Lawyers are trained to phrase things in such a way that their clients or they themselves benefit. This is a little hard to explain,but it's such easier to give you examples. The following dialog illustrates how clever manipulation of the language can be very rewarding. An analysis of what happened and why immediately follows.

Brenda:That's what happened. Do you think we have a case?

Lawyer:Okay,let me see if I've got this straight.

You want to install a large air conditioning unit in your home, put the motor on the roof, and run conduit across the outside of the building. Is that it?

Brenda:Well,actually we already installed it, and the board of directors says it's not allowed, and they want us to remove it.We think they're picking on us.

I mean,it's twenty-five floors up. Hardly anyone will see it. And it makes too much noise to put it in the living room,or on the balcony.

I ask you,does that seem fair?

Lawyer:It sounds like a reasonable request to me.

Brenda:That's what we think too,but they say they'll take us to court if we don't remove it.

So we need your help to represent us in court and make the property manager let us mount the unit on the building' ledge.

Lawyer:The lay says you'r entitled to the quiet enjoyment of your property,and using that as justification for your position,I think we can win.

Brenda:So you really think we have a chance?

Lawyer:Definitely,there's always a chance. But ,you realize anything can happen in court. It could go either way.

Brenda:Yes ,of course we know that,but the important thing is you believe in the case and think we can win.

Lawyer:Like I said,anything can happen in open court.However, I hope you understand this isn't an open and shut thing.

就像我之前說的,在法院中,任何事情都有可能發(fā)生.我希望你們了解,這件事情沒有這么單純.

To win,we have to line up our ducks. We've got to be ready.This case is going to require a lot of preparation.

想贏,我們就必須拿出全力,我們必須要準(zhǔn)備好.這個(gè)案子需要很多的準(zhǔn)備工作.

Brenda:But, don't you think we can ask the judge to give us court costs?

Lawyer:Of course,we can ask.

Vocabulary重要詞匯

exception例外

humiliate使蒙羞

amoral道德觀念的

leased出租的

section段落,范圍

provision條款

zealous 熱心的

code法規(guī),范例

ethics(職業(yè))道德,原理

interpretation解釋

assume假定,認(rèn)為

pronoun代名名

intend意圖要....

prohibit禁止

comply服從,遵照

chaos大混亂

illustrate說明,闡述

manipulation巧妙地使用

install裝置,安裝

balcany陽臺(tái)

ledge棚架

mount裝置,安裝

justification辯護(hù),正當(dāng)化

potential可能性,潛力