这篇文章选自2013.2.2这一期《经济学人》杂志，是关于美国法律行业出现的问题及其解决方案，文章来源是考研阅读最青睐的杂志，法律题材也是考研阅读近年来非常热门的题材。文章和题目总体难度不大。 五道题中，有四道事实细节题，一道主旨题。这道主旨题不难解，文章中有非常明显的词和句，反复表明美国法律行业出现了问题，末段还给出了解决方案。单单根据 看题干解题法，也能又快又准地选出答案。下面我们看题干：26题中提到a lot of students take up law as their profession;27题提到the costs of legal education即成本高，显然是法律教育中存在的问题;28题提到hindrance of the reform of the legal system即法律体系改革的障碍;29题中有一个词叫restrictive，也是讲问题，故30题答案锁定在B项 a problem in Americas legal profession and solutions to it或D项flawed ownership of Americas law firms and its causes之间，而D项的关键词是法律公司，范围太小，以偏概全，故答案为B。所以，解主旨题，解题方法思路正确，看似很难的题目，实则不难。 五道题中，难度最大的一道题是27题，这是一道综合细节题，很容易进入命题人的陷阱。拿到题目，同学很容易定位到文中文中第三段第三句，该句讲在美国大多数州成为律师只有一条路径：四年不相关学科的学士学位，在美国律师协会授权的200所法律学校中攻读三年以获得法律学位以及准备律师资格考试费用昂贵，这使得普通的法律毕业生债台高筑。同学看到expensive preparation很容易选择B项或是C项，觉得是准备考试太昂贵了，但是这个选项片面、肤浅。考生需要注意，题干中有一个短语是add to，问的是增加的成本，综合整句话来看，美国法律教育时间成本很高，前后至少有七年，且本科专业与法律不相关，也加大了考试的难度和成本，故答案为[D] pursuing a bachelors degree in another major，其中another major对应文中的unrelated subject。结合我们冲刺班的阅读理解满分技巧，选项内涵深刻的是解，D项最为深刻，因为在所有的成本中，时间成本是最高的，四年不相关学科的学位既增加了时间成本，也隐形增加了准备考试的成本，故为正确答案。 从这篇文章中，不难看出，考研主旨题看似难实则不难，掌握了方法，可以快速拿分;而有些细节题看似简单实则不简单，反倒成了失分的主要阵地，所以，考生要想考出高分，需要认真对待每一道题目，拿下阅读，也就拿下了英语考试。 附：整篇文章及答案解析 Text 2 All around the world, lawyers generate more hostility than the members of any other professionwith 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 todays 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 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. 【答案】[D] the attraction of financial rewards 【解析】事实细节题。题目问的是许多学生选择法律作为他们专业的原因是什么，文章第二段第二句讲The best lawyers made skyscrapersfull of money, tempting ever more students to pile into law schools，意思是说最好的律师挣很多钱，吸引更多的学生纷纷进入法律学校。[D] the attraction of financial rewards中的attraction对应句中的tempting，financial rewards对应full of money。 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 bachelors degree in another major. 【答案】[D] pursuing a bachelors degree in another major. 【解析】事实细节题。题目问以下哪一项额外增加了美国大多数州法律教育的成本，文中第三段第三句讲在美国大多数州成为律师只有一条路径：四年不相关学科的学士学位，在美国律师协会授权的200所法律学校中攻读三年以获得法律学位以及准备律师资格考试费用昂贵，这使得普通的法律毕业生债台高筑。综合来看，美国法律教育时间成本很高，且本科学位专业与法律不相关，额外增加了成本，故答案为[D] pursuing a bachelors degree in another major，其中another major对应文中的unrelated subject。 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. 【答案】[A] the rigid bodies governing the profession 【解析】题干问法律体系改革的障碍源自于什么。对应于文章第四段，四段首句谈到法律体系改革，第二句讲明智的观点已经存在了很长时间，但是主管此专业的州级机构太保守了没能实施，其核心问题来自于the state-level bodies that govern the profession，故答案为[A] the rigid bodies governing the profession。 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 form holding law-firm shares. 【答案】[B] bans outsiders involvement in the profession 【解析】题目问类似于行会的所有权体制被认为是限制性的，部分原因是什么，文章第五段首句讲费用高的另外一个原因是，限制性的类似于行会的所有权体制，第二、三句对否定性的形容词restrictive进行解释，除了哥伦比亚特区，非律师可能不会拥有法律公司的任何股份，这使得费用很高，改革缓慢，故行会一样的所有权体制被认为是限制性的，部分原因是禁止外人进入行业，故答案为[B] bans outsiders involvement in the profession。 30. In the text, the author mainly discusses [A] the factors that help make a successful lawyer in America. [B] a problem in Americas legal profession and solutions to it. [C] the role of undergraduate studies in Americas legal education. [D] flawed ownership of Americas law firms and its causes. 【答案】[B] a problem in Americas legal profession and solutions to it. 【解析】题干问作者在文章中主要讨论什么，文章主要谈及美国法律行业出现的问题，即：法律教育的成本高，而改革的速度慢，末段提出了解决方案，故答案为[B] a problem in Americas legal profession and solutions to it。