注意:此页面搜索的是所有试题
Lord Woolf, the most senior judge in Britain believes that the civil courts are a nightmare for those trapped in their procedures. The average High Court case takes more than three years from the legal document to trial. Many personal injury cases take twice as long. The costs of these legal cases are out of proportion to the stakes. Lawyer’s fees in personal injury cases amount to more than half the claim. Some multinational (跨国的) companies complain that the British court system is slower and more expensive than any other.
The new Lord Chief Justice, Lord Bingham, describes the excessive costs of civil litigation (诉讼) as a cancer eating at the heart of the administration of justice. His point is that when justice is expensive, most people do not have access to it. These days, only the very rich or the very poor (whose costs will be paid by the state) can afford to go to court. Rising costs, therefore, also means a growing burden on the taxpayer: public expenditure on civil legal aid has increased a lot since 1983.
Cases have allowed running on and on because, at present, the lawyers set the pace, and they have no interest in seeing a quick result. Lord Woolf’s remedy is to shift control of litigation (诉讼)from lawyers to judges.
Quicker, cheaper justice is in almost everybody’s interests; but there will be opposition from two sources. The Treasury (财政部)is worried that, even though the court costs per case should fail, the costs to the state of the system as a whole will probably rise: there will have to be more judges, more staff members in the court, and the court system will need to be computerized. But such objections can be easily met. Higher court costs could be passed onto the litigants who would still pay less overall because their lawyer bills would be so much smaller.
Opposition may also come from lawyers. Some of them will complain that handing power to the courts will restrict their ability to represent their client’s interests. If justice is cheaper, it will also be rougher. Such an outcome is possible, but it is far from inevitable. In any case, the finest legal system in the world would still not provide justice if most people do not have access to it.
36. Lord Woolf describes the British court system as a nightmare because _________.
A) many people are trapped in its procedures
B) it takes at least 3 years before any court decision is made
C) it is expensive and inefficient
D) it is irresponsible and indifferent
37. As a result of the high costs of civil litigation, _____________.
A) the poor are actually not protected by law
B) few people in Britain go to court
C) justice is hardly existent in Britain
D) most people can not afford to go to court
38. In order to avoid the delay of cases, Lord Woolf suggests that _________.
A) lawyer’ s fees be reduced
B) judges take over the control of litigation
C) lawyers no longer set the pace
D) the court prescribes a time limit for each case
39. Lord Woolf’s remedy is opposed to by lawyers because ___________.
A) the cheaper a thing is, the poorer the quality will be
B) the court will restrict their ability to represent their client’ s interests
C) the costs to the state of the system as a whole will probably rise
D) the lack of money and time will result in a decline in the quality of their work
40. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the last sentence of the passage?
A) In dealing with any legal cases, the finest legal system is not necessarily the most efficient if people do not have faith in it.
B) It is not always the case that the best legal system is still able to provide justice even if most people do not have access to it.
C) Whatever happens, the finest legal system in the world will not do people justice if people do not go to court.
D) No matter how good a legal system is, it would not be able to perform its duty if people are denied access to it.

参考答案