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 read 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
schoolchild 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 ______。
A. very critical
B. unpopular
C. very popular
D. very courteous
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。答案在第一段：There was much criticism of President Lincoln at the time． He was not popular． not at all popular即unpopular。
单选题
Lincoln was invited to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery
because he was ______.
A. a famous speaker
B. a very handsome man
C. President of the country
D. a popular statesman
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。答案可以在第一段找到：He was not at all popular．He had been in—Vited to speak at Gettysburg only out of politeness．当时林肯一点儿也不受欢迎，他被邀请去演讲仅仅是出于礼貌，因为他是总统。
单选题
It can be inferred from the text that ______.
A. Lincoln prepared his speech very carefully before he went to
Gettysburg
B. Lincoln was very busy at the time and didn't have much time to
prepare his speech
C. Lincoln's speech was full of rich words
D. Lincoln's speech was very long
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 逻辑推理题。答案在文章的第二段的开始可以找到：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．据说林肯是在去葛底斯堡的火车上准备他的演讲的。那天深夜，在宾馆的房间里，他既孤独又疲倦，只是简单准备了一下。所以通过这些句子我们可以判断林肯非常忙，没有更多的时间准备他的演讲，B是正确答案。A、C、D均不符合文章的内容。
单选题
It was a fact that Lincoln's speech was ______.
A. an immediate success
B. warmly applauded
C. a total failure
D. not well-received at first
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。答案可以在文章的第二段找到：At the end there was little applause．最后几乎没有什么掌声。所以他的演讲开始没有被大家接受，D为正确答案。A、B、C均不符合文章的内容。
单选题
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the
passage?
A. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address has deep meaning.
B. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is simple in style.
C. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is memorized by every American school
child.
D. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is the greatest speech ever delivered
in the United States.