When I was a little boy, I really liked my older brother, Tom. He was the best pitcher （投

When I was a little boy, I really liked my older brother, Tom. He was the best pitcher (投手) on his baseball team, the Dreams. I always played catch (接球) with Tom. He threw so fast that I couldn't often catch the ball. He always asked me, "Have you had enough yet, Mark？" But I said I wanted to play more. I wanted to be a good player like Tom.

When I was ten years old, I joined a team, the Stars. I didn't join the Dreams because my friends on the Stars wanted me to join them. I practiced very hard with my team every Saturday afternoon. The next summer came, my team was going to play against the Dreams. I thought, "I want to hit Tom's basketball, but it will be too fast for me to hit." I practiced hitting basket- balls harder than before. I talked with Tom about the game. He said, "With my basketball, my team is going to win."

One Saturday afternoon we had the game. It began at 1: 00. Mother came to watch us. No one could hit Tom's basketball. The game was coming to its end. My last chance came. I had to hit his basketball.

"Strike one," called the umpire (裁判员). "Oh, that's fast!" I thought. Tom looked great.

He threw again, but I couldn't hit that one, either. "Hit the next ball. Mark," the players on my team shouted. I thought, "How can I do that？ No one has hit his basketball since the game began. But I have to hit it for our team."

Tom threw again. It was another basketball. I kept my eyes on it. This time I was able to hit it! I watched the ball in the sky and started to run. A player on the Dreams ran fast to try to catch it, but he couldn't. I was safe! Everyone on my team shouted, "You did it!" I was very happy. But when I saw Tom, I could't be happy any more. He was watching me. He didn't look happy.

The next player on my team didn't hit Tom's basketball. That was the end of the game. The Dreams won.

After the game I went to Tom, but I didn't know what to say to him. He said to me with a smile, "You hit my basketball very well." I said, "Thank you." Tom said to me, "You hit my basketball today, but next time it will be much faster. O. K.？" I answered him with a smile, "Yes, I'll practice much harder, Tom." Mother listened to us and said, "Tom and Mark, you both did a very good job." She looked very happy.

Which of the following is TRUE？

A．Tom was the best pitcher on the Stars.

B．Mark was the best pitcher on the Dreams.

C．Tom thought that his team would win.

D．Mark was sure that he could hit Tom's basketball.