【课文】
In democratic countries any efforts to restrict the freedom of the press are rightly condemned. However, this freedom can easily be abused. Stories about people often attract far more public attention than political events. Though we may enjoy reading about the lives of others, it is extremely doubtful whether we would equally enjoy reading about ourselves. Acting on the contention that facts are sacred, reporters can cause untold suffering to individuals by publishing details about their private lives. 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.
The story of a poor family that acquired fame and fortune overnight, dramatically illustrates the power of the press. The family lived in Aberdeen, a small town of 23,000 inhabitants in South Dakota. As the parents had five children, life was a perpetual struggle against poverty. They were expecting their sixth child and faced with even more pressing economic problems. If they had only had one more child, the fact would have passed unnoticed. They would have continued to struggle against economic odds and would have lived in obscurity. But they suddenly became the parents of quintuplets, four girls and a boy, an event which radically changed their lives. The day after the birth of the five children, an aeroplane arrived in Aberdeen bringing sixty reporters and photographers.
The rise to fame was swift. Television cameras and newspapers carried the news to everyone in the country. Newspapers and magazines offered the family huge sums for the exclusive rights to publish stories and photographs. Gifts poured in not only from unknown people, but from baby food and soap manufacturers who wished to advertise their products. The old farmhouse the family lived in was to be replaced by a new $500,000 home. Reporters kept pressing for interviews so lawyers had to be employed to act as spokes-men for the family at press conferences. While the five babies were still quietly sleeping in oxygen tents in a hospital nursery, their parents were paying the price for fame. It would never again be possible for them to lead normal lives. They had become the victims of commercialization, for their names had acquired a market value. Instead of being five new family members, these children had immediately become a commodity.
【课文翻译】
在民主国家里,任何限制新闻自由的企图都理所当然地受到谴责。然而,这种自由很容易被滥用。常人轶事往往比政治事件更能引起公众注意。我们都喜欢看关于别人生活的报道,但是否同样喜欢看关于自己生活的报道,就很难说了。记者按事实至上的论点行事,发表有关别人生活的细节,有时会给当事人造成极大的痛苦。新闻具有巨大的威力。它们不仅可以给寻常人家的生活带来重大的变化,甚至还能*一个政府。
下面这户穷人一夜之间出名发财的故事戏剧性地说明了新闻报道威力。这户人家住在南达科他州一个人口为23,000 的小镇上,镇名为阿拜丁。家里已有5个孩子,全家人常年在贫困中挣扎。第6个孩子即将问世,他们面临着更为严峻的经济问题。如果他们只添了1个孩子,这件事本来就不会引起任何人的注意。这家人会继续为克服经济上的拮据而奋斗,并默默无闻地活下去。但是他们出人意料生了个五胞胎,4女1男。这事使他们的生活发生了根本的变化。五胞胎降生第二天,一架飞机飞抵阿拜丁,随机带来60名记者与摄影师。
这一家迅速出了名。电视摄像机和报纸把消息传送到全国。报纸、杂志出高价向他们购买文字、图片的报道权。不但素昧平生的人寄来了大量的礼物,而且婴儿食品、婴儿肥皂制造厂商为了替自己产品做广告也寄来了大量的礼物。这家人住的旧家舍将由一座价值50万美元的新住宅所取代。由于记者纷纷要求会见,他们不得不请了律师充当他们家的发言人举行记者招待会。眼下,五胞胎还静静地躺在医院婴儿室的氧气帐里,他们的父母却为这名声付出了代价,他们再也无法过正常的生活。他们成了商业化的受害者,因为他们的名字具有了市场价值。这些孩子立即成了商品,而不是5个新的家庭成员。
【词汇】
democrat n. 民主的
restrict v. 限制
abuse v. 滥用
contention n. 论点
untold adj. 数不尽的,无限的
perpetual adj. 永久的
quintuplet n. 五胞胎之一
obscurity n. 默默无闻
radically adv. 彻底地,完全地
exclusive adj. 独占的,的
nursery n. 育婴室,保育室
commercialization n. 商品化
commodity n. 商品
【重点词汇讲解】
【restrict】
英英:place under restrictions; limit access to
例句:
1. In return, the banks have to restrict pay for top officials.
作为交换,银行必须限制高级官员的薪水。
2. Only if we restrict ourselves can the conversation be conducted; friendly chat depends on the well self-control.
我们唯有约束自己,对话才可能进行;友好的交谈依赖于良好的自我克制得以产生。
3. You do not have to restrict yourself to writing only about things that you have experienced personally, but it helps.
你并不一定非要写你自己亲身经历的事情,但如果你写自己亲身经历的事情会对你写诗有所帮助。
【untold】
例句:
1. Why, untold thousands of persons had a hand in every cup of coffee the loggers drink!
哎呀,忘了说了,在伐木工喝的每杯咖啡背后,也有成千上万的人的劳作!
2. I am a cheerful girl, like friends. I am also very humorous, we will bring untold joy.
我是一个开朗的女孩,特别喜欢交朋友。我也很幽默,会给大家带来数不清的欢乐。
【perpetual】
例句:
1. Do you believe in perpetual love in this secular world?
在这个世俗的世界你还相信有天长地久的爱情吗?
2. Indeed, on the atomic scale, perpetual motion is a reality.
的确,从原子尺度看,永恒的运动是一个确实存在的事实。
【obscurity】
例句:
1. You may be serving in obscurity in some small place, feeling unknown and unappreciated.
你可能在一个小地方默默奉献,无人知道无人赏识。
2. Through the spread on Internet, Furong jj became famous in a night from obscurity.
通过网络传播,芙蓉jj一夜之间从(阴暗,不分明,身份低微)到家喻户晓。
【radically】
例句:
1. If these ideas were really taken seriously, they would change education radically.
如果这些方案得到真真正正地落实,那么教育界将发生根本性的变化。
2. Like many other parts of the media industry, publishing is being radically reshaped by the growth of the internet.
与传媒业的许多其他分支一样,伴随着互联网的成长,出版业的形态经历着重大变革。
【exclusive】
例句:
1. The nuclear club is getting less exclusive by the day.
核俱乐部的门槛一天比一天低。
2. But a news agency can retain exclusive use of its product so long as it has a commercial value.
但是只要该产品有一定的商业价值,新闻单位可以阻止他人使用自家的新闻出版物。
【常用表达】
【bring about】引起,导致
【in obscurity】默默无闻
【rise to fame】名声大振
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