Name: ( ) Date: Weekly News Archive

Class:
B1 level
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. (18 marks) No. of Words: 810

A ceremony of symbols behind Abe’s visit to Pearl Harbor Memorial

4 January 2017

[1] Preserving the friendly relationship between the US and Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
visited the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor Tuesday last week, accompanied by US President Barack Obama.
The leaders stood above the remains of the USS Arizona, one of the ships sunk during the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor 75 years ago, and released flower petals into the Memorial’s wishing well. Although Abe was not
10 the first Japanese official to visit Pearl Harbor, he was the first to visit the Arizona Memorial. Abe said that the
people of Japan promised to ‘never repeat the horrors of war again’.

[2] After the ceremony, President Obama said in a speech that ‘even the deepest wounds of war can give way
to friendship and lasting peace,’ repeating his administration’s promise to reconnect the US with past enemies
like Iran or Cuba. Prime Minister Abe said later that he offered his ‘sincere and everlasting condolences to …
15 those who lost their lives here,’ stating that he saw Pearl Harbor as a symbol of union between countries who
were enemies in the past. Obama is of the same mind in his speech, stating that ‘our alliance has never been
stronger.’

[3] After their final formal meeting that day, the White House reported the two leaders had discussed issues
ranging from security to economic challenges. According to Japanese officials, the two agreed there was a need
20 to monitor China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning, which has recently entered the Western Pacific for the first time.
Although the White House has not confirmed or denied this statement, Washington State Department
spokesman Mark Toner said that the US supports lawful use of the sea, and that Chinese vessels, like American
ones, have this right.

[4] The Prime Minister did not openly apologize for the attack on Pearl Harbor, just as the President had not
25 when he visited Hiroshima to offer his sympathies seven months before. The media has always focused on this
concern with apology whenever it covers World War II visits. The President was in fact careful to state that he
would not apologize for the nuclear strike made against the Japanese people. This is supported by many
Americans who believe this to be an important principle Obama should uphold.

Weekly News Archive 1 © 2017 ATHENS EDUCATION

 [5] Kyodo news agency conducted a survey on Hiroshima survivors and found that Obama’s apology may not
30 have even mattered. 78.3% of those surveyed said they did not need an apology from Obama, showing that most
supported strengthening international ties rather than collecting something owed from seventy years ago. The
same feeling is echoed about Prime Minister Abe’s lack of apology by Pearl Harbor survivor Sterling Kale: ‘I
say the action is better than saying anything.’ Kale met and embraced Abe at the ceremony, just as Obama
hugged Hiroshima survivor Shigeaki Mori months before.

35 [6] Yet, elsewhere in the world, many have demanded formal apologies to be made by Japan for crimes
committed in World War II, especially in China and South Korea. ‘Perpetrators should never shirk their
responsibility,’ said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in response to Obama’s visit to Hiroshima. He believed
that Chinese sites of wartime tragedy like Nanjing deserved attention. Seven months later the Chinese response
is unchanged, with the Global Times in China writing that Abe has chosen the wrong location to seek
40 reconciliation—and should have instead visited Beijing or Seoul if his goal was to ease historic tension.

[7] In this age of mass-media and culture, the wrongdoings of seventy years ago are not the first of people’s
concerns. This Arizona Memorial visit, while designed to upset as few at home and in Japan as possible, also
sends complex symbols around the world. For instance, the Japanese claim that China’s aircraft carrier will be
jointly monitored despite no official confirmation from the White House, or Obama having the nuclear launch
45 codes briefcase nearby despite speaking about the horrors of nuclear war at Hiroshima, are filled with complex
symbols that people interpret in different ways. People wonder whether Abe is confirming his partnership with
the US right before the inauguration of President-elect Trump, who hints he may be less willing to cooperate
with Japan. They wonder whether Obama intends the ceremony to be criticism of his soon-to-be successor, who
supports nuclear weapons. Such guesses without evidence can intensify ethnic divides and suspicion.

