十五篇文章贯通大学英语四级(CET4)词汇第三篇

　　A Man and His Castle

　　La Cuesta Encantada is one of the most remarkable displays of power and passion in the world. This marvelous tourist site now known as Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument is better known as Hearst Castle. It is located six hours south of San Francisco and five hours north of Los Angeles. Sheltered by the mountains in northern San Luis Obispo County, the complex of 165rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, pools, fountains and footpaths draws approximately 800,000 visitors annually. To understand the castle, you have to understand the man who built it, William Randolph Hearst. And to understand the man, you have to understand the land upon which he built his dream.

　　Born on April 29, 1863, William Randolph Hearst was the only child of Gorge Hearst and his wife, Phoebe. George was a multimillionaire who amassed his fortune through partnerships in three of the ever largest mining discoveries of copper, silver, and gold ores. In 1865, George began to accumulate parcels of land by obtaining 46,000 acres of the Piedra Blanco Ranch on Californias Central Coast. There he began a successful cattle ranch, eventually enlarging it to 250,000 acres stretching 50 miles along the coast.

　　William loved the ranch where he spent his summer vacations as a youngster and a youth, playing in the rugged canyons, descending the cliffs and camping in colorful Arab-style tents in the mountains with his family.

　　Phoebe was delighted in exposing her darling child to the beauties and wonders of the world and spared no expense doing so. During one of their adventures, an 18-month tour of the historic palaces and castles of Europe, William began a lifelong love of collecting. With his first acquisitions, German picture books, he embarked on a 78-year session of excessive spending. He confessed to a love of the finer things in life and, as he had a bottomless purse, would never deny himself anything he wanted.

　　In 1887, while William was at Harvard University, he decided to take over the small newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner, which his father had accepted as payment for a gambling debt several years earlier. George would have preferred that his son be involved in the mining and ranching interests, but William declined this offer and was given ownership of the Examiner in March 1887. He was determined to increase the popularity of the paper and acquire the best equipment and writers available.

　　Williams resolve to succeed inspired him to publish juicy tales of vice and stories full of drama and motivation. In 1895, he purchased the New York Morning Journal, putting him in direct competition with the distinguished Joseph Pulitzer and a circulation war began.

　　Both the Hearst and Pulitzer newspapers started to include sensational stories about the Cuban Insurrection. The stories greatly exaggerated claims of Spanish troops placing Cubans in concentration camps, forcing them to live under substandard conditions, disease-ridden, starving and dying. This style of reporting became known as Yellow Journalism. The newspapers were transformed as the scope of the news broadened and became less conservative. Circulation soared as the public could get enough of the banner headlines and abundant illustrations. At the time, many people believed William actually might have initiated the Spanish-American War to encourage sales. According to one report, when one of his correspondents, Frederick Remington, requested to return from Havana, William responded that if Remington would furnish the pictures, William would furnish the war. He was once quoted in an editorial as saying, Make the news thorough Print all the news. Condense it if necessary. Frequently it is better when intelligently condensed.

　　Another classic example of his influence occurred when; merely months after he advocated political assassination in an editorial, American President McKinley was assassinated.

　　As an intelligent and dynamic business man, William generated increased readership by employing some of the most talented writers in the United States, recruiting figures from the literary community, like Mark Twain and Stephen Crane, and the previously mentioned illustrator, Frederick Remington. He also showed his initiative when he chartered a yacht, equipped it as a miniature newspaper headquarters, anchored off the coast of Cuba, and led his army of reporters into the field.

　　Williams interests led him to follow in his fathers footsteps, inspiring him to enter into politics. He was elected to the U.S. Congress as a senator representing the State of New York in 1902 and served until 1907. He was a candidate for the office of mayor of New York City and governor of New York State, but failed in both of these attempts.

　　While honeymooning in Europe after his marriage to Millicent Wilson in 1903, he expanded his publishing empire with Motor Magazine. The Hearst Corporation grew to comprise a total of 12 newspapers, including the Examiner, and 25 magazines, including Cosmopolitan. Not satisfied with just his publishing enterprises, he expanded his business operations into radio, and later produced movie newsreels.

　　This influential media giant was not without his faults. His prejudices were common knowledge. His career was blemished by his offensive remarks about Spaniards, Japanese, Filipinos, and Russians. He printed lies, forged documents, falsified stories of violence, wrote provocative editorials, and published sensational cartoons and photographs to support his opinions.

　　William hated minorities. He took advantage of every opportunity to heighten racial tensions. His real motive for his hatred of Mexicans may have been the loss of 800,000 acres of prime timber land to the Mexican outlaw, Pancho Villa. His papers described them as marijuana-smoking, job-stealing, lazy, wicked, and violent degenerates. Some suggest he saw the Mexicans as a threat to his empire.

