Two men come to the inn. What do Lyddie and Triphena overhear them talking about?

The answer to your question can be found in chapter four of Lyddie.  Lyddie is struggling with the workload being piled upon her at the inn, but her hard work and determination have earned her the respect of Triphena.  Triphena tells Lyddie the story of a frog that fell into a pail of milk and kicked and kicked so much that it churned some of the milk into butter and climbed on top to avoid drowning.  Lyddie is a "kicker" according to Triphena.  

Toward the end of the chapter, Lyddie is continuing her hard work around the customers, and she overhears a pair of men talking about slavery and slaves.  She hears them mention that there is money to make in the finding and returning of runaway slaves.  The conversation foreshadows Lyddie's coming encounter with Ezekial Abernathy, a runaway slave.  

In the final paragraph in "Salvation" by Langston Hughes, Hughes is now a different person than he was before the events in the story happened....

Firstly, one should ask what Hughes perspective was before his so-called salvation and how this had changed. We learn that before the revival service he was, as he calls it, 'a sinner' and that his aunt had convinced him that he needed redemption. The service would change all that because

... when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life! And God was with you from then on! She said you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul.

Throughout the service, the twelve-year-old Langston waited for something to happen to him. Nothing happened, whilst all around him, other youngsters went forward to the pulpit to be saved. Langston sat, as he said, 'waiting to see Jesus.' He was convinced that he would actually see Christ and could not understand the metaphoric sense of what his aunt had said. 

Only he and another boy (Westley) had resisted the urgings of the congregants. Eventually, his temporary companion went up to be saved and he was alone on the mourner's bench.

'I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting - but he didn't come. I wanted to see him, but nothing happened to me. Nothing! I wanted something to happen to me, but nothing happened'. 

He later felt pressurised since it was getting late and the preacher had personally urged him. His aunt was also literally begging him to go forward. What finally made up his mind was the following observation:

I began to wonder what God thought about Westley, who certainly hadn't seen Jesus either, but who was now sitting proudly on the platform, swinging his knickerbockered legs and grinning down at me, surrounded by deacons and old women on their knees praying. God had not struck Westley dead for taking his name in vain or for lying in the temple.

Langston then decided to save further trouble and to lie as Westley did. He went forward to be saved, much to the jubilation of the churchgoers. 

In bed, that evening, he was overcome by an unstoppable grief. He cried copiously and could not stop himself. Langston was experiencing overwhelming remorse. His aunt believed that he was crying because the spirit of God had entered him. He, however, knew differently: 

But I was really crying because I couldn't bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, that I hadn't seen Jesus, and that now I didn't believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn't come to help me. 

Hughes was overwhelmed by the realisation firstly, that he was a greater sinner than before since he had lied in the church. He had been dishonest to his aunt, the preacher and the congregation. Secondly, he believed that he would see Christ. When that did not happen, he lost his faith, for Jesus did not come to save him from lying. The thought that the Saviour was not there to help him from committing sin was devastating. Previously, at least, even though he was a sinner, he had faith, but now he has also lost that.

How is the Berlin Conference from 1884 still causing problems in Africa today? And there anything that can be done in present day to remedy the...

You can argue that the Berlin Conference is still causing problems in Africa because that conference split the continent up into countries without any rhyme or reason and because it gave those countries to various European powers to rule for their own benefit, and not for the benefit of the natives.

Countries seem to work best when their people have something to hold them together.  This is often a shared language, ethnicity, and/or history.  The African countries that were created by the Berlin Conference lacked these things at the time and they generally lack them today.  Instead of being made up of people with something in common, they were made up on the whims of Europeans.  This means that today’s African countries are full of various ethnic groups who do not necessarily get along with one another.  The more horrific evidence of the problems this causes was the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s, which was caused by ethnic tensions.  While this was the worst problem caused by the drawing of boundaries at the Berlin Conference, there have been many others.  The tensions between the various ethnic groups within countries makes it so that those countries are not united and it often makes their governments as each ethnic group seeks power simply to improve its own lot, not to help the country as a whole.

In addition to creating these ill-conceived countries, the Berlin Conference gave those countries to Europeans to run.  The Europeans ran the countries entirely for their own good, not that of the natives.  This means that they created economies that extracted resources from Africa to help Europe.  It means that they trained Africans only to do relatively menial work.  It means that they did not give Africans any role in governing themselves.  When the Europeans were forced to leave Africa in the wave of decolonization in the 1960s, they left behind countries with poorly developed economies and with populaces that were not trained or prepared to run modern economies or governments.  These problems persist today.  Thus, the Berlin Conference created tremendous problems that continue to make it difficult for African countries to prosper today. 

