President Obama to visit Hiroshima

[World News ★★]

(P1) President Barack Obama will become the first U.S. president to visit Japan’s city of Hiroshima. It is a huge event for the USA and Japan. Hiroshima is the first city to suffer from atomic weapons. The bomb that U.S. forces dropped on the city in 1945 killed around 140,000 in that year. Some historians say it helped end World War II. Others say it should never have happened. President Obama said his visit is to focus on the future. Mr. Obama will not apologize for the bombing. An advisor said Obama, “will offer a forward-looking vision” that focuses on the shared future of the USA and Japan.

(P2) Barack Obama has wanted to visit Hiroshima for many years. People in Japan and the USA are now talking about the bombs that killed so many people. Mr. Obama said his visit would be a time to think about the horror of war and to remember the loss of life. He hopes his time in Hiroshima will remind people that war causes unnecessary death and that nuclear weapons should never be used. He said he wants people to know that innocent people caught in war suffer a lot. He added: “And that’s not just the thing of the past. That is happening today in many parts of the world.”

WORDS: 216

SOURCE: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1605/160525-obama-hiroshima-2.html

VOCABULARY: huge, atomic, historians, advisor, forward-looking, horror, unnecessary, innocent

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.

1. Briefly, summarize the content of the article in your own words.
2. Should countries still make and possibly use atomic/nuclear weapons? Why or why not?
3. Why do you think wars happen?

READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:

1. Which United States president was the first to visit Hiroshima after WWII?
2. Will President Obama apologize for what happened to Hiroshima?
3. There are no wars occurring now in the world (T or F)

EXPRESSIONS or PHRASES:

What do the following expressions or phrases mean?

• US Forces  (P1 – military)
• Loss of life (P2)
• Not just a thing of the past (p2)

Image source: by “unknown” https://theindoproject.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/hiroshima_visit-980×550.jpg