries where  extreme poverty can be seen. Still Ethiopia has pushed for women's education in the last decade. Sudan has largely failed in investing on women's education. Elsewhere in Africa, the country of Botswana has just overcome extreme poverty, thanks to vast mineral deposits. But they invested on women's education.  Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Would Sudan more likely or more likely not experience between 1.2% and 1.5% total missed GDP?
Ans: more likely

I read this background article the other day: 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.  I am facing a new situation today: 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.  Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which country's shape and size would increase on a map, Equador or Norway?
Ans: Norway

I read this background article the other day: Research has shown an inverse link between income inequality and social cohesion. In more equal societies, people are much more likely to trust each other, measures of social capital (the benefits of goodwill, fellowship, mutual sympathy and social connectedness among groups who make up a social units) suggest greater community involvement, and homicide rates are consistently lower.  I am facing a new situation today: Ron, a sociologist, traveled to two very different societies, society A and society B, for several months each and wrote down his observations. Ron is now examining the data he gathered from the two societies in an attempt to draw scientific conclusions, and write up a paper. In society A, he found that there were high levels of income inequality, while society B had low levels of income inequality.  Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which society will have higher rates of homicide?
Ans: society A

I read this background article the other day: Light may transfer its energy to matter rather than being reflected or transmitted by matter. This is called absorption . When light is absorbed, the added energy increases the temperature of matter. If you get into a car that has been sitting in the sun all day, the seats and other parts of the car’s interior may be almost too hot to touch, especially if they are black or very dark in color. That’s because dark colors absorb most of the sunlight that strikes them.  I am facing a new situation today: It is winter and Johnathan's car won't start, so he needs to walk to work. Even though it's sunny outside he's going to have to bundle up due to the cold temperature. In his closet there is a large black coat and a large white coat. He can't decide which coat to wear.                                                                                                                     Sarah is going to a family picnic in the park and is trying to decide what dress to wear. She knows it is going to be very hot and sunny today and she has narrowed her choices down to two different dresses. One is a dark colored dress and the other is a white dress.  Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Would the white coat absorb more or less sunlight?

Ans: less