Question

Read the excerpt from President Ronald Reagan’s speech on the night before the 1980 presidential election. A popular novel of the '60s ended prophetically with its description of a "kindly, pleasant, greening land about to learn whether history still has a place for a nation so strangely composed of great ideals and uneasy compromise as she.” That is really the question before us tonight: for the first time in our memory many Americans are asking: does history still have a place for America, for her people, for her great ideals? There are some who answer "no”; that our energy is spent, our days of greatness at an end, that a great national malaise is upon us. They say we must cut our expectations, conserve and withdraw, that we must tell our children . . . not to dream as we once dreamed. Last year I lost a friend who was more than a symbol of the Hollywood dream industry; to millions he was a symbol of our country itself. And when he died, the headlines seemed to convey all the doubt about America, all the nostalgia for a seemingly lost past. "The Last American Hero,” said one headline; "Mr. America dies,” said another. Well, I knew John Wayne well, and no one would have been angrier at being called the "last American hero.” Just before his death, he said in his own blunt way, "Just give the American people a good cause, and there’s nothing they can’t lick.” Duke Wayne did not believe that our country was ready for the dust bin of history, and if we’ll just think about it we too will know it isn’t. Which ideas from the excerpt would be most appropriate to include in a summary? Select three options.
A) Popular novels from the past often ask provocative questions that are important to consider today.

B) Many Americans have given up and say that the nation is no longer great or a land of dreams.

C) John Wayne, nicknamed Duke, was an iconic Hollywood actor and filmmaker.

D) President Reagan believed that John Wayne would argue that he was not the last American hero, because there are many more.

E) Duke Wayne died as a symbol of the Hollywood dream industry.

Answer 1

The correct answers are:

A) Popular novels from the past often ask provocative questions that are important to consider today.

In this speech, President Reagan uses the ending of a popular novel of the '60s to help pose his question about whether history still has a place for America, her people and her ideals. He takes provocative questions written in an old novel and uses them to show important subjects that need to be addressed today.

B) Many Americans have given up and say that the nation is no longer great or a land of dreams.

In his speech Reagan states that many americans have lost their faith in their country and no longer believe that it is a place for dreams and greatness. Theis people say that americans must "cut our expectations, conserve and withdraw"

D) President Reagan believed that John Wayne would argue that he was not the last American hero, because there are many more.

After the passing of the iconic Hollywood actor, John "Duke" Wayne, the headlines on the newspapers called him the "Last American Hero". Reagan, being a close friend of the late actor, stated that Wayne would've hated being called that, since he knew there were still many other heroes in America.

Answer 2

Answer:

A) Popular novels from the past often ask provocative questions that are important to consider today.

B) Many Americans have given up and say that the nation is no longer great or a land of dreams.

D) President Reagan believed that John Wayne would argue that he was not the last American hero, because there are many more.

Explanation:

A) In this speech, President Reagan uses the ending of a popular novel of the '60s to help pose his question about whether history still has a place for America, her people and her ideals. He takes provocative questions written in an old novel and uses them to show important subjects that need to be addressed today.

B) In his speech Reagan states that many Americans have lost their faith in their country and no longer believe that it is a place for dreams and greatness. These people say that Americans must "cut our expectations, conserve and withdraw"

D) After the passing of the iconic Hollywood actor, John "Duke" Wayne, the headlines on the newspapers called him the "Last American Hero". Reagan, being a close friend of the late actor, stated that Wayne would've hated being called that, since he knew there were still many other heroes in America.