被誉为伦敦“魔力圈”的五家事务所（Clifford Chance, Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy, Linklaters和Freshfields）的利润近年来飞速增加，现在虽然不能说超过，但也可以说已经能与纽约的“白鞋子”精英相抗衡了。Slaughter and May是五家中唯一没有走向世界的事务所，目前已经在全球50家利润最高的事务所中排名第二了。

不久前，伦敦的外科医生还有望与律师收入相当。但是尽管最近医院会诊医生的收入有了大幅增长，与伦敦律师工资的涨幅比起来，还是相形见绌。比如在Slaughter and May，去年人均合股利润（PEP）达到了275万美元，涨幅为近1/3（以美元计算），这比任何全球前50名律师事务所或纽约的律师界工资都要高，其人均合股利润分别为280万美元和300万美元。当然，一些高级合股人的收入更高。

争取请到最好律师的竞争是激烈的，挖墙脚的事时有发生。因此，有必要保持PEP指数的高位，有时甚至以牺牲合股人为代价，从而将更大一部分奖金留给剩下的人。Freshfields目前就正在裁减大约100名合股人。其他领先的事务所也同样正在经历重组的痛苦。

因为业界在不断寻找最好的人才，因此刚获得从业资格的新律师的起薪也大幅增长。目前，Freshfields和 Allen & Overy支付给律师的第一年的工资为6.5万英镑，三年后升至约9万英镑。（在美国，顶尖律师事务所律师第一年的工资为8万英镑。）

但是，正如伦敦其他许多顶级的雇主所发现的，高工资并不意味着高满意度。根据本月初刊登在《律师》上的一项YouGov民意调查，有1/4英国律师（包括1/5的律师搭档）都想要离开这个行业。那些不满者抱怨工作时间几近极限、存在激烈的竞争和最大事务所（有些拥有3,000名以上的员工）采取非人性化管理。那么他们为什么不放弃这个工作呢？因为收入，3/4的人这样回答。





TEXT TWO


Richard Burton probably knew nothing of the small South African town of Cullinan when he bought yet another chunky diamond for Elizabeth Taylor in 1969. Now the Cullinan mine itself, like so many of the diamonds unearthed there, is about to change hands. On November 22nd De Beers, the diamond giant that has owned the mine since 1930, said it was selling it to a consortium led by Petra Diamonds, one of South Africa's emerging diamond producers, for 1 billion rand in cash. Provided regulators approve the deal, the transfer should take place by the middle of next year.

De Beers is selling because the mine is no longer profitable, despite attempts to turn it around. But Petra reckons the mine still has another 20 years of production in it and plans to extract at least 1m carats a year. The unexploited “Centenary Cut” deposit, which lies under the existing mine, could yield a lot more. This is good news for the mine's 1,000 or so employees and for the town, which has depended on the diamond business since Sir Thomas Cullinan discovered a prospect there in 1898 that contained kimberlite, a rock that can be rich in diamonds. The mine, established in 1903, is one of 30 or so kimberlite diamond mines in the world, and is believed to be still the world's second-most-valuable diamond resource.

Petra is a relatively small outfit, listed on London's Alternative Investment Market, that specialises in buying mines that bigger companies see as marginal. Its trick is to extract better returns by rationalising production and processing, and keeping operating costs and overheads down. Petra has already bought two of De Beers's loss-making South African mines—both of which are now profitable—and is finalising the 78.5m rand acquisition of the group's underground operation in Kimberley, which stopped working in 2005.

It already operates four mines in South Africa and has promising exploration in Angola (a joint-venture with BHP Billiton), Sierra Leone and Botswana. Petra expects to produce over 1m carats by 2010—quite a jump from 180,474 carats in the year to June. The company has yet to make a profit, but expects to be making money by the middle of next year.

In the 1990s De Beers decided that it was no longer a good idea to try to monopolise the diamond market. It started focusing on higher returns rather than market share, and has been revamping its mine portfolio, selling off mines that are no longer profitable and investing in more enticing operations, such as its mine off the west coast of South Africa, its Voorspoed operation in the Free State province, and two new mines in Canada.

This has opened the way for a new class of diamond firm that operates in the vast middle ground between the world's handful of large producers and a multitude of much smaller exploration firms. The Cullinan deal should entrench Petra in this middle tier, alongside firms such as Kimberley Diamond and Trans Hex. But even if it does reach its target of 1m carats a year, Petra will still not be able to match the sparkle of the giants. Last year De Beers produced 51m carats from its mines in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania, which amounted to 40% of the world's diamonds by value.