　　一个大人物和他的城堡

　　魔幻城堡是世界上最著名的展示才能与激情的名胜之一。这个奇迹般的游览地，就是现在著名的赫斯特圣西蒙国家历史博物馆，它作为赫斯特城堡，则更为有名。它位于旧金山以南6小时、洛杉矶以北5小时车程的地方。这座隐蔽在圣路易斯奥比斯波郡北部群山之中的综合建筑有165个房间，占地127英亩，有花园、游廊、水池、喷泉和小径，每年吸引大约80万名游客来到这里。要了解这座城堡，你就得了解建造它的那个人威廉伦道夫赫斯特，而要了解这个人，你就得了解他把梦想建在其上的这块土地。

　　威廉伦道夫赫斯特是乔治赫斯特和他的妻子菲比唯一的孩子。乔治是一个千万富翁，他通过合伙参与三个曾经是最大的铜矿、银矿和金矿的发现和开采，积聚起大量财富。乔治得到了在加利福尼亚海岸的46000英亩的皮亚得拉布兰可牧场，开始积聚大片土地。在那里，他开始了对养牛场的成功经营，并最终将它扩大到沿着50英里海岸的250，000英亩。

　　威廉热爱这个青年时期渡过暑假的牧场。在崎岖不平的溪谷里游玩，攀登悬崖，和家人一起在山里华美的阿拉伯式的帐篷里野营。

　　菲比很喜欢让她心爱的孩子去认识这个美丽而奇妙的世界，花费多少都无所谓。在一次冒险活动期间，他们用18个月游览了欧洲历史上著名的宫殿和城堡，从那时起威廉开始养成收集的终身爱好。他从最初收集德国的图画书开始，进行了长达78年的超级消费。他承认一生中对精美物品的痴迷和热爱，而且因为有一个用不完的钱包，他对想要的任何东西从不吝惜金钱。

　　威廉在哈佛大学读书时，他决定接管一家小报纸《旧金山问询报》，几年前他的父亲将其作为一笔赌债接收了下来。乔治更希望他的儿子把兴趣放在采矿和经营牧场上，但威廉拒绝了这个建议并于接手成为《问询报》的主人。他决定购置最好的设备，邀请最好的作者撰稿，提升报纸的声望。

　　威廉渴望成功的决心，促使他出版有趣的下流传闻和充满戏剧性、引人入胜的故事。他买下《纽约晨报》，与著名的约瑟夫普利策展开直接的竞争，开始了一场扩大发行量的商战。

　　赫斯特和普利策的报纸都开始刊登有关古巴起义的耸人听闻的故事。这些故事极大地夸大了西班牙部队的行为：他们把古巴人关进集中营，迫使他们在恶劣的条件下生活，饱受疾病、饥饿和死亡的折磨。这种报道形式成了有名的黄色资讯。报纸在向扩大资讯范围方面转变，并变得不那么保守了。因为能够使公众获得足够的头条资讯和丰富的插图，发行量激增。那时，很多人相信威廉实际上可能会发动西班牙美国战争以增加发行量。据一篇报道说，当他的一个通讯记者弗雷德里克雷明顿请求从哈瓦那回来时，威廉回答说如果雷明顿能提供图片，他就可以发起这场战争。曾有一篇社论引用过他的格言：跟踪资讯到底。报道所有资讯。必要时浓缩资讯。浓缩后的资讯常常更出色。

　　关于受他影响的另一个典型例子是，他在一篇社论中鼓吹政治暗杀，仅仅几个月后，麦金利总统就遇刺身亡。

　　作为一个聪明能干的商人，威廉通过雇佣美国最有才华的作者，从文学团体中聘用大人物，像马克吐温和斯蒂芬克莱恩，以及前面提到过的插图画家弗雷德里克雷明顿，造就了不断增长的读者群。他还显示了他的创新能力。当时，他包租了一条游艇，把装备成一个小型的报社总部，停在古巴海岸边，让他的采访队伍进入战场。

　　威廉的兴趣爱好引领他、激励他继承父业进入政界。作为纽约州的代表，他以参议员的身份被选进美国国会，一起任职到。他还是纽约市市长和纽约州州长职位的候选人，但这两次努力都失败了。

　　与米莉森特威尔逊结婚。在欧洲渡蜜月期间，他以《汽车杂志》扩张他出版帝国的疆土。赫斯特公司迅速成长以来，总共有包括《问询报》在内的12种报纸，和包括《大都会》在内的25种杂志。他并不满足于出版行业，还把他的事业扩展到电台，后来还生产资讯记录片。

　　这个有巨大影响的媒体巨人也不是没有缺点。他的偏见是众所周知的。他对西班牙人、日本人、菲律宾人和俄罗斯人的攻击性评论是对他职业的玷污。为支持自己的观点，他刊载谎言，伪造文献，编选暴力故事，写煽动性的社论，出版蛊惑人心的卡通和照片。

　　威廉憎恨少数民族。他利用一切机会加剧种族间的紧张关系。他憎恨墨西哥人的真正原因，可能是由于那个墨西哥逃犯Pancho Villa让他损失了800,000英亩的原始树林。他的报纸把他们描绘成抽大麻、磨洋工、懒惰、邪恶和喜欢暴力的堕落者。有人说他认为墨西哥人对他的帝国是一个威胁。