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).

    A smuggler(走私犯) drove to the border. When a soldier looked in the truck， he was surprised to find six big bags.

    “What's in them?” the soldier asked.

    “Dirt，” the smuggler answered.

    “Take them out，” the soldier said. “I want to check them.”

    The smuggler opened the bags， and sure enough， each one of them was filled with dirt. So the soldier let him go.

    A week later， the smuggler came back， and once again， the soldier looked in the truck.

    “What's in the bags this time?” he asked.

    “Dirt， more dirt，” said the smuggler.

    Not believing him， the soldier checked the bags and， once again， he found nothing but dirt.

    The same thing happened every week for six months， and the soldier finally became so frustrated(沮丧的) that he left and worked as a waiter in a restaurant. Then one night， the smuggler went to the restaurant and had a drink. The waiter saw him and said， “Listen! Drinks are free tonight if you tell me what you were smuggling all that time.”

    Slowly， the smuggler got close to the waiter and said， “Trucks.”

    Mike is a factory worker. He is often very tired after a day's work. His wife, Jenny, has no job, so she stays at home to cook the meals. Every day he can have his dinner when he gets home from his factory.

    One day, Mike came home very late because he was very busy in the factory. He was very hungry when he got home.

    He was not happy when he found his dinner was not ready. He was very angry with his wife. He shouted at her, "I'm going out to eat in a restaurant." "Wait for five minutes," said his wife. "Why? Do you think that dinner will be ready in five minutes?" asked Mike.

    "Of course not," she answered. "But I can be ready to go with you in five minutes." 

    John and Jack met at the old bench every afternoon. Then they played football. But they didn't have enough money to buy a real football. So Jack made a ball out of old socks covered with a piece of plastic, Every time, the two friends didn't stop kicking and running until very late.

    On Monday afternoon, John and Jack met again at the old bench. Soon the home-made ball was running across the grass. The boys laughed and shouted happily. The ball was stopped by a boy wearing a nice pair of sports shoes. John was upset when he saw the boy was Steven.

    The next morning, John's mother gave him a bill." Your uncle sent you a birthday present, she smiled. John's eyes grew big when he saw the $100 bill. Later that day，his mother bought a new pair of sports shoes and a real football.

    That afternoon Steven invited John to play football. Steven did not want Jack to join them only because Jack's sports shoes were dirty. When the game was over, John and Steven walked past the old bench where Jack was sitting. Steven picked up a stone and threw it at him. John, holding his new football in his hands, walked on and did not look back.

    Several days later. As John walked. Past the old bench, he saw something lying under it. He looked closer and saw it was the home made ball, John was full of sadness when he saw the ball. As his sadness turned to anger, he picked up his new football and kicked it into the air. Then he walked to the bench, sat down and waited.