单选题 A new book by a former lawyer at Kirkland & Ellis, one of the nation's largest law firms, has delivered a thrill to the already rattled legal profession. In The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession in Crisis, Steven J. Harper argues that legal jobs are disappearing not because of short-term economic fluctuations but because of powerful long-term trends. The word bubble is an overstatement, but Harper deserves credit for sounding the alarm.
The decline in the market for lawyers is being driven by an array of forces. For some time now, corporate clients have been less willing to sign off on bulky legal bills. They have increasingly been balking at the top hourly rates of $1,000 that some partners charge. And as a result of globalization, an increasing share of American legal work is being shipped overseas. Lawyers in India and other lower- wage markets are willing to do the work for a fraction of what American law firms would charge. Taking away even more of this work: newly sophisticated legal software that can do "document review" and other tasks for which lawyers were once needed.
The legal market is without question soft these days. Last June, the Association for Legal Career Professionals released a grim placement report stating that only 65.4% of law-school graduates had found jobs for which it was necessary to pass a state bar exam. And the Internet is full of first-hand accounts of law-school graduates who say that their law degree has not helped them get a law job-and, worse still, those who report that their degree has actually hurt their job prospects, since some employers now tell them they are overqualified for nonlegal positions.
Harper argues that the profession's leaders are a big part of the problem. He contends that big-firm managers are too focused on maximizing profits for the biggest, most rainmaking partners-at the expense of junior lawyers and the long-term interest of the firm. And he faults law-school deans for putting the interests and salaries of law professors ahead of the interests of their underemployed, debt- laden students.
Controversial as it is, Harper's big-picture argument is undoubtedly correct, and it is a real cause for concern. Bar associations and legal academics have begun talking about how the profession should adapt -discussions that are long overdue. The biggest problem with The Lawyer Bubble is not the warning it is sounding but its title; unlike tulips and other speculative bubbles in the past, lawyers will always be a necessity not a fad. But then, The Very, Very Challenging Job Market for Lawyers doesn't have the same ring to it.
单选题 The book The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession in Crisis ______.
  • A. has rattled legal profession.
  • B. is an exaggeration of the situation.
  • C. has caused deeper concern.
  • D. is a big blow to legal profession.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 第一段的第1句就指出该书的出版给原本已经寒风凛凛的法律行业带来寒意(has delivered a thrill to the already rattled legal profession)。本句中的thrill指的是刺激性的“颤动”，说明这本书已经对法律界产生了一个刺激，引起了人们的注意。进而最后一段第1句在总结时，作者又说it is a real cause for concern，进一步可以证明本书确实导致了人们的担忧(caused concern)，说明C项正确。 A项是对already rattled legal profession的错误理解，rattle本意为“短促而尖利的嘈杂声”，作动词使用时意为“使……作响；使……警觉”的意思，但法律界是already rattled，而不是本书所导致的，所以排除A项。B项是对the word bubble is an overstatement的片面理解，作者说的是书名中的bubble一词用的有些过大，而不是说整本书是夸张的，整本书还是值得关注的(deserve credit)。D项是对thrill一词的错误理解，thrill指的是刺激，而不是冲击。
单选题 Which of the following statements is true of paragraph 2?
  • A. The decline of legal profession is driven by economic recession.
  • B. Globalization has posed a tremendous impact on lawyers in America.
  • C. Many lawyers are unemployed with the introduction of legal software.
  • D. The downturn of legal profession is the outcome of a bunch of factors:
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 第二段第1句就表明律师市场日益萎缩有诸多因素(an array of forces)。D项的a bunch of同义替换an array of，factors同义替换forces，故为答案。 A项的经济衰退完全是生造出来的，原文中并未提到。B项属逻辑错误，实际情况是因为美国的律师费用过高才使得国外的律师有机可乘，并非国外的律师直接对美国律师界造成冲击。C项也是对原文陈述的过度引申，法律软件的引入take away even more of the work，但并不能直接说律师因此而大量失业。
单选题 It can be inferred in paragraph 3 that a degree in law has ______.
  • A. always been difficult to finish and complete.
  • B. enabled law graduates to secure decent jobs.
  • C. actually hampered some graduates in the job market.
  • D. overqualified students for their future jobs.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 从第三段最后一句可看出，有些学生认为法律学位实际上妨碍了找工作(has actually hurt their job prospects)，C项的hampered(阻碍)some graduates in the job market与之同义。 A项属于社会常识，不属于从文章中能推断出来的内容。B项与段落大意严重不符，段落中提到a grim placement report(非常惨淡的工作安排的报告)，仅仅65.4%的毕业生找到了相关工作，还有相当一部分学生很难找到工作。D项取自第三段最后一句，但文中提到的nonlegal positions(非法律方面的职位)并不对等于D项中的future jobs(未来工作)。
单选题 According to Steven J. Harper, ______.
  • A. leaders in the legal profession are not to blame.
  • B. the legal profession will burst like a bubble.
  • C. the inequity in the profession should be adjusted.
  • D. lawyers are actually a fad not a necessity.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题需要一定的推断，题干中的Steven J．Harper是本书作者，从作者所取的书名The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession in Crisis，以及第一段第2句Steven J．Harper argues that legal jobs are disappearing...可以看出Harper对法律行业的担忧，担心法律行业会像泡沫一样爆破消失，因而选B项。 A项与作者的观点正好相反，第四段第1句就提到哈伯认为法律行业大佬们难辞其咎(are a big part of the problem)。C项属于虚构项，文章完全没有提到过行业内不公平。D项necessity和fad之间的关系在文章最后一段提到过，是作者的观点，不属于Harper的观点，而且选项颠倒了两者的位置。
单选题 The author thinks that Harper's argument in the book is ______.
  • A. alarming yet exaggerating.
  • B. disputable yet reasonable.
  • C. controversial and doubtable.
  • D. correct and reasonable.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查作者的观点。从最后一段的第1句话可以看出，作者认为虽然Harper的整体论点(big-picture argument)是有所争议的(controversial)，但毫无疑问还是正确的(undoubtedly correct)。第3句作者又提到The biggest problem...its title，表明作者认为书名还有待商榷，作者认为这本书仍然是disputable(有讨论余地的)，但总体来说是reasonable(合理的)，故选B项。 A项alarming是正确的，文章第一段最后一句提到sound the alarm，但exaggerating不正确，作者认为sound the alarm应该deserve credit，最后一段第1句也说it is a real cause for concern,说明Harper的论证并不夸张，而是问题实际存在。C项controversial在最后一段第1句提到，但doubtable(令人怀疑的)不正确。D项前半部分说correct(正确)，说法过于绝对，作者只是说他的整体论点(big-picture argument)是正确的，但仍然controversial(有争议)。