Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-book review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What 1938 discovery launched the race to build an atomic bomb?

A) Radioactivity

B) Uranium fission

C) Plutonium

D) The neutron

2. Who wrote a letter to President Roosevelt warning of the danger of a German atomic bomb?

A) Robert Oppenheimer

B) Albert Einstein

C) Richard Feynman

D) Leslie Groves

3. Why did Harry Gold betray US industrial secrets to the Soviets?

A) He wanted to impress his wife with his courage.

B) He hated America and its capitalist system.

C) He thought it would be fun to play spy games.

D) He was grateful for a job that a Communist got him.

4. Who was Klaus Fuchs?

A) A spy for Russia

B) A spy for Germany

C) A spy for Britain

D) A spy for the US

5. What material did Knut Haukelid sabotage?

A) American plutonium production

B) German uranium production

C) German heavy-water production

D) Japanese uranium production

6. The use of the word “gadget” by those involved in making the bomb implies which of the following?

A) They did not take their work seriously.

B) They found the subject upsetting.

C) They were concerned about maintaining secrecy.

D) They weren’t sure how their research would be used.

7. What material is produced as a byproduct of bombarding U-238 with neutrons?

A) Plutonium

B) Cadmium

C) Graphite

D) Heavy water

8. Why couldn’t plutonium be used in a gun assembly bomb?

A) It decays quickly and wouldn’t detonate.

B) It would blow up during transport.

C) Its heat would melt the assembly.

D) It would fission too fast and then fizzle.

9. Overall, how does the text characterize Hall’s spying for the Soviets?

A) Reluctant

B) Sinister

C) Selfish

D) Naive

10. As the war drew to a close, whom did US forces capture?

A) British scientists kidnapped by Germany

B) Japanese scientists working on an atomic bomb

C) American scientists kidnapped by Germany

D) German scientists working on an atomic bomb

11. Over which two cities did the US detonate atomic bombs?

A) Leipzig and Dresden

B) Hiroshima and Nagasaki

C) Hiroshima and Tokyo

D) Tokyo and Berlin

12. In the mid-1980s, how many nuclear weapons existed worldwide?

A) 97,000

B) 65,000

C) 12,000

D) 22,000

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Why did the Soviets want an atomic bomb?

2. Why were the Germans so interested in heavy water?

3. Why did the US revoke Oppenheimer’s security clearance in 1954?