9.
Read the passage.

Excerpt from “A House Divided”
a speech by Abraham Lincoln

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free.

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

It will become all one thing, or all the other.

What does the house symbolize?

Abraham Lincoln’s home

a government building

the entire world

the United States as a whole

In his speech titled "A House Divided", Republican candidate representative Abraham Lincoln talks about "a divided house" and how it could lead to disaster rather than success. This metaphorical speech is taken from the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

In the speech, he alludes to the nation of the United States as a house, a single umbrella entity. He also declares, "a house divided against itself cannot stand." Here, his reference to "a house" is the nation as a whole.

Thus, the correct answer is the fourth option.