The Filibuster

　　1 The term filibuster has been in use since the mid-nineteenth century to describe the tactic of delaying legislative action in order to prevent the passage of a bill. The word comes from the Dutch freebooter, or pirate, and most likely developed from the idea that someone conducting a filibuster is trying to steal away the opportunity that proponents of a bill have to make it successful.

　　2 In the earlier history of the U.S. Congress, filibusters were used in both the House of Representatives and in the Senate, but they are now much more a part of the culture of the Senate than of the House. Because the House is a much larger body than is the Senate, the House now has rules which greatly limit the amount of time that each member may speak, which effectively serves to eliminate the filibuster as a mechanism for delaying legislation in the House.

　　3 In the Senate, the smaller of the two bodies, there are now rules that can constrain but not totally eliminate filibusters. The Senate adopted its first cloture rule in 1917, a rule which requires a vote of two-thirds of the Senate to limit debate to one hour on each side. The rule was changed in 1975 and now requires a vote of three-fifths of the members to invoke cloture in most situations.

　　4 The longest filibuster on record occurred in 1957, when Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina wanted to delay voting on civil rights legislation. The filibuster was conducted for twenty-four hours and 18 minutes on August 28 and 29, when Thurmond held the floor of the Senate by lecturing on the law and reading from court decisions and newspaper columns. It was his hope that this filibuster would rally opponents of civil rights legislation; however, two weeks after the filibuster, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 passed.

　　14. It can be inferred from the information in paragraph 1 that around 1800

　　(A) the first filibuster took place

　　(B) legislative action was never delayed

　　(C) the term filibuster was not in use in the U.S. Congress

　　(D) the Dutch introduced the term freebooter

　　15. It can be determined from paragraph 1 that a freebooter was most likely someone who

　　(A) served in the Senate

　　(B) robbed passing ships

　　(C) enacted legislation

　　(D) served in the Dutch government

　　16. It is implied in paragraph 2 that, in its early years, the House

　　(A) had no rules against filibusters

　　(B) had few filibusters

　　(C) had fewer filibusters than the Senate

　　(D) had the longest filibuster on record

　　17. Based on the information in paragraph 3, a vote of cloture would most likely be used to

　　(A) initiate filibusters

　　(B) break filibusters

　　(C) extend filibusters

　　(D) encourage filibusters

　　18. It can be inferred from the information in paragraph 3 that the 1975 rule change

　　(A) increased the number of people needed to vote for cloture

　　(B) made it easier to limit a filibuster

　　(C) covered all types of Senate votes

　　(D) decreased the number of people in the Senate

　　19. It is implied in paragraph 4 that Senator Thurmond was opposed to

　　(A) filibusters

　　(B) lecturing on the law

　　(C) speaking in the Senate

　　(D) the Civil Rights Act of 1957

　　參考答案：

　　14-19：A、B、A、B、D