申論題

II、Read the following passage and design three reading-comprehension questions in the form of multiple choices. (15 分) The answer to each question should be provided. People are sometimes praised by being told that they are as smart as a Philadelphia lawyer. Actually, this expression comes from a famous trial early in the eighteen century. During that period, an Englishman, William S. Cosby, was assigned by the British government as the governor of the American colony that contained New York City. Arriving in New York City, he assumed his royal governorship and wanted to make more money. He rules the colony with no regard for the law or the right of the people. In short, he was a tyrant. Among those who opposed Cosby’s rule was John Peter Zenger, who started a newspaper that praised liberty and sharply criticized the governor. Zenger was soon arrested by Cosby and charged with libel. However, Zenger couldn’t find a lawyer to defend him because of the governor’s power. Finally, Andrew Hamilton, an eighty-year-old lawyer from Philadelphia, came to his help. Faced with the jury at the court, Hamilton admitted that Zenger did publish the newspaper, as charged, but the publishing of a newspaper did not make a person guilty of slander. He said that it was the jury’s right to decide whether the alleged libel was, in fact, the truth. “Don’t people have the liberty and the right to oppose dishonesty and tyranny by speaking the truth?” he asked the jury. After a brief discussion, the jury declared that Zenger was innocent. This decision established the principle of freedom of the press in the American colonies. Hamilton was praised as a hero. And this expression, “as smart as a Philadelphia lawyer,” honors this man from Philadelphia who successfully defended the freedom of the press to print the truth