单选题 On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln went to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery. The Civil War was still going on. There was much criticism of President Lincoln at the time. He was not at all popular. He had been invited to speak at Gettysburg only out of politeness. The principal speaker was to be Edward Everett, a famous statesman and speaker of the day. Everett was a handsome man and very popular everywhere.
It is said that Lincoln prepared his speech on the train while going to Gettysburg. Late that night, alone in his hotel room and tired out, he again worked briefly on the speech. The next day Everett spoke first. He spoke for an hour and 57 minutes. His speech was a perfect example of the rich oratory of the day. Then Lincoln rose. The crowd of 15,000 people at first paid little attention to him. He spoke for only nine minutes. At the end there was little applause. Lincoln turned to a friend and remarked, "I have failed again". On the train back to Washington, he said sadly, "That speech was a flat failure, and the people are disappointed".
Some newspapers at first criticized the speech, but little by little as people redid the speech they began to understand better. They began to appreciate its simplicity and its deep meaning. It was a speech which only Abraham Lincoln could have made.
Today, every American school child learns Lincoln"s Gettysburg Address by heart. Now everyone thinks of it as one of the greatest speeches ever given in American history.
单选题 In 1863, Abraham Lincoln was ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。第一段中提到林肯总统当时受到了很多批评,而且一点也不受欢迎。critical“批评的,爱挑剔的”,所以A不对。
单选题 Lincoln was invited to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery because he was ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断题。根据文章第一段的第五句,人们之所以出于礼貌请他做演讲,就是因为他是总统。
单选题 It can be inferred from the text that ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断题。从第二段可知,林肯是在路上写的演讲稿,并且当晚只是“briefly(简单地)”修改了一下。由此可推断出他当时很忙,没有充足的准备时间。
单选题 It was a fact that Lincoln"s speech was ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。由三、四段可知,尽管林肯的演讲最初并未成功,但这篇简短的演说后来深入人心,不能说是彻底的失败。
单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。根据最后一句话,林肯的演讲是美国历史上最伟大的演讲之一,但并未说是最伟大的演讲,所以选D。