【正文】 ives 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 news was of national importance, for the poor couple had bee the parents of the only quintuplets in America. 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 $100,000 home. Reporters kept pressing for interviews so lawyers had to be employed to act as spokesmen for the family at press conferences. The event brought serious changes to the town itself. Plans were announced to build a huge new highway, as Aberdeen was now likely to attract thousands of tourists. Signposts erected on the outskirts of the town directed tourists not to Aberdeen, but to 39。QuintCity .39。 The local authorities discussed the possibility of erecting a 39。quint museum39。 to satisfy the curiosity of the public and to protect the family from inquisitive tourists. 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 bee the victims of mercialization, for their names had acquired a market value. The town itself received so much attention that almost every one of the inhabitants was affected to a greater or less degree.在民主國(guó)家里，任何限制新聞自由的企圖都理所當(dāng)然地受到譴責(zé)。然而，這種自由很容易被濫用。常人軼事往往比政治事件更能引起公眾注意。我們都喜歡看關(guān)于別人生活的報(bào)道，但是否同樣喜歡看關(guān)于自己生活的報(bào)道，就很難說了。記者按事實(shí)至上的論點(diǎn)行事，發(fā)表有關(guān)別人生活的細(xì)節(jié)，有時(shí)會(huì)給當(dāng)事人造成極大的痛苦。新聞具有巨大的威力。它們不僅可以給尋常人家的生活帶來重大的變化，甚至還能推翻一個(gè)政府。 下面這戶窮人一夜之間出名發(fā)財(cái)?shù)墓适聭騽⌒缘卣f明了新聞報(bào)道威力。這戶人家住在南達(dá)科他州一個(gè)人口為23，000 的小鎮(zhèn)上，鎮(zhèn)名為阿拜丁。家里已有5個(gè)孩子，全家人常年在貧困中掙扎。第6個(gè)孩子即將問世，他們面臨著更為嚴(yán)峻的經(jīng)濟(jì)問題。如果他們只添了1個(gè)孩子，這件事本來就不會(huì)引起任何人的注意。這家人會(huì)繼續(xù)為克服經(jīng)濟(jì)上的拮據(jù)而奮斗，并默默無聞地活下去。但是他們出人意料生了個(gè)五胞胎，4女1男。這事使他們的生活發(fā)生了根本的變化。五胞胎降生第二天，一架飛機(jī)飛抵阿拜丁，隨機(jī)帶來60名記者與攝影師。 這一家迅速出了名。電視攝像機(jī)和報(bào)紙把消息傳送到全國(guó)。報(bào)紙、雜志出高價(jià)向他們購(gòu)買文字、圖片的獨(dú)家報(bào)道權(quán)。不但素昧平生的人寄來了大量的禮物，而且嬰兒食品、嬰兒肥皂制造廠商為了替自己產(chǎn)品做廣告也寄來了大量的禮物。這家人住的舊家舍將由一座價(jià)值50萬美元的新住宅所取代。由于記者紛紛要求會(huì)見，他們不得不請(qǐng)了律師充當(dāng)他們家的發(fā)言人舉行記者招待會(huì)。眼下，五胞胎還靜靜地躺在醫(yī)院嬰兒室的氧氣帳里，他們的父母卻為這名聲付出了代價(jià)，他們?cè)僖矡o法過正常的生活。他們成了商業(yè)化的受害者，因?yàn)樗麄兊拿志哂辛耸袌?chǎng)價(jià)值。這些孩子立即成了商品，而不是5個(gè)新的家庭成員。 Lesson46 Do it yourselfSo great is our passion for doing things for ourselves, that we are being increasingly less dependent on specialized labour. No one can plead ignorance of a subject any longer, for there are countless doityourself publications. Armed with the right tools and materials, newlyweds gaily embark on the task of decorating their own homes. Men of all ages spend hours of their leisure time installing their own fireplaces, layingout their own gardens。 building garages and makingfurniture. Some really keen enthusiasts go so far as to build their own record players and radio transmitters. Shops cater for the doityourself craze not only by running special advisory services for novices, but by offering consumers bits and pieces which they can assemble at home. Such things provide an excellent outlet for pentup creative energy, but unfortunately not all of us are born handymen. Wives tend to believe that their husbands are infinitely resourceful and versatile. Even husbands who can hardly drive a nail in straight are supposed to be born electricians, carpenters, plumbers and mechanics. When lights fuse, furniture gets rickety, pipes get clogged, or vacuum cleaners fail to operate, wives automatically assume that their husbands will somehow put things right. The worst thing about the doityourself game is that sometimes husbands live under the delusion that they can do anything even when they have been repeatedly proved wrong. It is a question of pride as much as anything else. Last spring my wife suggested that I call in a man to look at our lawnmower. It had broken down the previous summer, and though I promised to repair it, I had never got round to it. I would not hear of the suggestion and said that I would fix it myself. One Saturday afternoon, I hauled the machine into the garden and had a close look at it. As far as I could see, it only needed a minor adjustment: a turn of a screw here, a little tightening up there, a drop of oil and it would be as good as new. Inevitably the repair job was not quite so simple. The mower firmly refused to mow, so I decided to dismantle it. The garden was soon littered with chunks of metal which had once made up a lawnmower. But I was extremely pleased with myself I had traced the cause of the trouble. One of the links in the chain that drives the wheels had snapped. After buying a new chain I was faced with the insurmountable task of putting the confusing jigsaw puzzle together again. I was not surprised to find that the machine still refusedt