Can the work done by a frictional force be positive or negative?

$A$ heavy ball of mass $M$ is suspended from the ceiling of a car by a light string of mass $m$ $(m \ll M)$. When the car is at rest,the speed of transverse waves in the string is $60 \, ms^{-1}$. When the car has acceleration $a$,the wave-speed increases to $60.5 \, ms^{-1}$. The value of $a$,in terms of gravitational acceleration $g$,is closest to:

Two carts of masses $200 \, kg$ and $300 \, kg$ on horizontal rails are pushed apart. Suppose the coefficient of friction between the carts and the rails is the same. If the $200 \, kg$ cart travels a distance of $36 \, m$ and stops,then the distance travelled by the cart weighing $300 \, kg$ is ........ $m$.

$Assertion$: On a rainy day,it is difficult to drive a car or bus at high speed.
$Reason$: The value of the coefficient of friction is lowered due to the wetting of the surface.

Two blocks of mass $2 \ kg$ and $1 \ kg$ are connected by an ideal spring on a rough surface. The spring is unstretched. The spring constant is $8 \ N/m$. The coefficient of friction is $\mu = 0.8$. Now,the $2 \ kg$ block is imparted a velocity $u$ towards the $1 \ kg$ block. Find the maximum value of velocity $u$ of the $2 \ kg$ block such that the $1 \ kg$ block never moves.

Imagine a situation in which the horizontal surface of block $M_0$ is smooth and its vertical surface is rough with a coefficient of friction $\mu$. In the above problem,choose the correct value$(s)$ of $F$ for which the blocks $M$ and $m$ remain stationary with respect to $M_0$.