Bill Clinton’s Inaugural Address
(excerpt from the opening)
When George Washington first took the oath I have just sworn to uphold, news traveled
slowly across the land
by horseback and across the ocean by boat. Now the sights and sounds of this ceremony are broadcast instan-
taneously to billions around the world. Communications and commerce are global. Investment is mobile. Tech-
nology is almost magical, and ambition for a better life is now universal.
We earn our livelihood in America today in peaceful competition with people all across the Earth. Profound
and powerful forces are
shaking and remaking our world, and the urgent question of our time is whether we can
make change our friend and not our enemy. This new world has already enriched the lives of millions of
Americans who are able to compete and win in it. But when most people
are working harder for less; when oth-
ers cannot work at all; when the cost of healthcare devastates families and threatens to bankrupt our enterprises,
great
and small; when the fear of crime robs law-abiding citizens of their freedom; and when millions of poor
children cannot even imagine the lives
we are calling them to lead, we have not made change our friend.
–
P R E T E S T
–
8
13. What is the central topic of the speech so far?
a. how Americans can keep up with global
competition
b. ways in which technology has undermined
our
economy
c. ways in which technology has improved
our lives
d. how change has affected America and our
need
to adapt
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