14. The correct answer is (B). In contrast to the 1930s with its depression and the 1940s with the war,
the 1950s was a time of relative prosperity for most people. Although there was the ever-present
threat of nuclear annihilation, Americans were smugly secure in their knowledge that the capitalistic
system was in all respects superior to the communistic system of the cold war enemy. In 1957, Ameri-
cans were jolted from this complacency. The Soviet Union, supposedly behind the United States in
terms of missile technology, orbited the first artificial satellite, called Sputnik or “little moon.” The
launching of Sputnik suggested that the United States had fallen behind in the arms race. A report by
the Federal government on education in the Soviet Union remarked upon the emphasis placed upon
studies in mathematics and the sciences. Although the launching of Sputnik did not “cause” the
passage of the National Defense Education Act, it certainly contributed to its passage.
15. The correct answer is (E). The Return to Normalcy refers to the period following World War I and
the administration of President Warren G. Harding.
16. The correct answer is (E). The National Security Act of 1947 gave the United States military estab-
lishment and the intelligence gathering agencies the structures they have today. It created a separate
branch of the armed services named the Air Force. It created the Joint Chiefs of Staff to advise the
president. It established the National Security Council, consisting of the president, the chairman of
the joint chiefs, and certain cabinet officers to provide strategic planning and to advise the president
in times of crisis. And it created the Central Intelligence Agency, an intelligence gathering agency.
The Act did not, however, create the War Department. Instead, it combined the old War and Navy
Departments into the single cabinet-level Department of Defense.
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