单选题 {{B}}A Laconic Answer{{/B}}
Many centuries ago, there lived some people in the southern part of Greece called Spartans (斯巴达人), who were famous for their simple habits and bravery. The name of the area in which they lived was Laconia(拉科尼亚), therefore , they were also called Lacons(拉科人).
One of the strange rules that the Lacons had was that they should speak briefly, and never more words than needed. And so a short answer was often spoken of as a Laconic answer.
At that time , there was in the northern part of Greece a land called Macedon(马其顿)that was once ruled by a war--like king named Philip.
Philip wanted to be the head of all Greece. So he raised(招募)a great army and made war upon the other states until all of them really regarded him as their King. Then he sent a letter to the Spartans, saying, "If I go down into your country, I will level your great city to the ground. " In a few days, an answer was brought back to him. When he opened the letter, he found there was only one word. That word was "IF".
单选题 According to the passage, the story took place between ______.
  • A. the Spartans and Philip, a war--like king
  • B. the American and the Canadian
  • C. Greece and Laconia
  • D. Lacons and Philip
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】前面几段是介绍Spartans的风俗习惯。第四段是短文的中心。当Philip写信给Spartans时引起的一段故事。A是依据短文第四段第三句话“Philip sent a letter to the Spartans．．．”
单选题 Lacons had a strange rule that they should ______.
  • A. speak in body language
  • B. speak briefly
  • C. speak as slowly as possible
  • D. speak frankly
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】依据第二段第一句“One of the strange rules that the Lacons had was that they should speak briefly…”(拉科人有个奇怪的规则，他们必须说话简短…)
单选题 A short answer is often spoken of as ______.
  • A. a wonderful answer
  • B. an impolite answer
  • C. a Laconic answer
  • D. a complete answer
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】依据第二段第二句话“And so a short answer was often spoken of as a Laconic answer．(非常简短的回答就象拉科人经常说的话一样。)
单选题 According to the passage, Philip was a war--like king m ancient Greece, and he ______.
  • A. seldom made a mistake in work
  • B. often made wars upon other states
  • C. made war upon the Chinese in 1840
  • D. loved peace very much
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】依据第四段第一句话和第二句话“Philip wanted…，and made war upon the other states…” (Philip想当希腊的首脑…他向其它洲发起了战争，一直到他们同意他作为国王。)
单选题 From the last paragraph, we know that ______.
  • A. the Spartans answered Philip a few months later
  • B. the Spartans didn't answer Philip
  • C. the Spartans were not afraid of Philip
  • D. Philip didn't receive the letter written by the Spartans.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】选项A表示Spartans没有回信给Philip是不合短文的最后一段的含义。选项B意为“几个月后Spartans才回信给Philip这也不符合本短语在第四段的第四句“In a few days，an answer was brought back to him．”选项D意为Philip没有收到 Spartans的回信也不符合题意。只有C才是正确，依据短文最后一句话。虽然回信只有If一个字，我们根据上文介绍的Spartans以说话简短和勇敢著名，可以判断，回信的意思是“如果你们向我们发动战争，我们是不害怕的。”因为“if”表示引导的条件状语从句意为“如果…”。