Defense Department analysts worry that the ability of the United States to wage a prolonged war would be seriously endangered if the machine-tool manufacturing base shrinks further. Before the Defense Department publicly connected this security issue with the import quota issue, however, the machine-tool industry raised the national security issue in its petition for import quotas.
Which of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the machine-tool industry's raising the issue above regarding national security?
. Meteorite explosions in the Earth’s atmosphere as large as the one that destroyed forests in Siberia, with approximately the force of a twelve-megaton nuclear blast, occur about once a century. The response of highly automated systems controlled by complex computer programs to unexpected circumstances is unpredictable. Which of the following conclusions can most properly be drawn, if the statements above are true, about a highly automated nuclear-missile defense system controlled by a complex computer program? (A) Within a century after its construction, the system would react inappropriately and might accidentally start a nuclear war. (B) The system would be destroyed if an explosion of a large meteorite occurred in the Earth’s atmosphere. (C) It would be impossible for the system to distinguish the explosion of a large meteorite from the explosion of a nuclear weapon. (D) Whether the system would respond inappropriately to the explosion of a large meteorite would depend on the location of the blast. (E) It is not certain what the system’s response to the explosion of a large meteorite would be, if its designers did not plan for such a contingency.
Defense Department analysts worry that the ability of the United States to wage a prolonged war would be seriously endangered if the machine-tool manufacturing base shrinks further. Before the Defense Department publicly connected this security issue with the import quota issue, however, the machine-tool industry raised the national security issue in its petition for import quotas. Which of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the machine-tool industry’s raising the issue above regarding national security? (A) When the aircraft industries retooled, they provided a large amount of work for tool builders. (B) The Defense Department is only marginally concerned with the effects of foreign competition on the machine-tool industry. (C) The machine-tool industry encountered difficulty in obtaining governmental protection against imports on grounds other than defense. (D) A few weapons important for defense consist of parts that do not require extensive machining. (E) Several federal government programs have been designed which will enable domestic machine-tool manufacturing firms to compete successfully with foreign toolmakers