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 courtesy. 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 commented 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 school child learns Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address by heart. Now everyone thinks of it as one of the greatest orations ever given in American history.
1. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln was __________.
A) very critical B) unpopular C) very popular D) very courteous
2. Lincoln was invited to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery because he was ___________.
A) a famous orator
B) very handsome
C) President of the United States at the time
D) a popular statesman
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 oratory
D) Lincoln’s speech was very long
4. Lincoln’s speech was ___________.
A) an immediate success B) warmly applauded
C) a total failure D) not well-received at first
5. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
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.
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