BBC Learning English

Words in the News

9th August 2010
Japan remembers Nagasaki

Japan has marked the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945. The
attack killed more than 70,000 people and led to Japan's surrender less than a week later.
Our Japan correspondent Roland Buerk reports:

A choir of survivors of the nuclear attack performed a song as the ceremony began, called
Never Again. And at two minutes past 11 a bell tolled, to mark the moment the bomb fell on
Nagasaki 65 years ago. The crowd stood in silence.

Among the survivors and the families of the dead were the representatives of more than
thirty countries. They heard Nagasaki's mayor call for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Last week the United States sent its Ambassador to Japan, John Roos, to the ceremony at
Hiroshima for the first time. But he did not attend the memorial in Nagasaki.

The bombing in 1945 killed more than 70,000 people in the city.

Within a week Japan surrendered, bringing an end to the war in the Pacific.

Roland Buerk, BBC News, Tokyo

Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2010

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Vocabulary and definitions

choir a group of people who sing together, usually in church

ceremony formal event to mark a special occasion

tolled rang slowly and repeatedly

bomb exploding weapon (in this case, one with the power to
destroy a city)

survivors people who have lived through an event where they came
close to death

representatives people acting officially for other groups

mayor the elected leader of a town or city

elimination removal

memorial event or statue to remember the people who have died – in

this case it is an event

surrendered stopped fighting and admitted defeat

Related story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10888571

Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2010/08/100809_witn_nagasaki_page.shtml

Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2010

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