It is generally well known that in a number of particularly dangerous parts of the world，for example the Middle East and the Indian/Pakistan border region，there are countries which either possess，or have the technology to produce，nuclear weapons．It is also worth remembering，however，that the country which possesses more nuclear weapons than any other，the United States，is the only power ever to have used nuclear weapons against people．
   Nuclear weapons were first developed in the United States during the Second World War，to be used against Germany．However by the time the first bombs were ready for use，the war with Germany had ended and，as a result，the decision was made to use the weapons against Japan instead．Hiroshima and Nagasaki have suffered the consequence of this decision to the present day．
   The real reasons why bombs were dropped on two heavily-populated cities are no t altogether clear．A number of people in 1944 and early 1945 argued that the use of nuclear weapons world be unnecessary，since American Intelligence was aware that some of the most powerful and influential people in Japan had already realized that the war was lost，and wanted to negotiate a Japanese surrender．It was also argued that，since Japan has few natural resources，a blockade by the American navy would force it to surrender within a few weeks，and the use of nuclear weapons would thus prove unnecessary．If a demonstration of force was required to end the war，a bomb could be dropped over an unpopulated area like a desert，in front of Japanese observers，or over an area of low population inside Japan，such as a forest．Opting for this course of action might minimize the loss of further lives on all sides，while the power of nuclear weapons would still be adequately demonstrated．
   All of these arguments were rejected，however，and the general consensus was that the quickest way to end the fighting would be to use nuclear weapons against centers of population inside Japan．In fact，two of the more likely reasons why this decision was reached seem quite shocking to us now．
   Since the beginning of the Second World War both Germany and Japan had adopted a policy of genocide（i．e．killing as many people as possible，including civilians）．Later on，even the US and Britain had used the strategy of firebombing cities（Dresden and Tokyo，for example）in order to kill，injure and intimidate as many civilians as possible．Certainly，the general public in the West had become used to hearing about the deaths of large numbers of people，so the deaths of another few thousand Japanese，who were the enemy in any case，would not seem particularly unacceptable-a bit of 'justifiable' revenge for the Allies' own losses，perhaps．
   The second reason is not much easier to comprehend．Some of the leading scientists in the world had collaborated to develop nuclear weapons，and this development had resulted in a number of major advances in technology and scientific knowledge．As a result，a lot of normal，intelligent people wan ted to see nuclear weapons used；they wanted to see just how destruct five this new invention could be．It no doubt turned out to be even more 'effective' than they had imagined．

（1）In Paragraph 1，the writer is suggesting that the

C

C

．
A．America should，if necessary，use nuclear weapons again
B．America is more likely than other countries to use nuclear weapons
C．America is one of several countries to have used nuclear weapons
D．America could potentially use nuclear weapons again．
（2）According to paragraph 3，a blockade would have been successful because

A

A

．
A．Japan has to import most of its natural resources like coal and steel
B．Japan would not be resourceful enough to beat a blockade
C．a(chǎn)n attack would probably destroy Japanese resources within a few weeks
D．the Americans could defeat Japan's navy since it was short of resources
（3）According to paragraph 5，which of the following is true？

D

D

A．People in the West had got used to hearing the sounds of people dying．
B．It would probably not be wise to inform people in the West of the deaths．
C．Scientists thought only a few thousand people would die if the bombs were used．
D．People in the West would accept that some people had to die to end the war．
（4）In the last sentence of Paragraph 6，the writer implies that

B

B

．
A．he/she agrees with the decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan
B．he/she thinks the decision to drop nuclear bombs on Japanese cities was wrong
C．nuclear weapons worked much better than the scientists probably expected
D．the weapons proved to be effective because Japan surrendered soon after