A newly discovered planet looks just right for life as we know it, according to an international group of astronomers. Orbiting a star about 500 light-years away, the planet called Kepler-186f is about the same size as Earth. It orbits its star at the right distance for liquid water on the surface. That is a necessary condition for life as we know it.               But it is not exactly like Earth, NASA planetary scientist Elisa Quintana said. "It's more of an Earth's cousin. It's not an Earth's twin. It shares the same characteristics as Earth, but their parent stars are very different," said Quintana.               Kepler-186f orbits a star that is smaller and cooler than our sun. But, writing in the journal Science, the astronomers say the planet appears to be a closer   than most of the hundreds of others discovered so far. Some are massive gas-covered giants with thick, crushing atmospheres. Others orbit too close to their stars and are too hot for life.               Two planets discovered last year are in the right orbit and might be good candidates for life, Quintana says, but they are a bit bigger than Earth. "For the first time, we can actually say we now have a planet that is both Earth-sized and orbits in its star's habitable zone," she said.               It may be the first time, but it probably is not the last, says Massachusetts Institute of Technology astrophysicist Sara Seager. "We've been waiting decades to understand how common habitable planets might be, and it's looking like they're really common. And this gives us excitement and motivation to take the next step," said Seager.               The next step would be to look for signs of life in the atmospheres of these distant worlds. That would take a more sophisticated (;) space telescope. But budget cuts threaten that mission, says University of California at Los Angeles astrophysicist Ben Zuckerman. "In principle, we could do this in the next few decades. But in practice, because there's no money, it's not gonna happen. It's not gonna... According to Elisa Quintana, Kepler-186f   _  . A) is more of an Earth's cousin than an Earth's twin B) has a lot in common with Earth, including their parent stars C) is a lot bigger than Earth D) is smaller and cooler than our sun
A

Brownie and Spotty were neighbor dogs who met every day to play together. Like pairs of dogs you can find in any neighborhood, these two loved each other and played together so often that they had worn a path through the grass of the field between their houses. One evening, Brownie's family noticed that Brownie hadn't returned home. They went looking for him with no success. Brownie didn't show up the next day, and, although they made their efforts to find him, by the next week he was still missing, Curiously, Spotty showed up at Brownie's house alone, barking and jumping. Busy with their own lives, they paid no attention to the nervous little neighbor dog. Finally, one morning Spotty refused to take "no" for an answer. Ted, Brownie's owner, was continuously disturbed by the angry, determined little dog. Spotty followed Ted about, barking all the time, then rushing toward a nearby empty lot and back, as if to say, "Follow me! It's urgent!" Eventually, Ted followed Spotty across the empty lot as Spotty stopped to race back and barked encouragingly. The little dog led the man to a deserted spot a half mile from the house. There Ted found his beloved Brownie alive, one of his legs crushed in a steel trap  . Frightened, Ted now wished he had taken Spotty's earlier appeals seriously. Then Ted noticed something. Spotty had done something else besides leading Brownie's human owner to his trapped friend. In a circle around the injured dog, Ted found some food remains of every meal. Brownie had been fed that week! Spotty had been visiting Brownie regularly, in the hope of keeping his friend alive. Spotty had actually stayed with Brownie to protect him from hunger and other dangers, and keep his spirits up. Brownie's leg was carefully treated and he soon got well again. For many years thereafter the two families watched the faithful friends chasing each other down that well-worn path between their houses. The BEST title for this passage might be  _  ? A) Dogs in Love B) A Friend in Need C) Human and dogs D) Dogs Are Communicative
B

Teenagers who drink alcohol are at higher risk of becoming victims of violence, a Cardiff University study has found. A team from the School of Dentistry's Violence Research Group studied drinking habits in children aged 11 - 16 in England. They found not only a link between drink and violence but also that children who drank were more likely to be hit, even if they weren't violent themselves. The researchers are now calling for measures to prevent alcohol misuse to reduce injury risk. Current policy focuses on reducing aggression but this research shows that there should be equal effort to reduce victimization. More than 4,000 children were surveyed at 13 schools at four local authorities in the North, the Midlands, London, and the South. The study found that 25% of 11-year-olds were drinking monthly and 3.6% daily, with 12.8% admitting to getting drunk 3 to 5 times a year. By the age of 16, 40% were drinking weekly and 6.2% were drinking every day. The research also showed 22.6% of 16-year-olds were getting drunk more than 21 times a year. The study, which has just been published in the Journal of Adolescence, found a strong link between frequency of drinking and frequency of hitting other people. However, children who reported drinking monthly were also three times more likely to be hit. Adolescents  who drank but didn't get into fights were more likely to be hit than those who did fight. Professor Jonathan Shepherd, who led the research, said a lot of previous alcohol-related violence work had focused on the offenders  rather than the victims. His team is calling for more prevention work from parents and teachers in the first two years of secondary school by taking advantage of the "teachable moment", that is, immediately after a student has missed school because of drunkenness. Previous work by Professor Jonathan Shepherd has shown drinkers may be more at risk of violence because of reduced physical co-ordination, poor decision-making in threatening situations and isolation while out late at night. He... The main idea of the passage is that teenagers who drink alcohol   _  . A) often offend other people B) often become injured C) are more likely to fight with others D) are more likely to become victims of violence

D