Question

Which of the following details is MOST important to the development of the main idea?

(A) Germany produced V-1's and V-2's late in the war and in small quantities.
(B) Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt agreed that the atomic bomb should be built in the United States.
(C) The Japanese began war with the United States when they attacked Pearl Harbor.
(D) U.S. leaders knew that Germany was working toward the development of an atomic bomb.
(a) (A) Germany produced V-1's and V-2's late in the war and in small quantities.
(b) (B) Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt agreed that the atomic bomb should be built in the United States.
(c) (C) The Japanese began war with the United States when they attacked Pearl Harbor.
(d) (D) U.S. leaders knew that Germany was working toward the development of an atomic bomb.

Answer 1

The most important detail relevant to the development of the atomic bomb is that U.S. leaders knew Germany was also working on an atomic bomb (D), which propelled the Manhattan Project.

Step-by-step explanation:

The development of the atomic bomb significantly shaped the course of World War II and the post-war era. Among the listed details, the most important to the development of the main idea, which is the American pursuit and eventual success in building the atomic bomb, is that U.S. leaders knew that Germany was working toward the development of an atomic bomb (D). This knowledge spurred the U.S. to initiate and prioritize the Manhattan Project. Germany's production of V-1's and V-2's (A), while technologically significant, did not impact the fundamental strategic decision to create the atomic bomb.

The agreement between Churchill and Roosevelt (B) helped lay the groundwork for where the bomb would be built, but does not underscore the imperative of its development. Similarly, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (C) was crucial to U.S. involvement in World War II but does not directly pertain to the decision-making process behind the atomic bomb's development. Understanding the existential threat posed by a German atomic bomb galvanized the immense American effort to build one first, which laid the foundations for the ultimate use of the bomb and the subsequent end of the war.