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Boosted by booming international financial markets, the City of London has not had it so good since the end of the dotcom bonanza in the late 1990s. Basking in double-digit growth rates, London’s law firms have both contributed to that success and benefited from it. The earnings of top City lawyers can now exceed ￡2m a year.
Having opted to expand and go global ahead of most others, Britain’s leading law firms tend to be bigger than their American rivals. Indeed, according to a survey of the world’s top 50 law firms, compiled by Legal Business, a British trade paper, five of the world’s top six law firms-in terms of turnover-are now British (if DLA Piper, the result of an Anglo-American merger, is included). But they have tended to lag behind in terms of their profitability. That is now changing.
The profit margins of the City’s five "magic circle" firms-Clifford Chance, Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy, Linklaters and Freshfields-have soared in recent years and are now comparable with, if not higher than, those of New York’s "white shoe" elite. Slaughter and May, the only one of the five not to have gone global, has the joint second-highest profit margin among the top 50.
Not so long ago, a London surgeon could expect to earn as much as a City lawyer. But even the recent big rises in hospital consultants’ earnings pall in comparison with those enjoyed by London lawyers. At Slaughter and May, for example, average profits per equity partner (PEP) jumped by almost a third (in dollar terms) last year to $2.75m-more than at any other of the top 50 law firms bar two in New York where PEP averaged $2.8m and $3.0m respectively. Some senior partners get a lot more of course.
Competition for the best lawyers is fierce and poaching frequent. Hence the need to keep headline PEP figures up-even at the cost of getting rid of equity partners, leaving a bigger share of the bounty for the remaining ones. Freshfields is in the process of shedding around 100 of its equity partners. Other leading firms are also undertaking painful restructuring. 
Newly qualified lawyers’ salaries have also been shooting up in the search for the best talent. Both Freshfields and Allen & Overy now pay their first-year associates ￡65,000, rising to around ￡90,000 after three years. (First-year associates at America’s top law firms get the equivalent of ￡80,000.)
But, as many other top-rank City employers have discovered, big earnings do not necessarily guarantee big satisfaction. Acording to a YouGov poll, published by the Lawyer earlier this month, a quarter of Britain’s lawyers (including a fifth of law-firm partners) would like to leave the profession. The disgruntled complained about cripplingly long hours, intense competition and the impersonality of the biggest firms (some with more than 3,000 lawyers). So why don’t they quit? Because, say three-quarters, of the pay.

1. Which one of the following is TURE of the status quo of London’s economy?
[A] London is enjoying its best time of economic development since 1990s.
[B] The growth rate of London is doubled since the beginning of the 1990s.
[C] The growth rate started to boost since the end of the dotcom era.
[D] The current economy of London is mostly driven by its legal instead of financial market.

2. The world’s top 50 law firms are graded according to _____.
[A] their annual margin
[B] their profitability
[C] their sale volume
[D] their quantity of business

3.The phrase “white shoe” (Line 3, Paragraph 3) most probably means____.
[A] white collars
[B] first-class law firms
[C] financial agencies
[D] international banks 

4. In order to be competitive, the law firms take the following measures except_____.
[A] dismissing equity partners
[B] carrying out restructuring
[C] having their best lawyers turn more competitive.
[D] raising salaries for recruiting talents

5. From the YouGov poll, it can be inferred that____.
[A] this profession is far from satisfactory
[B] most lawyers will leave the profession sooner or later
[C] most lawyers are satisfied with the profession because of the fat pay
[D] high salary is always contradictory to big satisfaction

题目分析：
1. Which one of the following is TURE of the status quo of London’s economy?1.下列哪一个是关于伦敦经济现状的正确表述？
[A] London is enjoying its best time of economic development since 1990s.[A]伦敦现在正在享受其自20世纪90年代末以来经济最好的时候。
[B] The growth rate of London is doubled since the beginning of the 1990s.[B] 伦敦的经济增长率翻倍了。
[C] The growth rate started to boost since the end of the dotcom era.[C] 伦敦经济从网络时代末尾的时候开始兴盛。
[D] The current economy of London is mostly driven by its legal instead of financial market.[D] 伦敦现在经济的繁荣主要是由其司法市场、而不是金融市场驱动的。
[答案]A
[难度系数] ☆☆☆☆
[分析]细节题。这题关键要看对于文章第一句话的理解，Boosted by booming international financial markets, the City of London has not had it so good since the end of the dotcom bonanza in the late 1990s.   "have it good"是一个词组，意思为"过得优裕"，那么这句话意思就是伦敦在20世纪90年代末享受过经济很好的一段时间后，一直到现在才又开始经济很好。选项A最为符合该句意思，是正确答案。C选项的时间概念不正确，而D选项则是无中生有。

2. The world’s top 59 law firms are graded according to _____.2. 世界前50强律师事务所是依据_____来划分的。
[A] their margin[A] 他们的利润[B] their profitability[B] 他们的收益率
[C] their sale volume[C] 他们的销售额[D] their quantity of business[D] 他们的业务数量
[答案]C
[难度系数] ☆☆☆
[分析] 细节题。文章第二段提到five of the world’s top six law firms-in terms of turnover，可以看出是以turnover（营业额）来评定的。如果不知道turnover的意思，也可以用排除法来选择。因为第二段提到，要是用收益率来衡量，那么它们排名就不会那么前了，因此A和B可以排除。D的业务数量又从来没有提及。可以猜出C可能是正确选项。

3.The phrase “white shoe” (Line 3, Paragraph 3) most probably means____.3. “白鞋子”这个短语(第三段第三行) 最有可能指_____。
[A] white collars[A] 白领[B] first-class law firms[B] 一流的律师事务所
[C] financial agencies[C] 金融机构[D] international banks[D] 国际银行
[答案] B

4. In order to be competitive, the law firms take the following measures except_____.4.为了让自己更有竞争力，律师事务所采取了以下除选项_____外的措施。
[A] dismissing equity partners[A] 解雇了股东合作人。
[B] carrying out restructuring[B] 实行重组。
[C] having their best lawyers turn more competitive[C] 让最好的律师变得更加有竞争力。
[D] raising salaries for recruiting talents[D] 提高工资以吸引更多人才。
[答案]C
[难度系数] ☆☆☆
[分析] 细节题。题干相关的内容在文章第五、第六段有提及。第五段提到，各律师事务所为了争夺最优秀的律师采取了许多措施，不得已都要解雇股东合作人，这样就可以将比较大的利润给剩下有限的人分配，从而保证顶尖律师的利润，有的还进行重组。而第六段提到为了找到最好的人才，还不惜提高新律师的工资。因此，选项中C 是没有提到的。

5. From the YouGov poll, it can be inferred that____.5. 从YouGov的民意调查结果可以看出_____。
[A] this profession is far from satisfactory[A] 这个职业是让人不满意的。
[B] most lawyers will leave the profession sooner or later[B] 大多数律师迟早都会离开这个职业。
[C] most lawyers are satisfied with the profession because of the fat pay[C] 大多数律师因为收入高的原因对这个职业满意。
[D] high salary is always contradictory to big satisfaction[D] 高工资和满意度总是相对立的。
[答案]A
[难度系数] ☆☆☆
[分析] 推理题。从文章最后一段可以看出，该民意调查中有1/4的律师表明想要离开这个行业，因为种种不满意的地方，但还有3/4不会离开就是因为高工资原因。因此，可以看出，律师这个行业并不让人满意，吸引人的只是高收入而已。A反映了这一点。B选项不符合文章最后一段，因为大多数律师表示都不会离开；D单单从律师行业的这个调查不能反映所有行业的情况、表述过于绝对。因此，答案为A。