[al:新概念英语（三）] [ar:MP3 同步字幕版（英音）] [ti:The Power of the Press] [by:更多学习内容，请到chazidian.com搜索“新概念”] [00:01.44]Lesson 45 [00:03.45]The power of the press [00:12.29]Does the writer think the parents were lucky or unlucky to gain prosperity in this way? Why? [00:21.64]In democratic countries any efforts to restrict the freedom of the press are rightly condemned. [00:28.83]However, this freedom can easily be abused. [00:33.05]Stories about people often attract far more public attention than political events. [00:39.27]Though we may enjoy reading about the lives of others, [00:42.59]it is extremely doubtful whether we would equally enjoy reading about ourselves. [00:48.43]Acting on the contention that facts are sacred, [00:52.14]reporters can cause untold suffering to individuals by publishing details about their private lives. [00:59.54]Newspapers exert such tremendous influence [01:02.83]that they can not only bring about major changes to the lives of ordinary people but can even overthrow a government. [01:10.81]The story of a poor family that acquired fame and fortune overnight, dramatically illustrates the power of the press. [01:18.76]The family lived in Aberdeen, a small town of 23, 000 inhabitants in South Dakota. [01:25.73]As the parents had five children, life was a perpetual struggle against poverty. [01:31.24]They were expecting their sixth child and were faced with even more pressing economic problems. [01:37.41]If they had only had one more child, the fact would have passed unnoticed. [01:42.42]They would have continued to struggle against economic odds and would have lived in obscurity. [01:48.40]But they suddenly became the parents of quintuplets, four girls and a boy, [01:53.94]an event which radically changed their lives. [01:57.60]The day after the birth of the five children, [02:00.25]an aeroplane arrived in Aberdeen bringing sixty reporters and photographers. [02:07.13]The rise to fame was swift. [02:09.72]Television cameras and newspapers carried the news to everyone in the country. [02:15.59]Newspapers and magazines offered the family huge sums for the exclusive rights to publish stories and photographs. [02:24.28]Gifts poured in not only from unknown people, [02:27.86]but from baby food and soap manufacturers who wished to advertise their products. [02:33.41]The old farmhouse the family lived in was to be replaced by a new $500, 000 home. [02:40.15]Reporters kept pressing for interviews so lawyers had to be employed to act as spokesmen for the family at press conferences. [02:48.03]While the five babies were still quietly sleeping in oxygen tents in a hospital nursery, [02:53.70]their parents were paying the price for fame. [02:57.01]It would never again be possible for them to lead normal lives. [03:01.67]They had become the victims of commercialization, for their names had acquired a market value. [03:08.46]Instead of being five new family members, these children had immediately become a commodity.