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 book I would like to talk about is The Merchant of Venice. The book is a dramatic work by Shakespear, an English famous writer in the 16th century. It talks about something happening between merchants in Venice. The main characters are Bassanio, Portia, Shylock and Antonio.

    The drama begins with Antonio, who helps Bassanio borrow money from Shylock, and then brings out other stories. Bassanio is a poor merchant. He needs money to follow his dream to marry Portia—a very beautiful and rich lady. He first wants to borrow money from his friend Antonio, also a merchant in Venice. Antonio borrows the money from a Jewish rich merchant Shylock. Antonio does much harm to Shylock before because Antonio really hates Jewish. Shylock is a little mean and loves money very much. He always gets interest from the people who borrow money from him. Antonio promises he will pay the money back in three months, or Shylock will be allowed to cut out 1 pound of flesh out of Antonio's body.

    Bassanio successfully wins the love of Portia but soon realizes his friend can not pay the money back to Shylock on time. Bassanio returns to Venice as fast as he can and attends a trial(审讯).The reason why Antonio isn't able to pay is because his ships are caught in storm. Portia, dressing up as a young lawyer, claims (声称) that the words " 1 pound of flesh" not "1 pound of flesh and blood". She says that Shylock is only allowed to remove flesh, but not any blood, which is impossible. Thus, she helps make Antonio safe and make Shylock fail. At the same time, Shylock loses most of his money. At the end,          .

    I stood in the doorway, watching my older brother carefully putting clothes into his bag. I coughed uneasily. Finally 1 that I was there, Rocky turned towards me with a sad smile.

    "I'm leaving tomorrow," he said.

    "I know." My 2 was almost a whisper (低声). I was 3 with myself for being so weak, but I wasn't about to cry.

    "My flight is early, but there is still enough time to the airport," he said. Seeing the 4 look on my face, he quickly added, "I promise I won't leave without saying goodbye."

    I tried to say 5, but I didn't. It's always 6 to keep quiet if you're about to cry. "You promised you wouldn't cry," he said to me, thinking that I was close to 7.

    I remember the day he taught me how to ride a bike. At first I thought he was always right behind me, holding the seat to keep me from 8. I was happy with this, but he knew he couldn't hold me up all my life. He told me that one day he would have to let go.

    His coughing stopped my thinking. What was left to say? How could I say goodbye to the person who taught me everything?

    The next morning I 9, looked at my alarm clock, and realized he had left hours ago. We never even said goodbye.

    Goodbye, Rocky! 10 he may have been many miles away, I knew he heard me, even if it was only an answer in his heart.

    A long time ago, there was a beautiful lady, She was beautiful and rich, But she always felt unhappy, She then heard that there was a poor but happy family, She wanted to go and visit them.

    She went and found the small room in a small village. When she was about to knock at the door, she heard someone speaking in the room. A little girl said. "Would you like some pork today?" "No. I would like some chicken." another girl answered.

    "They are not too poor" s, the lady said to herself and knocked at the door. when she went into the small room. She saw two young girls sitting at a table. To her surprise, there were only some pieces of thin and dry bread. two cold potatoes and a large bottle of water on the table. The lady asked them what they talked about. They told her that, they just imagined(想象) the poor food becomes many kinds of delicious(美味的) food.

    One girl said. "When you imagine that is a pancake, the bread will be very tasty." another girl said. "If you think bread as ice cream, it will be more sweet."

    When the woman leaves the family, she had a new understanding(理解) of happiness. she found that happiness didn't come from food. clothes, or house, but from people's heart Where is the happiness in our life? It is in our heart.

A pop singer has to work very hard to become popular. He must give the public what they really want and need, or he must find a new way of singing that will a {#blank#}1{#/blank#} their attention. Even when he has succeeded and his records are sold e{#blank#}2{#/blank#}, he can not rest. Then he must work h {#blank#}3{#/blank#} than ever to remain popular, because there are always younger singers trying to become famous and to steal some of the popularity.

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    Tony{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(watch) a basketball match{#blank#}2{#/blank#}TV last night. It started at eleven forty-five. He didn't go to bed until it{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(finish) When he got up this morning, it{#blank#}4{#/blank#}half past six. He{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(run) to the bus stop{#blank#}6{#/blank#}having breakfast. A lot of people were waiting{#blank#}7{#/blank#}the bus when he got there. Just then a bus came and he went to jump the queue (队). An old woman{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(see) him and stopped him. He said he was afraid{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(be) late for school. The old woman{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(tell) him to take her place and he thanked her.