Part A: Reading Comprehension

Directions: Read the following text. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)

Text 2

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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]

Receiving training by professional associations. 

[C]

Admissions approval from the bar association. 

[D]

Pursuing a bachelor’s degree in another major. 

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

[A]

the rigid bodies governing the profession. 

[B]

lawyers’ and clients’ strong resistance. 

[C]

the stern exam for would-be lawyers. 

[D]

non-professionals’ sharp criticism. 

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

[A]

prevents lawyers from gaining due profits. 

[B]

bans outsiders’ involvement in the profession. 

[C]

aggravates the ethical situation in the trade. 

[D]

keeps lawyers from holding law-firm shares. 

30. In this text, the author mainly discusses

[A]

the factors that help make a successful lawyer in America. 

[B]

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

[C]

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

[D]

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

Answers & Explanations (答案与深度解析)

试题精解

26. [D] the attraction of financial rewards.
【解析】细节原因题。第二段提到：“The best lawyers made skyscrapers-full of money, tempting ever more students to pile into law schools.”（最好的律师赚得盆满钵满，诱使越来越多的学生涌入法学院）。这说明大量学生从事法律职业是受到了“丰厚财务回报的吸引（the attraction of financial rewards）”。

27. [D] Pursuing a bachelor’s degree in another major.
【解析】细节题。第三段详述了美国法学教育的高昂成本：“There is just one path... a four-year undergraduate degree in some unrelated subject, then a three-year law degree...”（大多数州只有一条路：先读四年的不相关学科本科，然后再读三年的法学学位）。因此，“在另一个专业攻读学士学位（Pursuing a bachelor’s degree in another major）”增加了法学教育的成本。A、B、C 均为捏造细节。

28. [A] the rigid bodies governing the profession.
【解析】细节推断题。第四段指出：“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.”（明智的改革想法由来已久，但管理该行业的州级机构过于保守，无法实施它们）。“过于保守的机构”即 A 选项中的“管理该行业的僵化机构（the rigid bodies governing the profession）”。

29. [B] bans outsiders’ involvement in the profession.
【解析】细节题。第五段指出行会式所有权结构为何具有“限制性”：“non-lawyers may not own any share of a law firm”（非律师人员不得拥有律师事务所的任何股份），并且反对者坚持“keeping outsiders out of a law firm”（把局外人拒之门外）。这对应 B 选项的“禁止局外人参与该行业（bans outsiders’ involvement）”。

30. [B] a problem in America’s legal profession and solutions to it.
【解析】主旨题。文章第一、二段提出美国法律行业引发公众敌意、成本高昂的“问题”；第三段分析原因一（教育成本高）；第四段提出解决教育成本的“改革方案”；第五段分析原因二（行会式的律所所有权结构限制创新）；第六段提出引入非律师投资的“改革方案”。全文结构为典型的“提出问题——分析问题——解决问题”，故 B 选项（美国法律行业的一个问题及其解决方案）是对全文主旨的完美概括。

考研核心句型与长难句

【长难句剖析】

1. 夸张的隐喻与动名词作结果状语：
"The best lawyers made skyscrapers-full of money, tempting ever more students to pile into law schools."
【解析】"skyscrapers-full of money" 是一个生动的合成形容词隐喻，形容钱像摩天大楼一样多。tempting 引导的现在分词短语作伴随/结果状语。

2. 冒号解释与冗长名词短语：
"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."
【解析】冒号后是一个由三个并列名词短语组成的同位语（a degree... then a degree... and a preparation...），解释说明前面的 one path。其中 authorized by 是过去分词短语作后置定语。

3. 复杂的宾语从句与隔离结构：
"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."
【解析】insist 后接 that 引导的宾语从句。从句的主语是动名词短语 keeping outsiders out of a law firm，谓语是 isolates，构成 isolate sb. from sth. 结构。句意为：反对者坚持认为，把局外人拒之门外，能使律师免受“赚钱而非道德地服务客户”的压力。