| It has been necessary to refer
repeatedly to the effects of the two world wars in promoting all kinds of
innovation. It should be{{U}} (21) {{/U}}also that technological
innovations have{{U}} (22) {{/U}}the character of war itself by{{U}}
(23) {{/U}}of new mechanical and chemical devices. One weapon
developed during World War Ⅱ{{U}} (24) {{/U}}a special mention. The{{U}}
(25) {{/U}}of rocket propulsion was well known earlier, and Us
possibilities as a{{U}} (26) {{/U}}of achieving speeds sufficient to
escape from the Earth' s gravitational pull had been{{U}} (27) {{/U}}by
the Russian and the American scientists. The latter built experimental liquid-fuelled rockets in 1926.{{U}} (28) {{/U}}, a group of German and Romanian pioneers was working{{U}} (29) {{/U}}the same lines, and in the 1930s, it was tins team that developed a rocket{{U}} (30) {{/U}}of delivering a warhead hundreds miles away. Reaching a height of over 100 miles, the V-2 rocket{{U}} (31) {{/U}}the beginning of the Space Age, and members of its design team were{{U}} (32) {{/U}}in both the Soviet and United States space programs after the war. Technology had a tremendous social{{U}} (33) {{/U}}in the period 1900-45. The automobile and electric power,{{U}} (34) {{/U}}, radically changed both the scale and the quality of 20th-century life,{{U}} (35) {{/U}}a process of rapid urbanization and a virtual revolution{{U}} (36) {{/U}}living through mass production of household goods and{{U}} (37) {{/U}}. The rapid development of the airplane, the cinema, and radio made the world seem suddenly smaller and more{{U}} (38) {{/U}}. The development of many products of the chemical industry further transformed the life of most people. In the years{{U}} (39) {{/U}}1945 the constructive and creative opportunities of modern technology could be{{U}} (40) {{/U}}, although the process has not been without its problems. |