1. The Cullinan mine in deal was named after _____.

[A] the original name of the town

[B] the name of its first owner

[C] the name of its discoverer

[D] the name of the town's first colonist

2. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the Cullinan mine?

[A] The mine is the only business of the town which employs most of the local residents.

[B] It can be mined for another 20 years given Petra's advanced technology.

[C] It is the world's second largest diamond mine with a yearly capacity of 1m carats.

[D] Whether the mine will maintain its profitability is yet to know.

3. Petra's operating philosophy can be said as _____.

[A] to make profits by reducing the costs

[B] to exploit the surrounding areas of an existing mine

[C] to integrate the resources of all the money-losing small mines

[D] to restructure the mine portfolio and to optimize the process management

4. De Beers has made changes on its development strategy because _____.

[A] it plans to shrink its market share and ends its long-term monopoly

[B] it wants to open the way for the middle tier of diamond market

[C] it switches its attention to making larger profits

[D] it wants to turn around the loss-making mines by cooperating with companies of smaller size

5. The future of the new class of diamond firm is _____.

[A] promising

[B] dim

[C] unknown

[D] frustrating





文章剖析


文章从Petra公司收购矿产为起因，介绍了钻石矿业中新兴的一个中间阶层。第一段讲述了Cullinan矿将要转手的消息；第二段介绍了De Beers公司之所以将该矿转手的原因；第三段和第四段介绍了Petra公司的一些经营方式和情况；第五段讲述De Beers公司的运营调整；第六段介绍了钻石矿业中的新阶层。





词汇注释


chunky adj. 小而厚的块

consortium n. 财团

kimberlite n. 金伯利岩

portfolio n. 组合

enticing adj. 引诱的，迷人的

entrench v. 确立，使处于牢固地位





难句突破


① This is good news for the mine's 1,000 or so employees and for the town, which has depended on the diamond business since Sir Thomas Cullinan discovered a prospect there in 1898 that contained kimberlite, a rock that can be rich in diamonds.

主体句式：This is good news for...

结构分析：for后面的宾语比较复杂：which引导的非限定性定语从句修饰the town；在该从句中有一个since引导的状语从句，在该状语从句中，that引导的定语从句修饰prospect; a rock...是kimberlite的同位语。

句子译文：这对于该矿1000名左右的雇工以及这个小镇来说是一个好消息，从1898年Thomas Cullinan爵士发现该矿含有金伯利岩（可能富含钻石的一种岩石）后，这个小镇就一直依赖钻石生意生活。

② It started focusing on higher returns rather than market share, and has been revamping its mine portfolio, selling off mines that are no longer profitable and investing in more enticing operations, such as its mine off the west coast of South Africa, its Voorspoed operation in the Free State province, and two new mines in Canada.

主体句式：It started focusing on..., and has been...

结构分析：本句由连词and连接了两个并列谓语。后半个分句的结构比较复杂，has been后面带有三个并列的成分，第二个成分selling off mines的后面有that引导的定语从句，第三个成分中的such as后面的部分都是用来修饰operations的。

句子译文：它开始关心更高的回报率而不是市场份额了，也一直在修改它的矿产组合，卖掉不再盈利的矿产，投资于更让人动心的项目，如它在南非西海岸的矿产、自由州省的Voorspoed项目以及加拿大的两处新矿。





题目分析


1. The Cullinan mine in deal was named after _____.

[A] the original name of the town

[B] the name of its first owner

[C] the name of its discoverer

[D] the name of the town's first colonist

1. 正在交易的Cullinan矿是以 _____ 命名的。

[A] 小镇原来的名字

[B] 第一个矿主的名字

[C] 矿场发现者的名字

[D] 小镇第一个殖民者的名字

答案：C　难度系数：☆☆

分析：细节题。该矿的名字为Cullinan，从第一段可以看到，它所在的小镇的名字也是这个，但是第二段提到1898年Thomas Cullinan爵士发现了这个矿含有金伯利岩，1903年该矿成立。那么可以推断，这个镇和矿的名字都是以Cullinan爵士、即其第一个发现者的名字命名的。因此，正确答案为C。

2. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the Cullinan mine?

[A] The mine is the only business of the town which employs most of the local residents.

[B] It can be mined for another 20 years given Petra's advanced technology.

[C] It is the world's second largest diamond mine with a yearly capacity of 1m carats.

[D] Whether the mine will maintain its profitability is yet to know.

