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 nig
ht, 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 said , "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（批评）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 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.
小题1:.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln was_________.
A．very critical
B．unpopular
C．very popular
D．very courteous （礼貌）小题2:.
. 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小题3:.
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小题4:.
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小题5:.
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.
