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.
在民主国家任何限制报道自由的努力都一定会被谴责的。然而，这种报道的自由也很容易被滥用。公众对别人的奇闻异事的关注往往高于政治事件。
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 indivituals by publishing details about private lives.
虽然我们可能喜欢看别人的事情，但是我们是否喜欢看自己的事情这一点是存疑的。记者按事实至上的论点行事，发表有关别人私生活的细节，会给别人带来难以论说的折磨。
PS: read about, 读到
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.
新闻具有重大的威力，它不仅可以给寻常人家的生活带来重大的变化，更可以颠覆一个政府。
PS: bring about, 带来(坏的)影响，等同于lead to
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 23000 inhabitants in South Dakota. As the parents had five children, life was a perpetual struggle against poverty.
有个某贫穷家庭在一夜之间坐收名利的故事，戏剧性地阐释了新闻报道的威力。这家人住在阿拜丁，一个位于南达科他州，拥有23000居民的小镇。父母膝下有5个孩子，生活极度贫困。
ps: fame and fortune, 名利
PS++: struggle against, 与…作斗争，这里与贫困作斗争，译为“极度贫困”
They were expecting their sixth child and were 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.
第六个孩子即将降生，但这会面临更严重的经济问题。如果他们只是添加了一个孩子，这个问题还可以忽略一下。他们只需要默默努力与拮据继续对抗就好了。
PS: had only had done would have…, 虚拟语气，与过去事实相反，说明不是生了一个孩子，也不是继续默默无闻地对抗贫穷
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.
但是她们一下子生了5胞胎，4女1男，这个事情迅速地改变了他们的生活。5个孩子生下来之后，马上有一家飞机到达了阿拜丁，机上载着60个记者和摄影师。
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.
他们马上就出名了。电视镜头和报纸将这个新闻传播到了全国各地。报纸和杂志花了大量的钱来换取故事和照片的独家报道权。
PS: rise to fame, 出名
PS:++: exclusive rights, 独家版权
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 $500000 home.
不但素昧平生的人寄来了大量的礼物，而且婴儿食品、香皂制造商也给他们的产品打广告。他们家从原来的老旧民房搬去了一个价值500000美金的新房里。
Reporters kept pressing for interviews so lawyers had to be employed to act as spokesmen 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 of fame.
记者们持续不断地采访，以至于这家人必须雇佣律师来做发言人来举行记者招待会。当这个五个宝宝依然安静地睡在医院婴儿室的氧气室里时，他们的父母却为这名声付出了代价。
PS: act as, 扮演…角色，等同于play a role in
It would never again be possible for them to lead normal lives. They had become the victims of commercialization, for their names had accquired a market value. Instead of being five new family members, these children had immediately become a commodity.
他们再也不能过正常的生活。他们已经成为了商业化的受害者，因为他们的名字已经获得了市场价值。这5个小孩不再是家庭成员，他们迅速变成了商品。
PS: sb/sth has required a market value, …已经得到了商业价值
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