2. 关于Cullinan矿，以下的陈述中哪个是正确的？

[A] 该矿是小镇唯一的工业，大多数当地人在这里工作。

[B] 有了Petra的先进技术，该矿还可以继续开采20年。

[C] 它是世界上第二大钻石矿，年产钻石100万克拉。

[D] 该矿是否还会保持赢利还是一个未知数。

答案：D　难度系数：☆☆☆☆

分析：细节题。文章第二段指出，小镇上的大部分人都依赖钻石产业为生，但这并不意味着他们都在矿上工作，因此选项A错误。文章第三段谈到，Petra的赢利策略主要是改进流程、降低成本，并没有强调使用先进的技术，因此选项B错误。选项C，在第二段提到Cullinan目前仍被认为是世界第二大最有价值的钻石矿，但并不一定在规模上也是第二大的，而且年产100万克拉指的不是该矿的年产量，而是Petra公司的计划年产量。选项D，文章没有明确指出该矿将来究竟是否会赢利，因此，选项D为正确的陈述。

3. Petra's operating philosophy can be said as _____.

[A] to make better profits by reducing the costs

[B] to exploit the surrounding areas of an existing mine

[C] to integrate the resources of all the money-losing small mines

[D] to restructure the mine portfolio and to optimize the process management

3. Petra的运营理念可以说是 _____。

[A] 通过削减成本来取得更好的收益

[B] 从已经存在的矿山周围寻找资源

[C] 整合那些亏损的小矿的资源

[D] 调整矿产组合并且优化流程管理

答案：A　难度系数：☆☆☆☆

分析：推理题。文章第三段提到，Petra专门收购大公司认为没有价值的矿产，其秘诀就在于通过合理化的生产和加工，降低运营和管理成本来获得更好的收益。可以看出，公司的运营理念就是通过自己的努力，比如使生产、加工合理化，降低费用来赢利，因此，选项A最为符合。

4. De Beers has made changes on its development strategy because _____.

[A] it plans to shrink its market share and ends its long-term monopoly

[B] it wants to open the way for the middle tier of diamond market

[C] it switches its attention to making larger profits

[D] it wants to turn around the loss-making mines by cooperating with companies of smaller size

4. De Beers改变了自己的发展战略，因为 _____。

[A] 它计划缩小其市场份额并中止长期的垄断

[B] 它希望可以为钻石市场的中间阶层开辟道路

[C] 它把注意力转移到如何谋取更大的利润上

[D] 它想要通过与小公司合作来扭转那些亏损的矿

答案：C　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：推理题。文章第五段提到，De Beers认为试图垄断市场已经不是什么好策略了，它开始关心更高的利润而不是市场份额了，还采取了一系列的措施来实现这个策略。因此，它改变了自己的发展策略，主要是想要谋取更大的利润，选项C为正确答案。选项A是公司改变策略的方式。选项B不符合原文内容。选项D具有一定的迷惑性，但要注意De Beers只是将一些矿卖给小公司，这并不意味着它与小公司合作，因此该选项错误。

5. The future of the new class of diamond firm is _____.

[A] promising

[B] dim

[C] unknown

[D] frustrating

5. 钻石业新阶层的未来是 _____。

[A] 有前景的

[B] 暗淡的

[C] 未知的

[D] 困难重重的

答案：C　难度系数：☆

分析：推理题。关于钻石业新出现的中间阶层，文章只是介绍了其刚刚开始发展的情况，但是未来会怎么样文章并没有给出明确的看法，因此，答案为C，其余三个选项的态度显然不符合题意。





参考译文


Richard Burton在1969年为Elizabeth Taylor新购一块钻石时，他可能对南非小镇Cullinan一无所知。现在Cullinan连同埋在地下的钻石一起都将易主了。11月22日，De Beers，这个从1930年起就一直是该矿矿主的钻石巨头，说要以10亿兰特现金的价格将其卖给以Petra Diamonds为首的财团。Petra Diamonds是南非新兴的钻石制造商。如果管理者同意达成这笔交易，该矿将于明年年中易手。

De Beers要做这笔买卖是因为尽管采取了很多措施，该矿却不再能提供丰厚的利润了。但是Petra估计，该矿还可以再开采20年，并计划每年最少挖掘100万克拉。而位于该矿下方尚未被开采的“百年切割”层，其储量更为丰富。这对于该矿1000名左右的雇工以及这个小镇来说是一个好消息，从1898年Thomas Cullinan爵士发现该矿含有金伯利岩（可能富含钻石的一种岩石）后，这个小镇就一直依赖钻石生意生活。该矿建立于1903年，是世界上约30个金伯利岩钻石矿之一，现在仍被认为是世界上第二大最有价值的钻石矿。

