The political background of the atomic scientists' work was the determination to defeat the Nazis. It was held—I think rightly—that a Nazi victory would be an appalling (令人惊骇的 ) disaster. It was also held, in Western countries, that German scientists must be well advanced towards making an A-bomb, and that if they succeeded before the West did they would probably win the war. When the war was over, it was discovered, to the complete astonishment of both American and British Scientists, that the Germans were nowhere near success, and, as everybody knows, the Germans were defeated before any nuclear weapons had been made. But I do not think that nuclear scientists of the West can be blamed for thinking the work urgent and necessary. Even Einstein favored it.
When, however, the German war was finished the great majority of those scientists who had collaborated toward making the A-bomb considered that it should not be used against the Japanese, who were already on the verge of defeat and, in any case, did not constitute such a threat to the world as Hitler. Many of them made urgent representations to the American government advocating that, instead of using the bomb as a weapon of war, they should, after a public announcement, explode it in a desert, and that future control of nuclear energy should be placed in the hands of an international authority. Seven of the most famous of nuclear scientists drew up what is known as "the Franck Report" which they presented to the Secretary of War in June 1945. This is a very admirable and far-seeing document, and if it had won the assent of the politicians, none of our subsequent terrors would have arisen.
21. We may infer that the writer's attitude towards the A-bomb is that______.
A. it is absolutely necessary
B. it is a terrible threat to the whole of mankind
C. it played a vital part in defeating the Japanese
D. it was a wonderful invention
22. The American and British scientists were astonished at the end of the Second World War against Germany because______.
A. the Germans had been defeated without the use of nuclear weapons
B. the Western countries had won before they had invented nuclear weapons
C. they thought the Germans would probably win the war
D. the Germans had made little progress in developing nuclear weapons
23. According to the writer, most scientists who had helped in making the A-bomb considered that it should not be used against the Japanese because______.
A. it was such a dangerous weapon
B. its use against the Japanese was unnecessary
C. it was a very inhumane weapon
D. the German war was finished
24. The passage implies, but does not directly say, that the nuclear scientists______.
A. might not have agreed to develop the bomb if there had been no Nazi threat
B. would have developed the bomb even without the Nazi threat
C. would have made the bomb, under peace-time conditions, but only for the use of an international authority
D. developed the bomb because Einstein thought it urgent and necessary
25. The main point in the second paragraph is______.
A. that nuclear weapons proved unnecessary
B. that the Franck Report, which recommended that the bomb should be placed in the hands of an international authority, was rejected
C. that many scientists tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade the politicians to abandon nuclear bombs, and place nuclear energy in the hands of an international authority
D. both A and C
21. B 22. D 23. B 24. A 25. C
