In paragraph 6, the word "vaults" most likely means:
A. A place for storing valuables.
In the context of the speech, it refers to the "great vaults of opportunity of this nation," indicating a secure place where resources and opportunities are held.
[1] I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest
demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
[2] Five score1 years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today,
signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great
beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of
withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
[3] But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the
life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of
discrimination. [3] But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the
life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of
discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in
the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is
still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own
land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
[4] In a sense we‘ve come to our nation‘s capital to cash a check. When the architects
of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of
Independence, they were signing a promissory note2 to which every American was to
fall heir
[5] This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be
guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is
obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her
citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has
given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient
funds.”
[6] But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe
that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so,
we‘ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of
freedom and the security of justice.[7] We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of
Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing
drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the
time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial
justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to thesolid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s
children.
What does the word vaults most likely mean in paragraph 6?
A. A place for storing valuables.
B. A type of high jump
C. A secret underground tunnel
D. A method of financial calculation
1 answer