I love them.” 17 this, Aesop answered, “I’m happy to tell you, my dear friend, that you’ll find the people of Athens much the same.”
答案：(A) At
at this 是固定用語，意思是「聽到這話、見此情形」，this 指的是上一句旅人所說的整段話；By（到…時、藉由）、For（為了）、Into（進入）都無法表達「對此作出反應」。
答對率 17%。這一題很特別：程度好的人答對率反而比程度較弱的人還低，代表誘答選項專門騙讀得懂的人。
at 在你腦中不是地點（at the station）就是時間（at seven），很少見到它接抽象的 this／that。程度好的人反而容易想太多，去湊 By this（到此時為止）或 For this（為此）這類看似更講得通的組合，結果全軍覆沒。
at 的核心概念是標出一個「點」——可以是空間的點、時間的點，也可以是反應被觸發的那一瞬間。英文裡有一整組這樣的用法：at first sight（一見鍾情的那個 at）、at the sight of（一看到）、at the thought of（一想到）、at the news of（一聽到…的消息）。at this／at that 就屬於這一類，是敘事文的固定用語，意思是「聽到這話、見此情形」，後面通常接反應或說話的動詞——At this, he smiled.（聽他這麼說，他笑了）。
this 沒有前一句就無所指：旅人先說 I come from Argos, and there the people are all friendly, generous, and warm-hearted.，伊索才「聽了這話」回答。這裡的 this 指的不是某個名詞，而是整段話。遇到 this／that／such 這類指示詞，務必回頭確認它代表什麼——這一格光看本句是解不出來的。
at this／at that（聽到這話、見此情形）、at first sight（一見鍾情、乍看之下）、at the sight of（一看到）、at the thought of（一想到）、at the news of（一聽到…的消息）、at last（終於）、at once（立刻）。
Aesop, the Greek writer of fables, was sitting by the roadside one day when a traveler asked him what sort of people lived in Athens. Aesop replied, "Tell me where you come from and what sort of people live there, and I'll tell you what sort of people you'll find in Athens." 16 , the man answered, "I come from Argos, and there the people are all friendly, generous, and warm-hearted. I love them." 17 this, Aesop answered, "I'm happy to tell you, my dear friend, that you'll find the people of Athens much the same."
A few hours later, 18 traveler came down the road. He too stopped and asked Aesop the same question. 19 , Aesop made the same request. But frowning, the man answered, "I'm from Argos and there the people are unfriendly, 20 , and vicious. They're thieves and murderers, all of them." "Well, I'm afraid you'll find the people of Athens much the same," replied Aesop.