第45课

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In democratic countries any efforts to restrict the freedom of the press are rightly condemned.

在民主国家，任何限制新闻自由的努力都理应受到谴责。

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However, this freedom can easily be abused.

然而，这种自由很容易被滥用。

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Stories about people often attract far more public attention than political events.

关于人物的故事常常比政治事件更能吸引公众的注意力。

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Though we may enjoy reading about the lives of others,

尽管我们可能喜欢阅读别人的生活故事，

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it is extremely doubtful whether we would equally enjoy reading about ourselves.

但我们是否同样喜欢阅读关于我们自己的故事，这一点是极度怀疑的。

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Acting on the contention that facts are sacred,

记者们秉持着“事实神圣不可侵犯”的论点，

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reporters can cause untold suffering to individuals by publishing details about their private lives.

通过刊登个人私生活的细节，给他们造成了无法言喻的痛苦。

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Newspapers exert such tremendous influence that they can not only bring about major changes to the lives of ordinary people but can even overthrow a government.

报纸施加着巨大的影响力，它们不仅能给普通人的生活带来巨大变化，甚至可以推翻一个政府。

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The story of a poor family that acquired fame and fortune overnight, dramatically illustrates the power of the press.

一个贫困家庭一夜之间获得名利的故事，戏剧性地说明了新闻界的力量。

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The family lived in Aberdeen, a small town of 23,000 inhabitants in South Dakota.

这个家庭住在南达科他州一个拥有23,000居民的小镇阿伯丁。

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As the parents had five children, life was a perpetual struggle against poverty.

由于这对父母有五个孩子，生活一直是与贫困的无休止的斗争。

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They were expecting their sixth child and were faced with even more pressing economic problems.

他们正期待着第六个孩子，面临着更加紧迫的经济问题。

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If they had only had one more child, the fact would have passed unnoticed.

如果他们只多生一个孩子，这件事就会不为人知。

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They would have continued to struggle against economic odds and would have lived in obscurity.

他们会继续在经济困境中挣扎，并默默无闻地生活。

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But they suddenly became the parents of quintuplets, four girls and a boy, an event which radically changed their lives.

但他们突然成了五胞胎的父母，四个女孩和一个男孩，这一事件彻底改变了他们的生活。

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The day after the birth of the five children, an aeroplane arrived in Aberdeen bringing sixty reporters and photographers.

孩子们出生后的第二天，一架飞机抵达阿伯丁，带来了六十名记者和摄影师。

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The rise to fame was swift.

成名之路迅速。

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Television cameras and newspapers carried the news to everyone in the country.

电视摄像机和报纸将这一消息传遍了全国各地。

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Newspapers and magazines offered the family huge sums for the exclusive rights to publish stories and photographs.

报纸和杂志为独家刊登这些故事和照片的权利，向这个家庭提供了巨额报酬。

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Gifts poured in not only from unknown people,

礼物源源不断地涌来，不仅来自陌生人，

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but from baby food and soap manufacturers who wished to advertise their products.

也来自希望宣传产品的婴儿食品和肥皂制造商。

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The old farmhouse the family lived in was to be replaced by a new $500,000 home.

这家人住的老农舍将被一座价值50万美元的新房子取代。

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Reporters kept pressing for interviews so lawyers had to be employed to act as spokesmen for the family at press conferences.

记者们不停地要求采访，所以不得不雇佣律师在新闻发布会上担任这个家庭的发言人。

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While the five babies were still quietly sleeping in oxygen tents in a hospital nursery,

当五个婴儿还在医院育婴室的氧气帐篷里安静地睡觉时，

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their parents were paying the price for fame.

他们的父母却在为名声付出代价。

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It would never again be possible for them to lead normal lives.

他们再也无法过上正常的生活了。

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They had become the victims of commercialization, for their names had acquired a market value.

他们成了商业化的受害者，因为他们的名字已经有了市场价值。

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Instead of being five new family members, these children had immediately become a commodity.

这些孩子不再是五个新的家庭成员，而是立刻变成了商品。