Question

instructions
read the question carefully and select the best answer.
which of these inferences is most strongly supported by the text below?
now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. we are met on a great battlefield of that war. we have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
a. lincoln feels he must explain the definition of a civil war.
b. only some of the dead will be memorialized where they fell in battle.
c. lincoln is not certain that the union will be victorious.
d. lincoln wants to ease racial tensions in the south.

Explanation:

• Option A: The text does not attempt to define civil war, so this is unsupported.
• Option B: The text states they dedicate a portion of the field for those who died here, but does not say only some will be memorialized; this is not strongly supported.
• Option C: The line "testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure" directly shows uncertainty about the Union's survival/victory.
• Option D: There is no mention of racial tensions or the South in the provided text, so this is unsupported.

Answer:

C. Lincoln is not certain that the Union will be victorious.