阅读下列材料，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。

    People often ask why "Uncle Sam" is a nickname (绰号) for the United States of America. The reason is strange but simple.

    Once there was a man called Samuel Wilson. He was born in Arlington, Massachusetts, on 3 September 1766. His nickname was "Uncle Sam". When Sam Wilson was 14 years old, he joined the army and fought in some battles (战役). At the end of the war (战争) he went to live in the state of New York. He opened a meat-packing business (生意) there.

Sam Wilson worked hard and loved his country. People in the city liked him. One day in 1812, a reporter from a newspaper visited his business. The reporter looked at some boxes of meat. He saw the letters "EA-US" on the sides of the boxes.

    "What do those letters mean?" he asked one of the workers.

    "The ‘EA' stands for (代表) ‘Edward Anderson'," the workman replied. "The boxes of meat are for him."

    "What about the letters ‘US'?" the reporter asked.

    These letters really stood for "United States", but the workman wanted to have a laugh. "Oh," he said. "They stand for Sam Wilson. He has this company(公司). We call him ‘Uncle Sam'."

    The worker did not think that the reporter would believe him. But the reporter wrote a story about his visit to Sam Wilson's business. He wrote that his workers called him "Uncle Sam" and that "Uncle Sam" meant the United States.

Many people liked using the name "Uncle Sam" as a nickname for the United States and soon they were all using it. In 1961, almost 150 years later, the United States government(政府) made the nickname "Uncle Sam" official (官方的).

The Monkey King

    The Monkey King was born from a stone. He wanted to live forever. He was really intelligent and knew what to do. ⑶他能够把他自己变成72种不同的东西, like a tree, a bird or an insect(昆虫). While he was changing himself, people just watched and couldn't believe it. He used the clouds in the sky   ⑷   around! One time he flew 108,000 miles on a cloud.

    The trouble was, the monkey thought he was the king. But he wasn't. The Emperor was. So, the real king decided to give the monkey a title(官职)to keep him quiet. ⑸But the monkey found out that everyone was laughing at him. He was extremely unhappy and decided to fight.  At last, the Emperor asked Buddha(佛) for help.

    The Buddha moved a great mountain to fall on top of him. As the mountain was falling on him, he nearly managed(设法) to get out of the way. He didn't, but he didn't die, either. The trouble was he couldn't move. Five hundred years later ,a monk(和尚) helped the monkey get out from under the mountain. That's when the real story began. You must remember it, don't you? It's a treat story.

    This morning Tom gets up at 6:00. Today his family is going to move(搬家)into a new house.

    Tom and his family are busy putting their things into some boxes. When Tom helps to put some glass cups into a box, he breaks one of them. He hurts(使受伤)his right hand. Mum tries to find some Band-Aids(创可贴) for him. But she forgets where the Band-Aids are. So she has to open the boxes one by one. Dad comes quickly to help them. But he falls over. He hurts his hand, too. At last they find the Band-Aids in one of the boxes. Most of the boxes are open now. The family have to pack(打包)them again。

    There are so many boxes in the house. Dad puts some of them behind the door. Later, some friends come and they help to move all the things onto the truck.

    In the new house, Dad starts to count the boxes. One, two, three, four…There are only twenty boxes.

    Where is the last box? Is it behind the door of their old house? They don't know.

    My father died when I was five. It was hard on us all. My brother, who is eight years older than me, began to take care of my mother and me.

    He took on more responsibilities than expected. I remember he made sure the rubbish was taken out, and the yard was cleaned. He did on his own, without being told to do so.

    Because of my father's death, mom had to get a full time job. Brother would get me up for school and make me breakfast. While I was eating, he would lay out my clothes, make my bed, and gather my school books up.

    Hand in hand we would walk to the bus stop. As we waited, he would play games my father used to play with me. When we returned from school, we were alone for about half an hour, until mom was home from work. Before I did my homework, he would sit me down with three cookies and a glass of milk. Then he would prepare something for mom to cook dinner.

    Mom would greet us with a hug and kiss. This was our time to have some fun outside. This was my brother's time to be a kid.

    One Saturday in June several years later, my mother and I were at a store where the Father's Day cards were sold. I stared at the cards. Mom said," Cindy, I know this is hard time for you."

   "No, mom. That's not it. Why don't they have Brother's Day cards?"

    She smiled," You're right, your brother has exactly been a father to you. Go ahead to choose a card."

    I did so, and on Father's Day, my mother and I sat my brother down and gave him the card.

    As he read it, I saw the tears in his eyes. Mom said," Son, your father is proud of you, seeing that he raised a good man, and that you do your best to fill his shoes. We love you and thank you."

    Zheng He was an amazing man. He was born in 1371. Eleven years later, he was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di became the emperor of China and he asked Zheng He to join his government.

    The emperor wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships have even reached South America and Australia.

    Each trip lasted between two and four years and it is believed that he sailed more than 50,000 kilometres during the years of his travels. Zheng He led a fleet with about 28,000 men and over 300 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers' horses.

    On these trips he brought with him many Chinese goods like silk and medicine to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats which were filled with expensive things such as gold and treasure, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

    It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He's travels. The Columbus of the East, Zheng He, died in 1433. After that, the new emperor had these trips stopped and he burned almost all the books about Zheng He's travels, because he believed the trips were unlucky and too expensive. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures of great Zheng He.