Part B

Life Goes On

The city of Ypres in Belgium has been invaded 19 times, most famously in World War I. Some time ago I went with two friends to visit the battlefields and cemeteries there, and particularly to see the tomb of my uncle who was killed in the war at the age of 20.

Michael, our silver-haired guide, took us first to a British cemetery, just outside the town. I stared at the lines of gravestones, neatly planted with herbs and flowers, the low surrounding walls blooming with wisteria. Michael pointed out my uncle's grave to me.

I walked hesitantly toward it, wondering what I would feel. And suddenly there it was, and there were hundreds of others. Nothing could have prepared me for the realization that in this area alone about 250,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers were killed. There are 75 British cemeteries, of which we visited just a few.

Next, Michael took us to a place on the other side of the city. The names of 55,000 missing soldiers are engraved on its walls. We stared in awe. "More than half a million horses and mules were lost, and fifteen tons of unexploded ammunition are still collected each year from the fields," Michael told us.

Some way on we came to the largest British cemetery in the world. Some headstones have words of love or gratitude: "He died that we might live," "Gone from our sight but not from our hearts."

"I'd like you to visit a German cemetery before finishing," Michael said. The cemetery is in wooded land. But there are no headstones, only slabs in the grass. There are no flowers, either. The whole place is dark and dank.

With some relief we returned to the car. After some time, we drew up at a gate. Here, hidden from the road, lies the Pool of Peace. "It was created by an explosion so loud it was heard in Downing Street," said Michael. We looked at the still water reflecting the trees surrounding it. There is hardly a sound.

By the time we returned to Ypres, it was evening. The city was preparing for the annual Festival of the Cats, which dates from medieval times. Soon there would be dancing in the square.

1. What did the speaker especially want to see during his visit to Ypres?

2. Who was Michael?

3. Which of the following is true about the British cemetery the speaker first visited?

4. About how many British and Commonwealth soldiers died in the battles of Ypres?

5. About how many tons of unexploded ammunition are still collected from the fields each year?

6. Why did the speaker and his friends feel somewhat relieved when they returned to the car after visiting the German cemetery?

Part C

Fly the Unfriendly Sky

Because World War I had been fought mainly in the trenches, many military experts of the 1920s believed that future wars would also happen there. An exception was U.S. army officer Billy Mitchell, who advocated the use of air power from the year he learned to fly in 1916 to the end of his life.

During World War I Mitchell proved himself to be a highly effective air commander. He was the first American airman to fly over enemy lines, and throughout the war he was regularly in the air.

After the war, Mitchell openly advocated the creation of a separate air force. He claimed that the airplane had made the battleship obsolete. His argument for air power, at the end of the First World War, was so unpopular that he fought for three years for the mere chance to show its effectiveness. He got the chance in 1921, when his superiors let him drop bombs on a captured German battleship to see what damage his novel approach might be able to cause.

Mitchell said airborne bombs would sink the ship. The military, for the most part, thought he was nuts. Secretary of War Newton Baker, showing masculine bravery rather than care and wisdom, said, "I'm willing to stand on the bridge of a battleship while that fool tries to hit it from the air." His navy counterpart, Secretary Josephus Daniels, was more direct. As he believed that Mitchell's dream of air power was little more than a boyish fantasy, he said, "Good God! This man should be writing dime novels." They allowed the experiment, anyway, probably to expose the airman's madness to the newspapers. Within moments, the German battleship was foam on the water.

However, the success of the test failed to convince his superiors. His open criticism of them led to his transfer to a minor post and a reversion in rank. Mitchell did not stop fighting. In September 1925, when the navy's ship Shenandoah was lost in a storm, he made a statement to the press, accusing the War and Navy Department of incompetence, criminal negligence and almost treasonable administration of national defense. For his bold remarks, he was, as he expected, immediately court-marshaled and was convicted in December that year of insubordination and sentenced to five years' suspension from rank and pay.

Billy Mitchell died in 1936. Five years later, on December 7, 1941, the U.S. battleship Arizona was sent to the bottom of the sea by Japanese bombers. Over 1,200 American servicemen died aboard that vessel, proving "crazy" Billy's theory under wartime conditions. Many of his ideas were adopted by the American Air Force in World War II. In 1946 the American Congress authorized a special medal in his honor, which was presented to his son two years later by the Chief of Staff of the newly established independent Air Force.

Questions:

1. Who was Billy Mitchell?

2. What did Mitchell advocate?

3. How did most people in the military respond to Mitchell's theory?

4. What happened to the German battleship in Mitchell's experiment?

5. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

6. What was the result of Mitchell's bold criticism of his superiors?

7. Why does the speaker mention the sinking of the U.S. battleship Arizona?

8. Which of the following best describes Billy Mitchell?

Part D

The Red Cross

In 1859 a young Swiss businessman saw something which was to change his life and influence the course of history. The young man was Jean Henri Dunant who witnessed the bloodbath following the Battle of Sloferino, in Italy. He was deeply shocked by the dreadful suffering of the wounded from both sides who were left largely uncared for.

This appalling scene was the birthplace of a magnificent human idea. Dunant appealed to the leaders of nations to found societies devoted to the aid of the wounded in wartime. Five Swiss citizens formed a committee, which later became the ICRC, and issued a call for an international conference. In October 1863 a conference was held in Geneva and was attended by delegates from 16 nations. Another conference was held in Geneva the following year and official delegates of 12 nations signed the first Geneva Convention, laying down rules for the treatment of the wounded and for the protection of medical personnel and hospitals. It was also at this meeting that the famous symbol of the movement, the white flag bearing a red cross, was adopted. The symbol was later modified in non-Christian countries. In 1986 the Movement's name was changed to include the Red Crescent, the organization's name in most Muslim nations.

Today the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is the world's largest voluntary organization, with a global membership close to 250,000,000, and a National Society in almost every country of the world. It is an international humanitarian agency dedicated, in time of war, to easing the sufferings of wounded soldiers, civilians, and prisoners of war. In time of peace, it provides medical aid and other help to people afflicted by major disasters such as floods, earthquakes, epidemics, and famines and performs other public-service functions.

Dunant was a co-recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. It was his vision that led directly to the founding of the Red Cross, the signing of the First Geneva Convention, and the adoption of the Red Cross, and later the Red Crescent, as an international symbol of protection.

Statements:

1. Jean Henri Dunant is considered to be the founder of the International Red Cross.

2. Dunant was awarded the Nobel Prize for making the Red Cross the world's largest voluntary organization.

3. The first Geneva Convention was signed by the delegates from 16 nations at the 1863 conference.

4. The symbol of the Red Cross movement was adopted at an international conference in 1864.

5. The Red Cross and the Red Crescent are the symbols of the same international organization.

6. There is a national society of the Red Cross / Red Crescent in every country of the world.

7. The International Red Cross provides humanitarian services in both time of war and time of peace.

8. The International Red Cross operates as an agency under the United Nations.