Now that we are fairly sure that there are many Earth-like planets in the Galaxy, the time is ripe (or almost so) to wonder whet

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问题     Now that we are fairly sure that there are many Earth-like planets in the Galaxy, the time is ripe (or almost so) to wonder whether these new worlds do indeed have a high probability of hosting new forms of life.
    Currently, the best【C1】________on the existence of other planets comes from NASA’s【C2】________Kepler satellite, which has been mapping an area of the sky【C3】________some 150,000 stars.
    Scientists estimate that around 5 percent of planets in our galaxy have masses similar【C4】________Earth’s and, possibly, are within the habitable zone of their stars, meaning that【C5】________they hold water it has a high chance of being liquid.【C6】________there are about 200 billion stars in our galaxy alone, scientists estimate that there should be about 10 billion Earth-size planets. Not bad, especially if we【C7】________that to be Earth-size and within a habitable zone is all it takes for life to take hold in an【C8】________world. In practice, however, the situation is much more【C9】________ since it depends on what life is and how it appears in a planet,【C10】________on the planet’s detailed geological history.
    Here on Earth life appeared some 3.5 billion years ago.【C11】________that it may have been here as far【C12】________ as 3.8 billion years ago remain tentative. For about the first three billion years, life on earth was【C13】________in the form of single-cell creatures. Only when Earth’s atmosphere was full of oxygen did more sophisticated organisms appear.
    【C14】________its unusual atmosphere, Earth’s heavy, single moon, its magnetic field also did something else that allowed complex life to【C15】________on its surface.【C16】________ these, Complex life would find it very hard to【C17】________ and survive.
    The results from Kepler’s mission are encouraging and exciting. We have the【C18】________of confirming the existence of countless other worlds out there. Based on these findings, we should indeed【C19】________that other worlds would host some kind of simple life. However, as some scientists argued, Earth and its ability to host complex life will probably remain a【C20】________phenomenon in this and other galaxies.
【C14】

选项 A、In spite of
B、Other than
C、Apart from
D、Due to

答案C

解析 本句提到复杂生命体(complex life)在地球上赖以生存的因素:非同寻常的大气层、地球自身的重量、单月卫星以及磁场。根据常理,缺少其中的任何一个因素,都不能保证生命的存活。C项Apart from“除……之外”,表示不仅仅是大气层。A项In spite of“尽管”表示的是转折,上下文没转折的语义。B项Other than虽然意为“除了”,但它通常表示否定,即要排除它后面接的事物。D项Due to常用来表示原因,但非同寻常的大气层并非其后内容的原因。
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