answer 作“回答”讲时，是一方提出问题另一方回答常用词，较常用。如：answer a question回答问题，answer the doorbell听见门铃响去开门，answer the telephone接电话。

reply 较正式，指较为正式或经过考虑的答复，除了后面接直接宾语或以that开始的句子外,一般只用作不及物动词，后面连用to，表示回答旁人的问题(话语,信件,祝贺,攻击等) 。特别是在写信中常用此句开头：Thank you for your reply. Do you have any suggestions as to how we should reply to his questions?关于如何回答他的问题，你有没有什么建议？

respond 作“回答”解，一般指对紧急问题或请求作出答复，或用行动对所说或所做的事情做出反应，也同to 搭配。如：She never responded to his opinion.她从未对他的意见作出过反应。I greeted him, but he didn't respond. 我跟他打招呼，但他没理我.

练习：

C  1. To my surprise, he __ to my question only by shaking his head slightly

        A. answered   B. replied    C. responded    D. reflect