Astrid was elated at how well she was doing in this class. She drank her tea carefully as the Professor has instructed, making sure to leave only about a teaspoon sized serving in her cup. Then she thought for a moment about the question at hand. She remembered reading about an old fortune-teller set on divining what the talking tea-leaves had to say. She raised her hand and repeated what she had read,

"If the pattern of tea-leaves was evenly dispersed, this was a good omen. But if the bottom of the cup was dense with leaves, this boded ill. A heart-shaped pattern depicted happiness. And two hearts meant romance and marriage were in store."