George Orwell – “You and the Atom Bomb” – Exam Based MCQs
1. “You and the Atom Bomb” is an essay by: (UGC NET)
A) Aldous Huxley
B) George Orwell
C) Bertrand Russell
D) E.M. Forster
Ans: B) George Orwell
2. Orwell’s “You and the Atom Bomb” primarily discusses the impact of: (SET)
A) Steam engines
B) Printing press
C) Computers
D) Nuclear weapons on politics and society
Ans: D) Nuclear weapons on politics and society
3. The essay is strongly linked with the early atmosphere of: (PGTRB)
A) Cold War tension
B) Renaissance humanism
C) Romanticism
D) Industrial Revolution
Ans: A) Cold War tension
4. Orwell suggests that the atom bomb may strengthen: (UGC NET)
A) Village democracy
B) Local self-rule only
C) Totalitarian power structures
D) Tribal society
Ans: C) Totalitarian power structures
5. In Orwell’s argument, certain technologies tend to favor: (SET)
A) Centralized control by powerful states
B) Complete individual freedom always
C) Only artistic progress
D) Religious revival
Ans: A) Centralized control by powerful states
6. Orwell compares the atom bomb’s political effect to the invention of: (PGTRB)
A) Paper
B) Telescope
C) Radio only
D) Gunpowder (and other decisive military technologies)
Ans: D) Gunpowder (and other decisive military technologies)
7. Orwell’s central question is how the atom bomb will affect: (UGC NET)
A) Poetry writing
B) Power relations between states
C) Grammar learning
D) Farming systems
Ans: B) Power relations between states
8. Orwell suggests that when destructive weapons are expensive, they are usually controlled by: (SET)
A) Farmers
B) Small villages
C) Powerful governments and elites
D) Individual citizens
Ans: C) Powerful governments and elites
9. Orwell notes that the atom bomb may create a world of: (PGTRB)
A) Peace based on terror (balance of fear)
B) Complete equality
C) Literary harmony only
D) Purely economic cooperation
Ans: A) Peace based on terror (balance of fear)
10. A key concept closely related to Orwell’s essay is: (UGC NET)
A) Pastoral poetry
B) Aestheticism
C) Classicism
D) Power politics / realpolitik
Ans: D) Power politics / realpolitik
11. Orwell’s tone in “You and the Atom Bomb” is best described as: (SET)
A) Romantic and dreamy
B) Comic and playful
C) Analytical and warning
D) Mythical and symbolic only
Ans: C) Analytical and warning
12. Orwell argues that advanced weaponry tends to increase: (PGTRB)
A) Local autonomy
B) State centralization and secrecy
C) Individual ownership of weapons equally
D) Small-scale tribal rule
Ans: B) State centralization and secrecy
13. In the essay, Orwell warns that the atom bomb can lead to: (UGC NET)
A) Complete global democracy
B) End of politics
C) End of all wars permanently
D) A division of the world into rival power blocs
Ans: D) A division of the world into rival power blocs
14. Orwell’s essay can be classified as: (SET)
A) Political commentary/prose essay
B) Epic poem
C) Romantic ode
D) Gothic fiction
Ans: A) Political commentary/prose essay
15. Orwell suggests that the atom bomb makes it harder for: (PGTRB)
A) Central governments to control citizens
B) Big states to survive
C) Small nations to defend themselves independently
D) Superpowers to compete
Ans: C) Small nations to defend themselves independently
16. Orwell notes that if the atom bomb remains rare and costly, it will be owned mainly by: (UGC NET)
A) Artists
B) Common citizens
C) Village councils
D) Great powers / super-states
Ans: D) Great powers / super-states
17. Orwell’s larger concern in the essay is the future of: (SET)
A) Theatre
B) Freedom and democracy
C) Grammar teaching
D) Mythology
Ans: B) Freedom and democracy
18. Orwell’s argument implies that technology is: (UGC NET)
A) Not politically neutral; it shapes social power
B) Always morally good
C) Always morally bad
D) Only scientific, not political
