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  3. Men have often been praised by being told that they were as smart as a Phila

Men have often been praised by being told that they were as smart as a Phila

游客2025-04-23  32
问题     Men have often been praised by being told that they were as smart as a Philadelphia lawyer. No one knows why there is something special about Philadelphia lawyers, but the expression "smart as a Philadelphia lawyer" seems to have come from a famous trial early in the 18th century.
    An Englishman, William S. Cosby arrived in New York as the royal governor of the province. He was a tyrant. He wanted to make money quickly and he ruled the province with no thought for the law or the rights of the people. Among those who opposed his rule was John Peter Zinger who came to America from Germany. Mr. Zinger started a newspaper which praised liberty and sharply criticized the governor. Governor Cosby arrested Mr. Zinger, charged him with slander and kept him in prison for 9 months. Mr. Zinger could not find a New York lawyer to defend him because of the governor’s power. But a leading lawyer from Philadelphia agreed to defend Mr. Zinger. He was Andrew Hamilton, white-haired and almost 80 years old.
    The trial opened, the jury chosen and charges read. At that time, the law on slander said that jury could decide only if the person accused published in the newspaper named in the charges. The question of whether words published were true or not was to be decided by the judge. Mr. Zinger told the court he was innocent. Then the lawyer from Philadelphia rose, admitted that Mr. Zinger did publish the newspaper as charged. But Mr. Hamilton continued. The publishing of a newspaper does not make a person guilty of slander. He said that words themselves must be proved false or slanderous; Otherwise Mr. Zinger is innocent. The judge warned Mr. Hamilton that he, the judge, would decide if the words were slanderous or not. Mr. Hamilton quickly turned to the jury and asked them to decide. He said that it was their right to decide whether the alleged slander was in fact the truth. In his final statement to the jury, Mr. Hamilton said the question was much bigger than the charges against Mr. Zinger. He said the question was liberty and right of people to oppose dishonesty and tyranny by speaking and writing the truth. After a brief discussion the jury declared that Mr. Zinger was not guilty and cheers broke out in the courtroom. The decision established the principle of freedom of the press in the American Colonies. Mr. Hamilton was praised as a hero. Through the years the fame of Mr; Zinger trial and praise for Mr. Hamilton has spread throughout the country. Anti so it is believed that the expression "as smart as a Philadelphia lawyer" honors the man from Philadelphia who successfully de- fended the freedom of the press to print the truth. [br] The purpose of this passage is ______.
选项 A、to tell people how the principle of freedom of press was established
B、to show the significance of the trial
C、to tell people where the expression "as smart as a Philadelphia lawyer" comes from
D、to tell people something special about the Philadelphia lawyer
答案 C
解析 全文虽然大篇幅地介绍了这一案子的审理过程，但其目的还是要说明“as smart as a Philadelphia lawyer”的这一说法的来历。
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