But frowning, the man answered, “I’m from Argos and there the people are unfriendly, 20 , and vicious.
答案：(C) mean
並列形容詞，「不友善、刻薄、且惡毒」，mean（刻薄的）符合這種負面性格描述的並列；brave（勇敢的，正面詞跟其他負面詞不搭）、lonely（孤獨的，不太符合「人很糟糕」的描述語境）、skinny（瘦的，外貌描述跟性格描述不搭）都不合。
mean 在你腦中幾乎只有動詞的「意思是」（What do you mean?），突然要它站在形容詞的位置，第一反應是「這裡怎麼會放一個動詞」，於是跳過正解，改去挑一個看得懂的形容詞。答對率只有 48%，將近一半的人在這裡失手，主因就是這個字義落差，不是題目繞。
先看結構：unfriendly, ______, and vicious 是三個並列的補語，用逗號與 and 串成 A、B、and C 的形式。空格要填的必然是形容詞，而且必須與另外兩個同一類。unfriendly（不友善的）與 vicious（惡毒的）都是負面性格，中間那個也只能是負面性格。碰到並列結構，就用「另外兩項是什麼性質」反推空格，這是最省力的解法。mean 當形容詞是「刻薄的、惡劣的」，劍橋詞典的釋義是 unkind or unpleasant，日常口語極常見：Don't be so mean to your sister.（別對你妹妹那麼刻薄）。放進 unfriendly 與 vicious 中間，語意強度還剛好遞增。再往下讀一句可以完全確認：They're thieves and murderers, all of them.（他們全都是小偷和殺人犯）——整段在把家鄉的人講到最壞，只有負面性格詞說得通。
brave（勇敢的）：正面詞，夾在兩個負面詞中間前後矛盾。lonely（孤單的）：講的是自己的心理狀態，不是「對別人不好」，也解釋不了下一句的小偷與殺人犯。skinny（骨瘦如柴的）：外貌描述，與性格描述不同類，並列不起來。
be mean to somebody（對某人刻薄）、mean well（出於好意）、by no means（絕不、一點也不）、by means of（藉由、以…方式）、a vicious circle（惡性循環）、mean to do（打算做…）。
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.