Ans: A) Not politically neutral; it shapes social power
19. Orwell anticipates a world where major states might avoid open war due to: (PGTRB)
A) Love of art
B) Religious unity
C) Economic equality
D) Fear of mutual destruction
Ans: D) Fear of mutual destruction
20. Orwell uses the term “peace that is no peace” to indicate: (SET)
A) Total harmony
B) End of rivalry
C) A tense stability maintained by fear
D) Friendly global cooperation
Ans: C) A tense stability maintained by fear
21. Orwell’s essay suggests that wars in the nuclear age could become: (UGC NET)
A) More frequent and easy
B) Less likely between superpowers, but more dangerous
C) Only poetic conflicts
D) Completely harmless
Ans: B) Less likely between superpowers, but more dangerous
22. The essay reflects Orwell’s broader fear of: (PGTRB)
A) Romanticism
B) Pastoral life
C) Pure science
D) Permanent totalitarianism
Ans: D) Permanent totalitarianism
23. Orwell’s essay is an example of: (SET)
A) Political journalism / critical prose
B) Tragic drama
C) Lyric poetry
D) Metaphysical meditation
Ans: A) Political journalism / critical prose
24. Orwell’s discussion of the atom bomb strongly connects to the idea of: (UGC NET)
A) Pastoral innocence
B) Aesthetic pleasure
C) Balance of power and deterrence
D) Naturalism in fiction
Ans: C) Balance of power and deterrence
25. Orwell suggests that the atom bomb could lead to: (PGTRB)
A) Only peaceful democracy
B) A stable division of the world into super-states
C) Total disappearance of nations
D) Complete end of authority
Ans: B) A stable division of the world into super-states
26. Orwell implies that if atomic weapons become cheap and common, it may: (SET)
A) Strengthen central governments
B) Make states stronger always
C) End all conflict
D) Increase instability and make tyranny harder to maintain
Ans: D) Increase instability and make tyranny harder to maintain
27. Orwell’s logic includes a key assumption about technology: (UGC NET)
A) It changes the balance between offence and defence
B) It never affects politics
C) It always favours democracy
D) It always ends war
Ans: A) It changes the balance between offence and defence
28. The essay shows Orwell’s interest in: (PGTRB)
A) Pure romance
B) Mythical history
C) The connection between politics and science
D) Theatre acting
Ans: C) The connection between politics and science
29. Orwell fears that the nuclear age may produce a long period of: (SET)
A) Cultural harmony
B) Cold, permanent tension without real peace
C) Universal brotherhood
D) End of state control
Ans: B) Cold, permanent tension without real peace
30. Orwell’s essay is a warning about: (UGC NET)
A) Grammar changes
B) Rural decline
C) Poetry loss
D) The political future shaped by atomic warfare
Ans: D) The political future shaped by atomic warfare
31. Orwell is known mainly as: (PGTRB)
A) A political writer and novelist
B) A metaphysical poet
C) A romantic lyricist
D) A dramatist
Ans: A) A political writer and novelist
32. Orwell’s essay suggests that future wars may be replaced by: (SET)
A) Friendly debates
B) Poetry competitions
C) Rival blocs maintaining tension without direct conflict
D) Complete end of conflict forever
Ans: C) Rival blocs maintaining tension without direct conflict
33. Orwell’s writing often focuses on: (UGC NET)
A) Pure fantasy worlds
B) Power, truth, and freedom
C) Decorative romance only
D) Mythological legends
Ans: B) Power, truth, and freedom
34. Orwell’s essay implies that an “atomic stalemate” could lead to: (PGTRB)
A) End of ideology
B) Complete equality
C) Disappearance of governments
D) Long-term stability of super-state rule
Ans: D) Long-term stability of super-state rule
35. Orwell connects atomic weapons with the possible rise of: (SET)
A) Totalitarian regimes
B) Romantic poetry
C) Pastoral life
D) Elizabethan drama