Petra是一个比较小的商业组织，在伦敦交易所另类投资市场上市。该组织专门收购大公司认为不重要的矿产，其秘诀在于，通过合理化的生产和加工，以及降低运营和管理成本来获得更好的收益。Petra已经在南非收购了De Beers的两家亏损的矿（这两个矿目前都在盈利），目前也即将完成以7850万兰特收购该组织在金伯利地下矿的业务。该矿已于2005年停产。

目前该公司在南非经营着四座矿，在安哥拉（与PEP Billiton的合资公司）、塞拉利昂和博茨瓦纳也有前景非常好的勘探项目。Petra希望到2010年时，产量可以超过100万克拉，相比6月份前的180474克拉的年产量来说是一个飞跃。公司现在还未赢利，但可望从明年年中开始赚钱。

在20世纪90年代，De Beers认为试图垄断钻石市场不再是个好做法了，它开始关心更高的回报率而不是市场份额了，也一直在修改它的矿产组合，卖掉不再盈利的矿产，投资于更让人动心的项目，如它在南非西海岸的矿产、自由州省的Voorspoed项目以及加拿大的两处新矿。

这就为钻石行业的一个新阶层开辟了道路，这个阶层处于世界上少数的大生产商和众多小勘探公司之间的那片广阔的区域。Cullinan的这笔交易确立了Petra在这个中间阶层中的地位，类似的公司还有Kimberley Diamond和Trans Hex。不过即使达到了其年产量100万克拉的目标，Petra还是远不能与那些钻石业巨头相比。去年，De Beers在博茨瓦纳、纳米比亚、南非和坦桑尼亚的矿的产量为5100万克拉，估计价值占到全世界钻石总价值的40%。





TEXT THREE


When there is blood in the water, it is only natural that dorsal fins swirl around excitedly. Now that America's housing market is ailing, predators have their sights on the country's credit-card market. Analysts at Goldman Sachs reckon that credit-card losses could reach $99 billion if contagion spreads from subprime mortgages to other forms of consumer credit. Signs of strain are clearly visible. There are rises in both the charge-off and delinquency rates, which measure the share of balances that are uncollectable or more than 30 days late respectively. HSBC announced last month that it had taken a $1.4 billion charge in its American consumer-finance business, partly because of weakness among card borrowers.

It is too early to panic, though. Charge-offs and delinquencies are still low. According to Moody's, a rating agency, the third-quarter delinquency rate of 3.89% was almost a full percentage point below the historical average. The deterioration in rates can be partly explained by technical factors. A change in America's personal-bankruptcy laws in 2005 led to an abrupt fall in bankruptcy filings, which in turn account for a big chunk of credit-card losses; the number of filings (and thus charge-off rates) would be rising again, whether or not overall conditions for borrowers were getting worse.

The industry also reports solid payment rates, which show how much of their debt consumers pay off each month. And confidence in credit-card asset-backed securities is pretty firm despite paralysis in other corners of structured finance. Dennis Moroney of TowerGroup, a research firm, predicts that issuance volumes for 2007 will end up being 25% higher than last year.

Direct channels of infection between the subprime-mortgage crisis and the credit-card market certainly exist: consumers are likelier to load up on credit-card debt now that home-equity loans are drying up. But card issuers look at cash flow rather than asset values, so falling house prices do not necessarily trigger a change in borrowers' creditworthiness. They may even work to issuers' advantage. The incentives for consumers to keep paying the mortgage decrease if properties are worth less than the value of the loan; card debt rises higher up the list of repayment priorities as a result.

Card issuers are also able to respond much more swiftly and flexibly to stormier conditions than mortgage lenders are, by changing interest rates or altering credit limits. That should in theory reduce the risk of a rapid repricing of assets. “We are not going to wake up one day and totally revalue the loans,” says Gary Perlin, Capital One's chief financial officer.

If a sudden subprime-style meltdown in the credit-card market is improbable, the risks of a sustained downturn are much more real. If lower house prices and a contraction in credit push America into recession, the industry will undoubtedly face a grimmer future. Keep watching for those dorsal fins.

1. The author makes mention of dorsal fins which are irrelevant to the topic in order to _____.

[A] make people alert to the potential danger

[B] attract the readers' attention by presenting an interesting phenomenon

[C] make people realize the graveness of the issue by showing a similar case

[D] make the passage more vivid by imparting new knowledge to readers

2. Rises in the charge-off and delinquency rate indicate _____.

[A] the deterioration of the subprime mortgage

[B] the inadequate ability of card borrowers

[C] the influence of the technical factors

[D] the change in relevant laws

3. According to the second paragraph, the number of bankruptcy filings would be rising again because _____.

[A] there is a change in America's personal-bankruptcy laws

[B] the charge-offs and delinquencies are still low