阅读下列材料，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项。

    After that, we went on down the river. It was very dark that night and it wasn't easy to see where we were going. Suddenly, a big steamboat came at us very fast, and the next minute it was right over us. Jim and I jumped off the raft (木筏) into the water. The boat hit the raft and went on up the river.

    When I came up out of the water, I couldn't see Jim anywhere. I called out his name again and again, but there was no answer. “He's dead!” I thought. Slowly, I swam to the side of the river and got out. I saw that I was near a big old wooden house. Suddenly a lot of very angry dogs jumped out at me. They made a terrible noise and someone called from the house, “Who's there?”

“George Jackson,” I answered quickly. “I've fallen off a river boat.”

    Well, the people who lived in that house were very kind, and they took me in and gave me some new clothes and a good meal. I told them that my family were all dead, so they said I could stay with them as long as I wanted. It was a beautiful house and the food was good there, so I stayed.

    A few days later one of the slaves in the house came to me and said, “Come with me!” Together, we went down to some trees by the river. “In there!” he said and went away.

    On the ground, I found a man, asleep. It was Jim! I was really pleased to see him. When the steamboat hit the raft, Jim told me, the raft didn't break up. Jim swam after it and caught it. Then he began to look for me.

We decided to leave at once. It's all right living in a house for a little while, but you feel more free and easy and comfortable on a raft.

    A man lived in a village. He had an old cat at home. The cat couldn't run fast and bite，because she was so old. One day, when she saw a mouse, she jumped and caught it. But she could not bite it. The mouse got out of her mouth and ran away.

    Then the man became very angry and began to beat the cat. The cat said, “Don't beat your old servant. I know I'm old and can't kill a mouse. But I have worked for you for many years, and I still want to work for you. Be kind to the old, and remember what good work they did when they were young."

    When the man heard that, he realized that he was wrong.

    My father is tall and has short gray hair. He wears glasses with heavy black frames(框架). Today I find a picture of him in 1986. What a surprise! In the picture, he's 15 years old. He's short and he has glasses with small round frames. He has long black hair and it's really straight. He's wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt with the word “love”. I'm 15 years old now. I'm of medium height and I have short hair. My hair isn't black, it's brown. My dad thinks it's strange, but my friends think it's great. I wear glasses, but my glasses have square(方的)， red frames. They are so cool. I never wear blue jeans. I like big, baggy pants and long T-shirts. Most of my T-shirts have pictures of my favorite actors or singers on them.

    Most kids in Britain have pet bears. This animal is both furry (毛茸茸的) and friendly. But it cannot move or make any noise. That's because it is a teddy bear. Most teddies are in the shape of a small bear. They are usually brown and stuffed (填充) with cotton. Kids love them very much.

    Paddington bear is one of the most famous teddy bears in the world. Yet there are many types. Do you know Winnie the Pooh? He's another popular bear!

Cute, soft teddy bears were born in the 20th century. However, they don't have just one place of birth. Both American and German toymakers made the teddy bear at the same time!

    Teddy bears have long been a popular kids' toy. They are in songs, stories and films. There are even teddy bear museums around the world. And it's not even just kids who hold teddy bears. It's a popular present for lovers, usually on Valentine's Day.

    In the UK it is popular for a newborn baby to get a teddy bear as their first gift. The day I was born, my grandmother handed me a teddy bear. She made it herself. That makes him the same age as me! I took him everywhere I went, holding his arm at nighttime and falling asleep with him. And I still have that bear with me today. It is the best gift I have ever gotten.

    One day a king went to a faraway place in his country. When he came back, his feet hurt a lot. "There are too many small stones on the roads. They hurt my feet. You should cover every road with leather(皮革)," he told his men. Of course, it would cost a lot of money. One of his men was very smart. He told the king, "Why not cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?" The king was surprised, and he agreed to the man's idea. He asked his men to make a pair of leather shoes for him.

    Maybe this is not the beginning of leather shoes. But it teaches us a lesson of life: if you want to make this world a happy place to live in, the best way is to change yourself, not the world.

    Tom is an eight-year-old student in Grade Three. He is not interested in his lessons. He spends most of his time playing basketball. At night, he doesn't sleep until very late in order to play. In the morning, he usually gets up late and hurries to school.

    Tom's father is worried about his poor schoolwork. He tries to make him work harder. One day, his father said to him, "My boy, if you get one hundred marks in the exam, I'll buy a new basketball for you." The boy was very happy to hear that.

    The next day Tom came running home. “Oh, Dad, I got one hundred." He shouted, “I got forty in English this morning and sixty in Chinese this afternoon!”