1. Unit 2 Hiroshima—the “Liveliest ” City in Japan
Jacques Danvoir
Exercises

2. Try to describe the audience’s reaction when the mayor gave the speech with the following words:
flexible; agitated; assent; sink in; reverie; heinous
School; preserve; erect; impact; demolish; march;

3. Group 1

4. Para.28
Why would the hospital send shivers down the spine of any healthy visitor?
Which words betray this feeling?

5. The atomic section:
Located on the third floor
17 beds
The hospital in general
What the narrator smells:
Formaldehyde & ether
what he sees:
Stretchers & wheelchairs
Whom he meets:
Nurses carrying nickel-plated instruments
Sending Shivers down the spine of any healthy visitor

6. Para. 28 smell of: give out a smell of
stretchers and wheelchairs… corridors:
stretchers and wheelchairs are put against the walls in the corridors.
the very sight … any healthy visitor:
even healthy visitors would shiver when they see those surgical instruments.

7. The fisherman in the hospital Para. 29-31
What’s wrong with him:
no burns on the face or body
running all over the city looking for missing friends & relatives
thinking he had been spared
his hair beginning to fall out
his belly turning to water
his feeling sick
being tested and treated in the hospital
a fisherman by trade
staying in the hospital for more than 20 years
in Japanese pajamas

8. Para. 29-31 By trade: by occupation
e.g. What are you by trade? 你是干什么的？
I am a businessman by trade. 我是个生意人。

9. Para. 29-31 I thought somehow I had been spared:
I thought for some reason or other no harm had been done to me.
Spare：
e.g. spare his feelings 不伤他的感情；
spare her life 饶她一命

10. Para. 29-31 fall out: fall off my belly turned to water:
water began to accumulate in my belly
testing and treating me:
Figure of speech
alliteration.

11. the repetition of the same consonants at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables of an English language phrase.
The silence of the evening is smoothed out like slick silk.

12. The doctor’s explanation & comment Para. 32-34
reasons for committing suicide:
Humiliating
Children will encounter prejudice
No one would like to marry the daughter or niece
Genetic damage from the radiation
a handful of patients like the old man
being kept alive by constant care
died as a result of the injuries
committing suicide

13. Para. 32-34 humiliate: hurt the dignity of
It is humiliating to survive in this city:
It is a disgrace for an atomic victim to remain alive in this city (or to continue to live in this city)

14. Para
…your children will encounter prejudice on the part of those who do not:
Your children will be looked down upon by those who are not atomic victims.
encounter:
face
on the part of :
by somebody

15. Para. 32-34 genetic: relating to genes
People are afraid of genetic damage from the radiation:
People fear that the effect of the atomic radiation may be hereditary ( may pass on from parents to children ). People suffering from genetic damage may not be able to produce offspring or may give birth to deformed or unhealthy children.

16. Para. 35-38 Why did the old man make little paper birds ?
Making little paper birds can free him from the earthly care.
It can also improve his character:
Purify his soul
Improve his moral standard.

17. Para
lucky birds:
According to Japanese tradition, if one makes one thousand little paper cranes, one’s wishes will be realized, hence the lucky birds.
earthly:
worldly as opposed to spiritual;
care:
concern, worry, anxiety
Figure of speech

18. Euphemism
The substitution of an inoffensive term (such as “passed away”) for one considered offensively explicit (“died”).

19. Para
each day of suffering that helps to free me from earthly cares:
One more day of suffering would mean a day nearer my death (would bring me closer to my death).
the good fortune
Figure of speech
irony

20. Discussion
What is the old man’s feeling of the bomb? How can you know it?
What does bird symbolize?
Bird----good luck
Death---freedom

21. The end of the story (Para. 39)
Why didn’t the writer ask the patients of the atomic ward the questions he had prepared in advance ?
What was the answer he read in every eye ?

22. The end of the story (Para. 39)
The narrator didn’t ask the patients the questions he had prepared before.
He thought it was not necessary for him to ask them because he had read the answer in every eye.
The answer was that Hiroshima was not the liveliest city in Japan.

23. Part 4 (Para. 39) I could read the answer in every eye:
The expression of the people told me what the answer was.
read:
understand the nature, significance, or thinking of as if by reading

24. Discussion What are Japanese’ views of A-bomb? The victims’ viewpoint?
The society's viewpoint?
Taxi driver? Mayor? Small old man? Old victim?
Right or wrong?

25. Play
Group3
1- 22
Group 4
23- 47
Group1
48- 74
Group 2

26. Assignment
Lesson 3