Filtering/displaying parts of a shapefile?

[Jeff Portwine]

Can anybody tell me if it's possible to filter out or display only parts of
a shapefile based on your zoom level, and if so point me in the right
direction for how to do that?

Right now I'm using tiger line data to show roads in an area and while
zoomed out, I'd like to have it display only major freeways and highways...
as  I zoom in I'd like it to display more major roads and only show smaller
roads when I'm zommed in close.    I'd also if possible like to display
those roads in different colors (for example red for highways, black for
major roads, etc...).

I'd imagine this can be done , but I'm not sure how difficult it is or how
to go about it.

Thanks,
Jeff