Hiroshima: Hiroshima

by Laurence Yep
This novella tells the story of a young survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.
20 words 277 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. muggy
    hot or warm and humid
    It is only seven o’clock in the morning, but the air is already hot and muggy in Hiroshima.
  2. peddler
    someone who travels about selling wares
    A peddler wheels his cart carefully through the crowd.
  3. devastate
    cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly
    In other cities, American planes have dropped bombs and started fires that have devastated large areas.
  4. wield
    handle effectively
    To make the work go faster, the children chant in time as they wield their shovels.
  5. debris
    the remains of something that has been destroyed
    Up to 125,000 people will die on that first day or will die soon.
    The wind mixes their dust with the dirt and debris.
  6. fierce
    marked by extreme and violent energy
    One mile away, the fierce heat starts fires.
  7. radiation
    the emission of a stream of particles in nuclear decay
    When the bomb’s uranium breaks up, bits of atoms zip away. They go right through people’s skin and hurt their bodies inside. This is called radiation. It will make thousands of people sick.
  8. rubble
    the remains of something that has been destroyed
    The streets are filled with rubble and ruins.
  9. desperately
    in a state of intense distress and hopelessness
    Sachi cannot swim. She jumps in anyway. Then she sees a wooden bucket drifting by. She grabs it and holds on desperately.
  10. radioactive
    exhibiting or caused by emissions in nuclear decay
    The rain leaves black, oily spots wherever it falls.
    The rain is radioactive. It will make people sick, too. They will also die.
  11. goodwill
    a disposition to kindness and compassion
    For the doctors, it is a labor of goodwill.
  12. controversy
    a dispute where there is strong disagreement
    However, in Japan not everyone approves of the project. They think all the
    money spent on the Maidens should have been spent on Hiroshima instead.
    Because of the controversy, no more survivors leave for the United States.
  13. detect
    discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
    Each year there are newer and improved weapons such as cruise missiles that can fly low to the ground. They are hard to detect.
  14. dismantle
    take apart into its constituent pieces
    Inspectors from each country would check to make sure the missiles had been destroyed. It takes six years to dismantle all of them.
  15. republic
    a form of government whose head of state is not a monarch
    Since then, the Soviet Union has broken up into several republics.
  16. stockpile
    a storage pile accumulated for future use
    The larger republics—such as Russia, the Ukraine, and Kazakhstan—have stockpiles of atomic weapons.
  17. relic
    an antiquity that has survived from the distant past
    Each year 1,200,000 people visit the museum. They look at the photos and
    exhibits. And they examine the twisted roof tiles and melted bottles. They are strange, disturbing relics of that terrible moment.
  18. context
    the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation
    Japan has built a new wing to the museum. The new exhibit includes Japan’s role in World War II and shows how the city of Hiroshima participated in the military effort. For the first time, the bombing is placed in an historical context.
  19. current
    a steady flow of a fluid or gas
    The currents swirl the candle boxes together like flocks of glowing pastel birds.
  20. pastel
    any of various pale or light colors
    The currents swirl the candle boxes together like flocks of glowing pastel birds.
Created on Fri Feb 12 21:13:02 EST 2021 (updated Tue Feb 16 09:38:00 EST 2021)

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