In what ways does Jane Austen present Elizabeth's feelings towards Darcy in Pride and Prejudice?

In Pride and Prejudice, author Jane Austen uses her characterization of Elizabeth Bennet to depict Elizabeth's initial sentiments towards Darcy as well as the progress of her feelings.

Elizabeth is extremely frank in expressing her disapproval of Darcey, a frankness that Darcy actually finds very attractive since her frankness is so very different from the way other women behave. Besides being frank, Elizabeth is characterized as being a very playful person who has no qualms about laughing either at herself or at others. Her frankness in combination with her playfulness is first observed when she is insulted by Darcy, who openly refused to ask her dance at the Meryton assembly. Other women might feel deeply mortified by such an insult, but Elizabeth laughed it off and openly ridiculed Darcy's character, as we see in Austen's following description:

She told the story, however, with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous. (Ch. 3)

Other instances of frankness are seen when, while staying at Netherfield during Jane's illness, she openly accuses him of trying to insult her by asking if she felt like "dancing a reel," openly asserts his excessive pride is a fault, and in her very direct response to his proposal later at Rosings.

Austen even uses verbal irony to paint Elizabeth's initial negative feelings towards Darcy. For example, when Sir William pushes Darcy to ask Elizabeth to dance at Lucas Lodge in Chapter 6, Elizabeth sarcastically replies, "Mr. Darcy is all politeness." Since we already know that Elizabeth has judged Darcy to be the exact opposite of polite, we know Elizabeth means the exact opposite of what she is saying, making it a perfect example of verbal irony.

As the novel progresses and her feelings for Darcy change, she is also very frank about her change in feelings, as seen in her forthright display of gratitude towards what Darcy did to save Lydia and the Bennet family and in her direct statement that her feelings had changed a lot since Rosings.

What equipment would I need to investigate and compare the quantitative effects of changing 1.) the duration of light physical exercise, and 2.)...

As far as equipment is concerned, you would only need a watch. You can use your fingers to take a person's pulse rate. There are devices which will measure pulse rate, but they can be expensive and your fingers will suffice. 

To calculate pulse rate, find the person's heartbeat on the inside of the wrist with your fingertips. Keeping your eye on your watch, count the beats for fifteen seconds, then multiply the number of beats by four. This will give you pulse rate in beats per minute (BPM). 

Chose several durations of light exercise. For example, you could ask your subject to jog in place for 5, 10 or 15 minutes. Before he/she begins, find their BPM at rest. As soon as the subject finishes the exercise period, find their BPM again. Continue to do so at regular intervals (for example, every two minutes) until their heart rate returns to the resting rate.

To examine the quantitative effects, it might be interesting to plot your results on one graph. You should have BPM on the y-axis and time on the x-axis. Graph your results such that t=0 is equal to the end of the exercise period. You should have three curves on the graph. 

Some interesting characteristics to compare between the three curves will be maximum BPM and time to return to normal BPM.

When was 'The Lovely Bones' filmed? And how long did it take for the director to film the whole movie?

The film, The Lovely Bones, was directed by Peter Jackson and adapted from the 2002 novel written by Alice Sebold. The film began shooting in 2007 and was released in 2009, which means the director filmed the whole movie during the two year period. The Lovely Bones was primarily shot in New Zealand and Pennsylvania. The main stars were Mark Wahlberg, Susan Sarandon, and Rachel Weisz. Much of the film's action takes place outside, in the woods. The plot centers around the murder of 14 year old Susie and her parents' quest to find her killer. There are supernatural elements in the film as Susie is in an in-between place, not heaven and not the living world, but she can see what is happening with her loved ones. This film won many awards including a Golden Globe.

What are the themes of Swerve by Phillip Gwynne?

In Swerve by Phillip Gwynne, the main character, Hugh Twycross, makes a significant journey in the form of a road trip with his grandfather, Poppy. The two of them share interests, especially for muscle cars. There are several integral themes in this story. One is the importance of family. As Hugh travels with his grandfather, he realizes that his parents support him despite the way he feels they try to control him. As he matures, he will see this as parental love and not oppression. He also realizes that it’s vital to know about your family’s past.

Another theme that is connected to this one is the idea of coming of age. The journey motif is a good way for the reader to see how Hugh grows and changes on the road trip. The risks Hugh takes are necessary for his growth. Another theme is the significance of place. Although Hugh may not realize how strong of an effect the landscape can have on a person, he begins to get an idea on this trip. He is amazed at some of the things he sees out in the world beyond Sydney. These are some of the key themes in Swerve.