单选题 When Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer in rural Illinois, he and a certain judge in town once got to bantering with one another about horse trading. The upshot of the discussion was that they agreed that the next morning, at nine o'clock, they would meet in front of the general store and make a trade. Each would bring a horse, unseen by anyone up to that hour. If either backed out of the deal, he would forfeit $ 25. The money from each man was held by the local banker.
The next morning, at the appointed hour, the Judge, came up the dirt road, leading the sorriest looking specimen of a horse ever seen in those parts of Illinois. The large crowd viewing the spectacle burst out laughing, already knowing that Abe Lincoln was bound to get the worst of the deal. A poorer horse just couldn't exist anywhere and still be walking.
In a few minutes, however, Mr. Lincoln was seen approaching the general store carrying something quite large and bulky on his shoulders. As he drew nearer, the crowd saw what it was, and great shouts and laughter broke out. The shouts and laughter soon broke into a thunderous roar when Mr. Lincoln, looking carefully and seriously over the Judge's animal, set down his sawhorse(锯木架), and exclaimed, "Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got the worst of it in a horse trade./

单选题 This passage concerns ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】第一段。两人决定第二天作一笔马的交易。选项B是正确的。
单选题 It is evident that neither Lincoln nor the Judge was ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】Neither... nor两者都不……。从两个人带来的马可以清楚,他们二人是在开玩笑。并不是真的作交易。选项A是正确的。
单选题 This passage attempts to arouse ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】两个人带来的都不是正经的马。一个是奇丑无比,一个是玩文字游戏,扛来一个在英文拼写中带有“马”字的锯木架。所以,这篇文章是要引读者发笑。选项D是正确的。
单选题 A person who banters is ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】根据文章的内容,做交易的二人并不是真的做交易,而是在开玩笑。选项C是正确的。