Question 95917
According to the dictionary, a score is a group of 20 things. In this case, a score is 20 years.
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When Lincoln said, "Four score and seven ..." he meant four groups of 20 years and seven more years
added to that amount. So Lincoln meant 4 times 20 years plus 7 additional years. In mathematical 
form you can write this as:
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(4*20) + 7
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This is the expression that represents four score and 7.
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You can evaluate this expression by using multiplication and addition. First you multiply 
the 4 times the 20 and that result is 80. Next you add the 7 to 80 and you get the answer 
as 87 years. So when Lincoln said, "Four score and seven years ...." he was  saying, 
"Eighty seven years ago ... "
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Do you agree that "Four score and seven years" sounded better than "Seven dozen and 3 years" 
or just plain "Eighty seven years???"
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Hope this helps you to understand the problem a little more.