VOA慢速英语2016 奥巴马将成为首个任内赴广岛的美总统（在线收听）

AS IT IS 2016-05-11 Obama to Make 1st Presidential Visit to Hiroshima 奥巴马将成为首个任内赴广岛的美总统

President Barack Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, Japan.

奥巴马成为首位于任期内访问日本广岛的美国总统。

The White House announced Tuesday the president will visit the city where an American warplane dropped an atomic bomb near the end of World War II. The visit is scheduled for May 27.

周二，白宫宣布奥巴马总统将访问日本广岛，二战时，美国在此投放了一颗原子弹。访问定于5月27日。

The president will not apologize for world’s first nuclear bombing, but will speak about the importance of limiting nuclear weapons, the White House said.

白宫方面表示，奥巴马总统不会就美国投放原子弹一事道歉，但会谈及核武器控制的重要性。

Obama wants to highlight the “devastating effects of war,” said Benjamin Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser. Rhodes made his comment in a blog posted on Medium.com.

副国家安全顾问本杰明·罗兹表示，奥巴马总统希望能够强调战争的毁灭性影响。罗兹在Medium.com网站发表了自己的看法。

The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 killed about 140,000 people. The U.S. dropped a second nuclear bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki three days later, killing as many as 80,000 people.

1945年8月6日，一颗原子弹在广岛爆炸，造成约140,000人死亡。3天后，美国在日本长崎又投放了一颗原子弹，造成80,000人死亡。

U.S. President Harry Truman said he ordered the bombings to bring a quicker end to World War II. Japan announced its surrender to the United States and its allies on August 15, 1945.

时任美国总统的杜鲁门表示，下令投放原子弹是希望尽早结束第二次世界大战。1945年8月15日，日本向美国及其盟国宣布投降。

Obama’s visit to Hiroshima will come toward the end of his seven-day trip to Japan. He is attending meetings of the G7, the leaders of the world’s leading economies.

奥巴马将对日本进行为期7天的访问，访问结束后奥巴马会前往广岛。此次访日是为参加7国集团首脑会议，即世界主要经济体领导人会议。

Secretary of State John Kerry visited Hiroshima last month.

国务卿约翰·克里上个月刚结束了对广岛的访问。

"War must be the last resort, never the first choice," Kerry wrote in a memorial book at the Hiroshima World War II memorial.

克里在广岛二战纪念馆的纪念册中写道：“战争只能是最后的手段，永不可成为首要选择。”

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to join Obama for his visit to Hiroshima. Rhodes said Obama and the prime minister will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which remembers victims of the atomic bombing.

日本首相安倍晋三将与奥巴马总统一道前往广岛。罗兹表示奥巴马总统和日本首相会参观广岛和平纪念公园，这是为纪念在原子弹爆炸中的遇难者而修建的。

Keiko Ogura was eight years old when Hiroshima was hit with a nuclear bomb. She survived and is now 79.

当年原子弹袭击广岛时，小仓惠子（Keiko Ogura）刚8周岁。她侥幸活下来，现已79岁。

“Before I die, I want to see the president, the sitting president’s face,” she told VOA. “That is not asking for an apology. No, just as a human being. You are here and we are standing on the same land, the same level land and then pray for the dead.”

“我希望去世前能见到在任的美国总统，”她接受VOA采访时表示。“我并不是为了一句道歉。而是因为我们都是人类。你与我共同站在这片土地上，为那些遇难者祈祷。”

Former President Jimmy Carter visited Hiroshima, but after he left office.

美国前总统吉米·卡特也曾访问过广岛，但他是在卸任后才进行的访问。

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui praised Obama's plan to visit as an important decision, “based on conscience.” The mayor said he hopes the president will get to hear survivors’ stories.

广岛市市长松井一实称赞奥巴马总统的广岛之行是“基于良知”的重大决定。松井一实表示希望奥巴马总统可以聆听幸存者们的遭遇。

Rhodes, the Obama adviser, wrote that the U.S. and its allies were fighting for a just cause in World War II against Japan and Germany.

奥巴马的顾问罗兹先生写道，二战期间美国及其盟国打击日本和德国是有正当理由的。

“The United States will be eternally proud of our civilian leaders and the men and women of our armed forces who served in World War II for their sacrifice at a time of maximum peril to our country and our world,” Rhodes wrote.

罗兹还写道：“美国永远都会为我们的领袖及二战中做出贡献的军人感到骄傲，因为他们在祖国和世界陷入危难时做出了伟大的牺牲。”

Words in This Story

devastating – adj. causing great damage or harm

conscience – n. the part of the mind that makes you aware of your actions as being either morally right or wrong

eternally – adv. lasting forever

maximum – adj. the highest amount possible

peril – n. danger