UNITFIVETEXTONEBoostedbyboominginternationalfinancialmarkets,theCityofLondonhasnothaditsogoodsincetheendofthedotcombonanzainthelate1990s.Baskingindouble-digitgrowthrates,London'slawfirmshavebothcontributedtothatsuccessandbenefitedfromit.TheearningsoftopCitylawyerscannowexceed£2mayear.Havingoptedtoexpandandgoglobalaheadofmostothers,Britain'sleadinglawfirmstendtobebiggerthantheirAmericanrivals.Indeed,accordingtoasurveyoftheworld'stop50lawfirms,compiledbyLegalBusiness,aBritishtradepaper,fiveoftheworld'stopsixlawfirms—intermsofturnover—arenowBritish(ifDLAPiper,theresultofanAnglo-Americanmerger,isincluded).Buttheyhavetendedtolagbehindintermsoftheirprofitability.Thatisnowchanging.TheprofitmarginsoftheCity'sfive“magiccircle”firms—CliffordChance,SlaughterandMay,Allen&Overy,LinklatersandFreshfields—havesoaredinrecentyearsandarenowcomparablewith,ifnothigherthan,thoseofNewYork's“whiteshoe”elite.SlaughterandMay,theonlyoneofthefivenottohavegoneglobal,hasthejointsecond-highestprofitmarginamongthetop50.Notsolongago,aLondonsurgeoncouldexpecttoearnasmuchasaCitylawyer.Buteventherecentbigrisesinhospitalconsultants'earningspallincomparisonwiththoseenjoyedbyLondonlawyers.AtSlaughterandMay,forexample,averageprofitsperequitypartner(PEP)jumpedbyalmostathird(indollarterms)lastyearto$2.75m—morethanatanyotherofthetop50lawfirmsbartwoinNewYorkwherePEPaveraged$2.8mand$3.0mrespectively.Someseniorpartnersgetalotmoreofcourse.Competitionforthebestlawyersisfierceandpoachingfrequent.HencetheneedtokeepheadlinePEPfiguresup—evenatthecostofgettingridofequitypartners,leavingabiggershareofthebountyfortheremainingones.Freshfieldsisintheprocessofsheddingaround100ofitsequitypartners.Otherleadingfirmsarealsoundertakingpainfulrestructuring.Newlyqualifiedlawyers'salarieshavealsobeenshootingupinthesearchforthebesttalent.BothFreshfieldsandAllen&Overynowpaytheirfirst-yearassociates£65,000,risingtoaround£90,000afterthreeyears.(First-yearassociatesatAmerica'stoplawfirmsgettheequivalentof£80,000.)But,asmanyothertop-rankCityemployershavediscovered,bigearningsdonotnecessarilyguaranteebigsatisfaction.AccordingtoaYouGovpoll,publishedbytheLawyerearlierthismonth,aquarterofBritain'slawyers(includingafifthoflaw-firmpartners)wouldliketoleavetheprofession.Thedisgruntledcomplainedaboutcripplinglylonghours,intensecompetitionandtheimpersonalityofthebiggestfirms(somewithmorethan3,000lawyers).Sowhydon'ttheyquit?Because,saythree-quarters,ofthepay.1.WhichoneofthefollowingisTUREofthestatusquoofLondon’seconomy?[A]Londonisenjoyingitsbesttimeofeconomicdevelopmentsince1990s.[B]ThegrowthrateofLondonisdoubledsincethebeginningofthe1990s.[C]Thegrowthratestartedtoboostsincetheendofthedotcomera.[D]ThecurrenteconomyofLondonismostlydrivenbyitslegalinsteadoffinancialmarket.2.Theworld’stop50lawfirmsaregradedaccordingto_____[A]theirannualmargin.[B]theirprofitability.[C]theirsalevolume.[D]theirquantityofbusiness.3.Thephrase“whiteshoe”(Line3,Paragraph3)mostprobablymeans____[A]whitecollars.[B]first-classlawfirms.[C]financialagencies.[D]internationalbanks.4.Inordertobecompetitive,thelawfirmstakethefollowingmeasuresexcept_____.[A]dismissingequitypartners.[B]carryingoutrestructuring.[C]havingtheirbestlawyersturnmorecompetitive.[D]raisingsalariesforrecruitingtalents.5.FromtheYouGovpoll,itcanbeinferredthat____[A]thisprofessionisfarfromsatisfacto...