50 [8] This is not to say that honouring those who suffered from war is unimportant. It is undeniable that
tragedies had once occurred. As said by Masayoshi Matsumoto, a Japanese medical assistant posted in northwest
China during the war, ‘one who fails to look back and perceive the past will repeat their wrongdoing.’ Personal
hatred should just be separated from the study of History’s lessons. One should focus on the current issues that
still cause ethnic divides, instead of being concerned about the secret meaning behind the politicians’ meeting or
55 whether an apology was made.

Weekly News Archive 2 © 2017 ATHENS EDUCATION

5

Comprehension

1. Where is the Arizona Memorial?

__________________________________________________________________________

2. What is the USS Arizona?

__________________________________________________________________________

3. What is the significance of Abe’s visit to the Arizona Memorial?

A. He was accompanied by US President Barack Obama.
B. The USS Arizona was attacked by the Japanese 75 years ago.
C. He was the first Japanese official to visit the Arizona Memorial. A B C D
○ ○ ○ ○
D. He hugged survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

4. Find a word in paragraph 2 that means ‘sympathies’.

_____________________________

5. Who were the ‘enemies’ (line 11)?

__________________________________________________________________________

6. Use ONE word to complete each blank.

Both Abe and Obama’s speeches are about promoting _______________ and

_______________ between the two countries.

7. What is the significance of China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning entering the Western Pacific in
the article?
A. It is a security threat to Japan and the US.
B. It causes the sort of guessing that worsens ethnic divides.
A B C D
C. It is unlawful. ○ ○ ○ ○
D. The US denied that Obama spoke to Abe about it.

8. What was the US’ response towards Japan’s statement that both countries agreed to monitor
Liaoning?
__________________________________________________________________________

Weekly News Archive 3 © 2017 ATHENS EDUCATION

9. How were Abe’s visit to the Arizona Memorial and Obama’s visit to Hiroshima similar?
__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

10. What is the ‘important principle’ (line 23)?

__________________________________________________________________________

11. Decide whether the following statements are True, False, or the information is Not Given in
paragraphs 5 and 6. (4 marks)
Statements T F NG
i) Most Hiroshima survivors think that good relations with the US ○ ○ ○
are more important than an apology.
ii) Sterling Kale thinks that an apology from Abe is pointless. ○ ○ ○
iii) All other countries except the US want Japan to apologize for ○ ○ ○
crimes committed in World War II.
iv) China thinks that Abe should visit Nanjing or Beijing if he really ○ ○ ○
wants to relieve historic tensions.

12. According to paragraph 6, what do China and Korea have in common?

__________________________________________________________________________

13. i) Who is the ‘soon-to-be successor’ (line 44)? (1 mark)

____________________________________

ii) Why do some people think that Obama’s participation in the ceremony is a criticism aimed
at his ‘soon-to-be successor’? (1 mark)
________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

14. What is the writer’s tone in the last paragraph?

A. worried
B. light-hearted
C. amused A B C D
D. neutral ○ ○ ○ ○

Weekly News Archive 4 © 2017 ATHENS EDUCATION

10 Weekly News Archive 5 © 2017 ATHENS EDUCATION
 A ceremony of symbols behind Abe’s visit to Pearl Harbor Memorial
Answer key

1. At Pearl Harbor (in the US) (line 2)

2. A ship / The ship which was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago (line 3)
3. C (line 5)
4. condolences (line 9)
5. Japan and the US
6. peace; friendship (line 8)
7. B
8. It neither confirmed nor denied the statement. (line 16)
9. Both leaders did not openly apologize for their country’s attacks in World War II. (lines 19–20)
10. That Obama should not apologize for the nuclear strike (line 22)
11. i) T (line 26)
ii) NG
iii) NG
iv) T (lines 31–35)
12. Many of their people seek apologies for crimes committed by the Japanese during World War II.
(lines 30–31)
13. i) Trump (line 42)
ii) Because Obama’s administration does not support nuclear weapons like Trump’s does.
14. D

Weekly News Archive 6 © 2017 ATHENS EDUCATION