环球英语—990:One Thousand Paper Birds

Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Christy VanArragon.
Voice 2
And I'm Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
War. It happens for many complicated reasons. Sometimes it is necessary. But for many innocent people, the end results are tragic. War damages life, land and health. But it cannot destroy hope. Today's Spotlight is on that hope. We tell the story of Sadako Sasaki and her hope for peace and healing.
Voice 2
It was August the sixth, 1945. The world was at war. This conflict brought destruction to many places around the world. As part of the war, the United States and Japan had been fighting each other since 1941. However, on this day, the sun was shining on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The people in the city thought it would be a normal day.
Voice 1
But at 9:15 in the morning things changed forever. The United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. It destroyed the city of Hiroshima - flattening everything in the area. It killed around one hundred and forty thousand people over the next year - most of them innocent civilians. They had terrible burns. But this was not the end of the destruction. For many years, radiation from the bomb continued to make people very sick.
Voice 2
Sadako Sasaki was only two years old when the atomic bomb landed in her city. She was very close to the place where the bomb fell. But she was not killed. At first, she seemed fine. Ten years after the bomb, Sadako seemed to be growing up healthy. She liked sports. She represented her school class as a runner. And she won many races. But, radiation from the bomb was slowly poisoning Sadako's body. When she turned twelve years old, she became very sick from the radiation. It had given her a form of cancer, called leukaemia.
Voice 1
Sadako entered the hospital in February 1955. The doctors told her parents that she would die in a year. But she was still a young girl. She could not believe that she was going to die. While she was in the hospital, many of her school friends would come to visit her. They told her about school, and made her laugh. She also made new friends in the hospital. One of these was her roommate, Kiyo Okura. In a memorial record, Ms Okura remembered Sadako,
Voice 3
"Sadako was such a curious girl. She would explore the rooms around the hospital and collect information from other patients. One day she learned that boiled cabbage vegetables tasted good with a little soy sauce. The two of us went to the hospital kitchen and tried it out, and it tasted really good."
Voice 2
Over time, Sadako became weaker and weaker. One day, a special gift arrived at the hospital - one thousand simple folded paper crane birds. The cranes were part of an old Japanese belief. If someone made one thousand of these paper cranes, then the gods would heal their sickness. The colorful paper birds were for all the patients at the hospital. But Sadako and many other patients were inspired.
Voice 1
With courage and faith Sadako began to make her own paper cranes. She made them every day. Even when she was feeling very sick, she still continued to make the cranes. Her father remembered,
Voice 4
"We warned her, 'If you keep up that speed you will be very tired.' Sadako continued to fold, saying, "It is okay, it is okay. I have a plan." You could feel the strength of her desire to live in the way she would not stop folding, and it hurt."
Voice 2
It was difficult for Sadako to get enough paper. So she would use the paper coverings from medicine, and the paper from other patients' gifts. By September, 1955, she had succeeded in making one thousand cranes - and she continued to make even more cranes. But she did not recover. On October 25, 1955, with her family around her, Sadako died. Sadako was buried with her paper cranes - more than thirteen hundred [1300].
Voice 1
Sadako's death made her friends and classmates very sad. Many of them had survived the bomb too. They knew its terrible effects. In school, this class had been very close. Their teacher had encouraged this closeness. They even formed a "Unity Club" to continue to visit Sadako in the hospital. After her death, they wanted a place to remember her, and other children affected by the bomb.
Voice 2
They began to raise money at their school, and other schools. They wanted everyone to remember these innocent victims. In 1958, with the help of the city, they built a statue to honour Sadako in Hiroshima's Peace Park. This green area encourages all people to remember the effects of the bomb. It also encourages all people to work for peace. The statue of Sadako holds a bird in her arms. The statue has writing on it. This is its message for the world.
Voice 3
This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world.
Voice 2
Sadako's message for peace is clear and strong. Sadako died because the world was at war.
Voice 1
War continues in the world today. Problems such as greed, envy, and fear continue to cause conflicts. People continue to die. What are people doing today to show their concern for world peace?
Voice 2
Many countries have nuclear weapons, like the bomb that killed Sadako. Many people worry that other children will die, that other cities will be destroyed. People continue to work to prevent more deaths in war.
Voice 1
Today, people still remember Sadako and her paper birds. Every year, children all over the world learn about Sadako in school. They make thousands of paper birds and send them to Hiroshima. They are a symbol of peace. They show the desire of people everywhere for an end to war.
In folding her cranes, Sadako chose hope. In building the statue, Sadako's friends and classmates also chose hope. And in hearing her story, children around the world continue to choose hope.
Voice 2
What do you think? What do you learn from Sadako's story? Share your opinion on our website http://www.radio.english.net or em,ail us at radio@english.net.
Voice 1
The writer of today's program was Rebekah Schipper and Christy VanArragon. The producer was Joshua Leo. The voices you heard were from the United States. This program is called "One Thousand Paper Birds."
Voice 2
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