1 . TOKYO-Japan marked the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing in its western city of Hiroshima (广岛) on August 6th amid growing calls for Tokyo to reflect on crimes the Japanese army committed during World War II. At a memorial ceremony held at the Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui delivered the Peace Declaration,urging world leaders to stop believing in the theory that nuclear weapons can prevent war.
“They must immediately take concrete steps to lead us from the dangerous present toward our ideal world,” said Matsui, who also urged policymakers to “move toward a security system based on trust through dialogue in pursuit of civil society ideals”. “Mistrust and division are on the rise,” warned United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his message readout at the ceremony.
A moment of silence was observed at 8:15 am local time, the exact moment when an atomic bomb dropped from a US bomber and exploded over the city on Aug.6, 1945, killing around 140,000 people by the end of that year.
At the event which about 50,000 people attended, Matsui placed in a monument a list of the names of 339,227 victims, including 5,320 deaths confirmed last year. “Japan must immediately sign the Treaty (条约) on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” Matsui noted in the Peace Declaration, further urging the government to heed the wishes of survivors from the bombing and the peace-loving Japanese people.
The number of survivors of the two atomic bombings including Nagasaki with an average age of over 85, has dropped by 5,346 from a year earlier to 113,649 as of March, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke at the ceremony, saying an atomic bomb made more than 100,000 lose their lives without mentioning whether Japan would sign the treaty, let alone (更不用说) the historical background of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
The prime minister was criticized for hosting the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Hiroshima in May.
While Japan inwardly looks at the tragedies it experienced at the end of WWII, historians and political minds of the international community have encouraged Japan to come to see itself not only as a victim of the atomic bombings but also as the criminal (罪犯) who was involved in these tragic incidents in the first place.
1. Why was the moment of silence was observed at 8:15 am local time?| A．It was the time when the atomic bombing happened in Hiroshima. |
| B．It was the time when the atomic bombing happened in Nagasaki. |
| C．It was the time when the US bomber reached Japan. |
| D．It was the time when the US bomber took off. |
| A．Make fun of. | B．Put up with. | C．Take delight in. | D．Pay attention to. |
| A．Japan's signing the treaty. |
| B．The result of the atomic bombing. |
| C．America should make up for the loss. |
| D．The background of the atomic bombing. |
| A．Number of survivors of two atomic bombings drops in Japan |
| B．Japan — a victim of atomic bombings that kill so many people |
| C．Japan marks 78th anniversary of atomic bombing of Hiroshima |
| D．Hiroshima Mayor expresses nuclear weapons can't prevent war |
