6.All around the world,lawyers generate more hostility(敌意) 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(通货膨胀).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 lawsuit filer that makes the legal 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 200law schools authorized by the American Bar Association and an expensive preparation for the bar exam(律师资格考).This leaves today's average law-school graduate with $100,000of debt on top of undergraduate debts.Law-school debt means that many cannot afford to go into government or non-profit work,and that they have to work extremely 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 an essential enough test for a would-be lawyer,those who can take 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(道德上).
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.
(Note:Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TWELVE WORDS)
78.Students whowant to make a lot of money are tempted to take up law as their profession.
79.The underlined word them in Para.4refers tosensible ideas to reform the legal system.
80.In addition to shortening the allowance time to take the bar exam,the system reform
should includeallowing people to study law as an undergraduate degree.
81.Why is the guild-like ownership structure of the legal system considered restrictive?Because non-lawyers may not own any share of a law firm.