This Day in History August 6 歷史上的今天 8月6日

In 1945, the US and Europe were desperate to end World War II. After telling Japan they had to surrender or deal with the consequences, a huge decision was made. US President Harry S. Truman gave orders for the first atomic bomb to be dropped. It was transported to Japan on a plane called the Enola Gay. The bomb, which was nicknamed Little Boy, was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on this date. The city was destroyed and around 70,000 people were killed instantly. Over the following years, tens of thousands of people died because of burns and radiation poisoning caused by Little Boy.

1945年，美國和 歐洲急欲結束第二次世界大戰。在告知日本他們必須投降，不然就得自行面對後果後，便做了一個重大的決定。美國總統杜魯門下令投擲第一顆原子彈。這顆子彈是 由一架叫做「艾諾拉．蓋」的飛機運送到日本。這顆被暱稱為「小男孩」的原子彈，在當年的今日被投下廣島市。該市被摧毀殆盡，約7萬人立即喪生。在接下來的 幾年，數以萬計的民眾死於「小男孩」所造成的灼傷和輻射毒害。

單字片語

★desperate a.情急拚命的；絕望的
be desperate to V 極欲／極度渴望做……
★surrender vi.投降
例：The soldier would rather die than surrender to the enemy.（這名士兵寧願死也不願向敵人投降。）
★deal with... 處理／應付……
★consequence n.結果，後果
例：As a consequence of his constant lying, nobody believes what Andy says anymore.（由於安迪不斷說謊，所以再也沒有人相信他所說的話了。）
★transport vt.運送，運輸
★nickname vt.給……取綽號
★instantly adv.立即，馬上
例：The boss rejected my idea instantly because it would cost the company too much money.（老闆馬上就回絕了我的點子，因為會花費公司太多錢。）
★radiation n.輻射
★poisoning n.中毒，毒害

知識大補帖

廣島原子彈事件過後的第3天，一架名為「博士卡」（Bockscar）的 美國轟炸機，在1945年的8月9日對長崎投下第二顆原子彈。這顆暱稱為「胖子」（Fat Man）的原子彈威力相當於2.1萬公噸的TNT炸藥，不過由於長崎地勢多山，比起廣島的平坦地勢，原子彈所造成的傷害較小，不過仍直接造成約3萬9千多 人喪命，2萬5千多人受傷（圖為日本廣島市遭原子彈攻擊後慘狀，網路照片）。