In December of 1987 an automobile manufacturer

jinnuhong

20.   In December of 1987 an automobile manufacturer pleaded no contest to criminal charges of odometer tampering and agreed to pay more than $16 million in civil damages for cars that were test-driven with their odometers disconnected.
(A) cars that were test-driven with their odometers disconnected
(B) cars that it had test-driven with their disconnected odometers
(C) its cars having been test-driven with disconnected odometers
(D) having test-driven cars with their odometers disconnected（D）
(E) having cars that were test-driven with disconnected odometers

这个题我跟美国的朋友讨论了半天, 其实这句话需要更多的背景才能去理解. 但还是有不确定.... 希望和大家讨论一下
其中有 criminal charge (型事控告) 和 civil damage (民事赔偿)
criminal charge 应在 criminal court
civil damage 应在 civil court.  
所以虽是一个句子,但以上结果应来处两个不同的法庭.

对于plead no contest 的理解. 在美国 bar website 中有如下的解释, 应为"承认事实,但不认罪"
Q:        So what’s the difference between pleading guilty and pleading no contest?
A:        Good question. Sometimes there’s no difference whatsoever and sometimes there’s a big difference. If you plead guilty, you are admitting to the facts and the legal consequences of those facts. The benefit of a no-contest plea (when you admit the facts, but not your guilt) is that it allows you to avoid a trial if your defense has become hopeless, but it prevents the plea from being used against you in any later civil or criminal proceeding. It also allows you the opportunity to appeal rulings by the court, such as rulings allowing certain evidence to be used by the government.

所以翻译如下

1987 12月, 一家汽车制造商对里程表篡改承认但并不认罪(在 criminal court),  而同意为(试驾未连接里程表的车)支付16百万民事损害赔偿(在civil court)


我一直不太明白的是, 这个连词为何不是用转折的联系,而是用了个"and" . 若表先后顺序的话.... 总觉得有点牵强,  有其它意见的吗 ??

Pope_Xie

赞！楼主后后面的回答都把这道题目问地好深！！

jinnuhong

白勇的语法全解中,  Chapter 9 - 18

考点1 : pay some money for sth.
           pay some money for doing sth.
考点2: 代词的使用. their

RobinSW

谁可以解释下这道题目，竟然没有看出考点！！

jinnuhong

在白勇的语法全解中,  Chapter 8 - 18.
做题时我也做对了, 只是回头看时, 没太明白句意, 就search了一下... 看见有人提出来了,就试着翻译了一下.

chineuro

做这个题用不着这么麻烦吧……不就考后半段么。这题意思理解不理解不影响做题。
and不也有表达轻微转折的意思么。

我的疑问是这个题目的出自哪里？感觉这不是标准的GMAT语法题。

jinnuhong

Here is the definition of no contest. It's in depth so let me know if you don't understand it:
no contest

n. in criminal law, a defendant's plea in court that he/she will not contest the charge of a particular crime, also called nolo contendere. While technically not an admission of guilt for commission of the crime, the judge will treat a plea of "no contest" as such an admission and proceed to find the defendant guilty as charged. A "no contest" plea is often made in cases in which there is also a possible lawsuit for damages by a person injured by the criminal conduct (such as reckless driving, assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault), because it cannot be used in the civil lawsuit as an admission of fault. "No contest" is also used where there has been a "plea bargain" in which the defendant does not want to say he/she is guilty but accepts the sentence recommended by the prosecutor in exchange for not contesting the charge (which is often reduced to a lesser crime). It is standard practice for the judge to ask either the attorneys or the defendant, "Is there a factual basis for the plea?" before accepting it and finding the defendant guilty.


From my friend:

It could be like this: "In December 1997 an automobile manufacture pleaded no contest to criminal charges of odometer tampering.  [In civil court the company] agreed to pay more than $16 million in civil damages for having test-driven cars with their odometers disconnected."

they plead no contest in criminal court.  They still have to face civil court - in which case they lose, requiring them to pay $16 million.