What is the output of the program?

```plaintext
integer counter = 1
integer max = 4

while (counter <= max)
output "The counter is " + counter
counter = counter + 1
endwhile
```

A. The counter is 1
The counter is 2
The counter is 3
The counter is 4

B. The counter is 2
The counter is 4
The counter is 6
The counter is 8

C. The counter is 1
The counter is 2
The counter is 3
The counter is 4
The counter is 5

D. The counter is 2
The counter is 4
The counter is 5
The counter is 3

The program uses a while loop with a counter that starts at 1 and increments until it reaches the max value of 4. It outputs the counter value during each loop iteration, resulting in 'The counter is 1', 'The counter is 2', 'The counter is 3', and 'The counter is 4'.

The given program is an example of a simple while loop that uses a counter to track the number of iterations. The loop begins with the counter set to 1 and continues to run as long as the counter is less than or equal to the max value of 4. On each iteration, the program outputs a statement with the current value of the counter and then increments the counter by 1. As a result, the output of this program will be:

The counter is 1
The counter is 2
The counter is 3
The counter is 4

When the counter value exceeds 4, the condition counter \<= max is no longer true, and the loop terminates.