Ans: A) Totalitarian regimes
36. In Orwell’s view, the atom bomb is likely to: (UGC NET)
A) Make all states equal
B) End all politics
C) Freeze global power relations into blocs
D) Remove fear from international relations
Ans: C) Freeze global power relations into blocs
37. Orwell believes that large-scale modern warfare requires: (PGTRB)
A) Only personal bravery
B) Huge resources and organization
C) Only individual weapons
D) Only myths and legends
Ans: B) Huge resources and organization
38. Orwell’s “You and the Atom Bomb” is closely related to his concerns in: (SET)
A) The Prelude
B) Songs of Innocence
C) Lyrical Ballads
D) 1984 / Animal Farm themes (power and control)
Ans: D) 1984 / Animal Farm themes (power and control)
39. Orwell suggests that atomic weapons make “peace” possible because of: (UGC NET)
A) Fear and deterrence
B) Love and unity
C) Religion
D) Poetry
Ans: A) Fear and deterrence
40. The essay implies that the atom bomb changes the relationship between: (PGTRB)
A) Poetry and prose
B) Nature and culture
C) War-making power and political structure
D) Language and grammar
Ans: C) War-making power and political structure
41. Orwell’s essay suggests that nuclear weapons may lead to: (SET)
A) Many small independent states becoming stronger
B) A few superpowers dominating the world
C) Total end of ideology
D) Complete open borders worldwide
Ans: B) A few superpowers dominating the world
42. Orwell implies that democracy is threatened when: (UGC NET)
A) Weapons are simple
B) People have local power
C) Technology is cheap
D) Destructive power is concentrated in the hands of the state
Ans: D) Destructive power is concentrated in the hands of the state
43. Orwell sees the atom bomb as more likely to create: (PGTRB)
A) A stalemate and controlled rivalry
B) A world of equal small nations
C) An end to government authority
D) Pure cultural unity
Ans: A) A stalemate and controlled rivalry
44. Orwell’s main fear about “a peace that is no peace” is: (SET)
A) No more books will be written
B) End of trade
C) Continued oppression and surveillance within super-states
D) End of all ideology
Ans: C) Continued oppression and surveillance within super-states
45. Orwell’s essay suggests that scientific discoveries can: (UGC NET)
A) Only bring progress
B) Never affect society
C) End politics
D) Reshape political systems and freedoms
Ans: D) Reshape political systems and freedoms
46. Orwell suggests that in a world of atomic stalemate, conflict may continue through: (PGTRB)
A) Friendly festivals
B) Proxy wars and political rivalry
C) Poetry exchanges
D) Purely spiritual debates
Ans: B) Proxy wars and political rivalry
47. Orwell’s essay demonstrates the theme that: (SET)
A) Technology shapes the nature of power
B) Poetry is superior to science
C) Science ends war completely
D) Only morality shapes politics
Ans: A) Technology shapes the nature of power
48. The essay’s argument is most closely related to the concept of: (UGC NET)
A) Pastoral ideal
B) New Criticism
C) Deterrence / balance of terror
D) Aesthetic movement
Ans: C) Deterrence / balance of terror
49. Orwell’s concluding idea suggests that the atom bomb may lead to: (PGTRB)
A) A single world government soon
B) End of political thought
C) Complete freedom worldwide
D) A long-lasting division and tension among superpowers
Ans: D) A long-lasting division and tension among superpowers
50. Which statement best fits Orwell’s argument in “You and the Atom Bomb”? (UGC NET)
A) Nuclear weapons ensure pure democracy
B) Nuclear weapons may stabilize rivalry but strengthen state power and fear
C) Nuclear weapons end politics completely
D) Nuclear weapons are only scientific achievements, not political
Ans: B) Nuclear weapons may stabilize rivalry but strengthen state power and fear
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