Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 44 to 50.
The American Founding Fathers were, as a group, among the most accomplished men in the history of any country. Among them were George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and John Adams. Another, who ranks as one of the greatest of them, was Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States. He was the founder of the University of Virginia. He was responsible for the Louisiana Purchase, which more than doubled the size of the United States. And, most importantly, he was the author of the Declaration of Independence. It stated that the American colonies were free from English rule.
Born in 1743, Jefferson began receiving a classical education as a young child. He focused on learning languages, including Latin and Greek. He later went on to study at the College of William and Mary, the second-oldest college in America after Harvard. There, Jefferson focused on law, which enabled him to become one of America's most knowledgeable lawyers.
It was Jefferson's study of law that prompted him to become an early supporter of the American independence movement. In the 1760s and 1770s, England began to levy a number of taxes on the American colonists. Most colonists detested the taxes and considered them oppressive. The colonists further disliked the taxes because they had no representation in Parliament, the legislative body in England.
Jefferson was himself an elected member of the House of Burgesses. This was the legislative body of the colony of Virginia. He felt very strongly about the importance of the American colonies being represented in Parliament. Since King George III of England refused to allow that, Jefferson spoke out strongly in favor of independence. He wrote essays in support of independence. Then, in a meeting of the Continental Congress in 1776, Jefferson - along with four other men - was chosen to write a declaration that the colonies were free from English rule. It took him seventeen days to come up with the document that would become known as the Declaration of Independence. Signed on July 4, 1776, it gave freedom to the American colonies and cemented Jefferson's place in history as one of the greatest supporters of the cause of freedom.
