Question

read the excerpt from reagans farewell speech. as you do, look for words and phrases that indicate how he felt about the soviets.

\we must keep up our guard, but we must also continue to work together to lessen and eliminate tension and mistrust. my view is that president gorbachev is different from previous soviet leaders. i think he knows some of the things wrong with his society and is trying to fix them. we wish him well. and well continue to work to make sure that the soviet union that eventually emerges from this process is a less threatening one. what it all boils down to is this: i want the new closeness to continue. and it will, as long as we make it clear that we will continue to act in a certain way as long as they continue to act in a helpful manner.\

—ronald reagan
farewell speech

choose the right phrase to complete this sentence.

reagan urges americans to remain

on guard against the soviet union
trusting of the soviet union
distant from the soviet union

Explanation:

Analyze the excerpt for key themes

The text states: "We must keep up our guard, but we must also continue to work together to lessen and eliminate tension and mistrust."

Evaluate the options against the text

• "on guard against the Soviet Union" directly matches the opening phrase "We must keep up our guard".
• "trusting of the Soviet Union" contradicts the warning to keep up our guard and lessen "mistrust" conditionally.
• "distant from the Soviet Union" contradicts the desire for "new closeness to continue".

Determine the correct completion

The phrase "on guard against the Soviet Union" accurately reflects Reagan's urge for Americans to remain vigilant while pursuing diplomatic closeness.

Answer:

• on guard against the Soviet Union (Correct answer)
• trusting of the Soviet Union
• distant from the Soviet Union