http://s2/small/001lsS96zy6MAaeVdy951&6902 更新于2014-12-12" TITLE="2014年Text 2 更新于2014-12-12" />

 1---All around the world, lawyers generate more hostility than the members of any other profession---with the possible exception of journalism. But there are few places where clients have more grounds for complaint than America.

1---纵观世界，与其他行业相比，律师这一行业是最招人反感的，能够与其媲美的也许只有新闻记者这一行的了。但没有哪个国家的客户比美国人更有理由抱怨。

 

2---During the decade before the economic crisis, spending on legal services in America grew twice as fast as inflation. The best lawyers made skyscrapers-full of money, tempting ever more students to pile into law schools. But most law graduates never get a big-firm job. Many of them instead become the kind of nuisance-lawsuit filer that makes the tort system a costly nightmare.

2---在经济危机爆发之前的十年中，美国法律服务消费的增长速度是通货膨胀的两倍。顶级律师挣得盘满钵满，这吸引了更多学生扎堆似地涌入法学院。但是大多数法律毕业生从来就进不了大公司。他们中的很多人只好去做那些令人讨厌的法律诉讼提起人，这使得民事侵权行为系统成了一个花费高昂的噩梦。

注：注意超纲词 tort 和《真经》中distort，torture的区别。

 

3---There are many reasons for this. One is the excessive costs of a legal education. There is just one path for a lawyer in most American states: a four-year undergraduate degree in some unrelated subject, then a three-year law degree at one of 200 law schools authorized by the American Bar Association and an expensive preparation for the bar exam. This leaves today’s average law-school graduate with $100,000 of debt on top of undergraduate debts. Law-school debt means that they have to work fearsomely hard.

3---这种现象的原因有很多。其中之一就是法律教育的成本过高。在美国的大多数州中，成为一名律师只有一条路：先学习四年与法律毫不相关的学科，获得本科学位，然后从200所美国律师协会认可的法学院中选择一所，用三年时间攻读法学硕士学位，最后还要花费巨资准备律师资格考试。这使得今天的普通法学院毕业生除了本科毕业时留下的欠款外，每人还要背负10万美元的债务。这意味着许多人如果进入政府机关任职或者从事公益事业是偿还不了就读法学院所欠下的贷款的，并且，他们必须拼命地努力工作.李剑模糊阅读

注：bar这个大纲词汇竟然在这里是 “律师界”的意思，还有on top of 竟然是“除了”的意思，如果你不会用模糊阅读大法来处理的话就会郁闷或浪费不少时间。

 

4---Reforming the system would help both lawyers and their customers. Sensible ideas have been around for a long time, but the state-level bodies that govern the profession have been too conservative to implement them. One idea is to allow people to study law as an undergraduate degree. Another is to let students sit for the bar after only two years of law school. If the bar exam is truly a stern enough test for a would-be lawyer, those who can sit it earlier should be allowed to do so. Students who do not need the extra training could cut their debt mountain by a third.

4---进行体制改革会使律师和委托人双方都受益。人们早就有一些合理的（改革）想法，但是州一级的（法律行业）管理机构却过分保守，不愿实施。想法之一是允许人们在本科阶段学习法律。另一想法是允许学生在进入法律学校学习两年后就可以参加律师资格考试。如果律师资格考试对一位未来的律师而言真的足够严格，那么那些有能力参加律考的学生 就应该被允许。那些不需要额外训练的学生就能因此将他们如山的债务减少1/3。

注：sit在这里是固定短语，而2011年Text 2，Para 4的sitting表示“现任的，在任的”意思。I can’t think of a single search I’ve done where a board has not instructed me to look at sitting CEOs first.  我想不起有哪次人才搜寻，公司董事会不让我先去看看在任CEO们的表现状况的。（即：每家公司的董事会都会让我先看看在任CEO的能力情况。）

 

5---The other reason why costs are so high is the restrictive guild-like ownership structure of the business. Except in the District of Columbia, non-lawyers may not own any share of a law firm. This keeps fees high and innovation slow. There is pressure for change from within the profession, but opponents of change among the regulators insist that keeping outsiders out of a law firm isolates lawyers from the pressure to make money rather than serve clients ethically.

5---（法律服务）成本如此高昂的另一个原因是该行业的类似工会的所有权结构，这种结构限制了外人的进入。除了在哥伦比亚特区，非律师不能拥有律师事务所的股份。这让费用居高不下，革新步履蹒跚。该行业内部有要求变革的呼声，但是，管理层中一些反对变革的人却坚持认为，不让外人进入律师事务所是为了 避免律师受到盈利的压力，从而能一心一意为客户服务。

注：guild超纲词：guild [gild]  n. 团体, 协会 

 

6---In fact, allowing non-lawyers to own shares in law firms would reduce costs and improve services to customers, by encouraging law firms to use technology and to employ professional managers to focus on improving firms’ efficiency. After all, other countries, such as Australia and Britain, have started liberalizing their legal professions. America should follow.

6---实际上，允许非律师拥有律师事务所股份会促使律所运用技术、并雇用职业经理人来专注提升效率，从而减少成本、提高服务。毕竟，在别的国家，比如澳大利亚及英国，已经开始放宽它们的法律行业（的限制），美国也应如此。

 

 

26. A lot of students take up law as their profession due to

[A]the growing demand from clients.                        [B]the increasing pressure of inflation.

[C]the prospect of working in big firms.                    [D]the attraction of financial rewards.

 

27. Which of the following adds to the costs of legal education in most American states?

[A]Higher tuition fees for undergraduate studies.

[B]Admissions approval from the bar association.

[C]Pursuing a bachelor’s degree in another major.

[D]Receiving training by professional associations.

 

28. Hindrance to the reform of the legal system originates from

[A]lawyers’ and clients’ strong resistance.

[B]the rigid bodies governing the profession.

[C]the stem exam for would-be lawyers.

[D]non-professionals’ sharp criticism.

 

29. The guild-like ownership structure is considered “restrictive” partly because it

[A]bans outsiders’ involvement in the profession.

[B]keeps lawyers from holding law-firm shares.

[C]aggravates the ethical situation in the trade.

[D]prevents lawyers from gaining due profits.

 

30. In this text, the author mainly discusses

[A]flawed ownership of America’s law firms and its causes.

[B]the factors that help make a successful lawyer in America.

[C]a problem in America’s legal profession and solutions to it.

[D]the role of undergraduate studies in America’s legal education.