考研英语

Medium-length or long hair was best—but not too long. Heels and skirts were preferred at trial—but not too high and definitely not too short. But showing up in federal court with bare legs was as unthinkable as showing up drunk. Clothing may seem trivial, but what a woman wears at trial is directly related to her ability to do her job. When impeaching a witness to expose a lie, I would hold incriminating document and shove it in the witness’s face. I had to approach witnesses carefully—because I was balancing on heels.

思考题：

According to the author, why female lawyer’s dressing code is important?

A.It will influence her ability to work.

B.It will be convenient to shove document.

C.It will help lawyer approach the witness.

D.It will avoid the so-called embarrassment.

词汇突破：

词汇突破：

1. federal court 联邦法庭

2. unthinkable 无法想象的

3. trivial 微不足道的

4. impeach 弹劾;控告

5. incriminating 归罪的;显示有罪的

句：

Medium-length or long hair was best—but not too long.

参考译文：中长发最 好——但不要太长。

第二句：Heels and skirts were preferred at trial—but not too high and definitely not too short.

参考译文：庭审时首 选高跟鞋和裙子，但鞋不能太高，裙子绝 对不能太短。

第三句：But showing up in federal court with bare legs was as unthinkable as showing up drunk.

参考译文：但在联邦法院里，露腿就和醉醺醺地上庭一样难以想象。

第四句：Clothing may seem trivial, but what a woman wears at trial is directly related to her ability to do her job.

参考译文：衣着看似微不足道，但女人在审讯中的穿着直接关系到她的工作能力。

第五句：When impeaching a witness to expose a lie, I would hold incriminating document and shove it in the witness’s face.

参考译文：控告证人撒谎时，和我立场相同的男律师会手拿定罪文件向证人席走去，直接推到证人的面前。

第六句：I had to approach witnesses carefully—because I was balancing on heels.

参考译文：而我则不得不小心翼翼地走近证人，因为我得踩着鞋跟保持平衡。

思考题：

According to the author, why female lawyer’s dressing code is important?

定位到第四句：

“衣着看似微不足道，但女人在庭审中的穿着直接关系到她的工作能力。”换句话说，就是“衣着看起来不重要，其实很重要，因为它直接会影响她的工作能力。”

A.It will influence her ability to work.

四个选项中只有A符合这个意思。所以正确的答案是A。

B.It will be convenient to shove document.

C.It will help lawyer approach the witness.

D.It will avoid the so-called embarrassment.

文章背景和来源：

过去的二十年间，美国的法学院录取的男女学生人数基本相当，而2016年，录取的女生人数次超过男生。然而女性庭辩律师仍旧是少数派，首席律师队伍里就更少见到女性的身影了。斯坦福大学法学教授Deborah Rhode在2001年曾发表标志性报告，揭露法庭上的性别歧视。她说，女律师面对“双重标准和双重限制”，一方面她们要避免被看成“太软弱”或“太尖锐”，既不能“太有攻击性”，也不能“没有攻击性”。男性律师常常会使用一些伎俩来唤醒法官的性别歧视，例如庭审刚开始就提起抗议，说对方的女律师曾因在法庭上哭泣演戏而出名，要求此次案件法官杜绝她的这种“风格”。虽然此事纯属构陷，法官最后也不会同意抗议，但男律师的目的已经达到，他成功地让法官对女律师留下了“操纵情绪”“擅长演戏”的印象。女律师也常常因为穿着而不得不小心翼翼，不能穿得太女性化，法官会觉得你在不当利用性别魅力，但又不能让人觉得你是个男人婆。做个女人难，做个女律师尤其难。