英语小故事第055期：Paris Goes to Jail in LA

The biggest news in the whole world occurred two weeks ago when Paris Hilton was sentenced to 23 days in a Los Angeles jail. The heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune, who was a favorite of the paparazzi, had been cited for driving on a suspended license, among other things.

When the judge decided that she must go to jail, people everywhere voiced their approval or disapproval. The news was on the radio, TV, and the Internet. Why her situation was such worldwide news mystified almost everyone. After all, her only known value to society thus far had been her ability to party with one boyfriend after another, one week after another. As many said, she was famous for being famous—nothing more.

When she finally went to jail, there must have been 100 photographers taking pictures of her. At first, the jail officials put her in a private cell, but her claustrophobia caused her to have panic attacks. They released her the next day. The following day, however, the judge ordered her back to jail to finish her sentence.

The sheriff said she was treated like all the other prisoners. She ate baloney sandwiches and other nutritious food, just like the others. When she finally was released from jail, at 12:01 a.m. on a Tuesday night, dozens of photographers again congregated around her to snap the “perfect” photo. She spent the first day relaxing—and recovering—at home in her parents’ mansion.

Then she went on the Larry King radio show and talked about her experience. She hadn’t liked being in jail, she said, but it had turned her life around. She had found God, and now she was going to do all she could to help needy people improve their lives.