The power of the press
新闻的力量
Does the writer think the parents were lucky or unlucky to gain prosperity in this way? Why?
作者认为这对父母以这种方式获得财富是幸运还是不幸？为什么？
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行为都理应受到谴责。
However, this freedom can easily be abused.
然而，这种自由很容易被滥用。
Stories about people often attract far more public attention than political events.
关于人物的故事往往比政治事件更能吸引公众的关注。
Though we may enjoy reading about the lives of others,
尽管我们可能喜欢阅读他人的生活、
it is extremely doubtful whether we would equally enjoy reading about ourselves.
我们是否同样喜欢阅读关于我们自己的报道，这一点极为令人怀疑。
Acting on the contention that facts are sacred,
事实是神圣的、
reporters can cause untold suffering to individuals by publishing details about their private lives.
记者可以通过公布个人私生活的细节，给个人带来无尽的痛苦。
Newspapers exert such tremendous influence
报纸的影响力如此巨大
that they can not only bring about major changes to the lives of ordinary people but can even overthrow a government.
它们不仅能给普通人的生活带来重大变化，甚至还能推翻政府。
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名利双收的故事生动地说明了新闻的力量。
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的阿伯丁，这是一个只有 23 000 居民的小镇。
As the parents had five children, life was a perpetual struggle against poverty.
父母有五个孩子，生活一直在与贫困作斗争。
They were expecting their sixth child and were faced with even more pressing economic problems.
他们即将迎来第六个孩子，面临着更加紧迫的经济问题。
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，这个事实就会被忽视。
They would have continued to struggle against economic odds and would have lived in obscurity.
他们会继续与经济困难作斗争，过着默默无闻的生活。
But they suddenly became the parents of quintuplets, four girls and a boy,
但他们突然成了五胞胎的父母，四个女孩和一个男孩、
an event which radically changed their lives.
这件事彻底改变了他们的生活。
The day after the birth of the five children,
五个孩子出生后的第二天、
an aeroplane arrived in Aberdeen bringing sixty reporters and photographers.
一架飞机抵达了阿伯丁，带来了六十名记者和摄影师。
The rise to fame was swift.
他们迅速成名。
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播到全国各地。
Newspapers and magazines offered the family huge sums for the exclusive rights to publish stories and photographs.
报纸和杂志为这个家庭提供了巨额的独家报道和照片出版权。
Gifts poured in not only from unknown people,
礼物纷至沓来，不仅有不知名人士送来的礼物，还有婴儿食品和肥皂制造商送来的礼物、
but from baby food and soap manufacturers who wished to advertise their products.
还有婴儿食品和肥皂制造商希望为他们的产品做广告。
The old farmhouse the family lived in was to be replaced by a new $500, 000 home.
一家人居住的旧农舍将被价值 50 万美元的新房取代。
Reporters kept pressing for interviews so lawyers had to be employed to act as spokesmen for the family at press conferences.
记者们不断催促采访，因此不得不聘请律师在新闻发布会上充当这个家庭的发言人。
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，他们的父母却在为成名付出代价、
their parents were paying the price for fame.
他们的父母正在为成名付出代价。
It would never again be possible for them to lead normal lives.
他们再也不可能过上正常的生活了。
They had become the victims of commercialization, for their names had acquired a market value.
他们成了商业化的牺牲品，因为他们的名字已经有了市场价值。
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，而是立即成为了商品。
