102. Jahresbericht des Bundes-Realgymnasiums Steyr 1984/85

Englisch - 10. Mai 1985 8. A-Klasse (Mag. Elfriede Maisser) (17 Kandidaten) For choice: a) Do you enjoy living in the time of your own generation or would you have liked to live at any other time? Explain your reasons. (11 Kandidaten) b) The statement " Schooldays are the happiest days of your life" is often made by adults. Do you agree? (6 Kandidaten) c) "He who speaks two languages is twice a man ." Comment on this statement. (0 Kandidaten) 8. B-Klasse (Mag. Elisabeth Mayr) (20 Kandidaten) Extract from Kurt Vonnegut: Cat's Cradle 1) Write a summary of the passage 2) Give a critical comment on the given ideas 3) Should scientists be responsible for the ways in which their inventions are used? Give examples of the improvements achieved in science and point out the dangers lying in research as an end in itself. What hope do you see for the future in the light of such scientific research? An authorwants towrite a book on the daythe bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He interviews a girl and the bartender of the Dei Prado in the home-town of Dr. Felix Hoenikker. One of the fathers of the bomb, as weil as Dr. Breed, Vice Presi- dent ofthe General Forge and Foundry Company, where Dr. Hoenikker worked . 'The troubl ewith theworld was,' she continu ed hesita- . tingly, 'that people we re still supersti tious instead of scientific. He said if everybody would study science more, there wouldn' t be al l the trouble there was'. 'He said science was going to discover the basic secret of life some day,' the bartender put in. He scrat- ched his head and frowned . 'Didn' t I read in the paperthe other day where they'd fin all y found out what it was?' ' I missed that ,' 1murmured . 1... ) An older bartender came over to jein in our conversa- tion in the Cape Cod Room of the Dei Prado. When he heard that Iwas writi ng abook about the day of the bomb, he told me what the day had been like fo r him, what the day had been like in the very bar in wh ich we sat. .. )The daythey dropped Hoenikke r's fugging bomb an the Japanese a bum came in and tri ed to scrour'lge a drink. he wanted me togive him a drink an account of the wor ld was coming to an end. So I mixed him an "End cf the World Del ight ". 1gave him about a half-pint of creme de menthe in a holloweed-out pineapple, with whipped cream and a cherry an top. "There, you pitiful son of a bitch", 1said to him, "don't ever say i never did anything for you." Another guy came in , and he said he was quit- ting his job at the Research Laboratory; said anything a scientist worked on was sure towind up as aweapon ,one way or another. Said he didn't want to help politicians with their fugging wars any more. Name was Breed. 1 asked him if hewas any relat ion to the boss of the fugging Research Laboratory. He said he fugg ing weil was. Said he was the boss of the Research Laboratory's fugging son.' [ ... )Whenwegot intoDr. Breed'sinneroffice, 1attemp- ted to put my thoughts in order for a sensible intervi ew. 1found that my mental health had not improved. And , when I started to ask Dr. Breed questions about the day of the bomb, 1found that the public-relations centres of my brain had been suffocated by booze and burning cat fur. Everyquestion I asked implied that the creators of the atomic bomb had been criminal accessori es to murder most foul. Dr. Breed was astonished, and then he got very sore. He drew back from me and he grumbled , ' I gather you don't like scientists very much .' ' I wouldn't say that , sir.' 'Al l your questions seem aimed at getting me to admit that scient ists are heartless, consciencelees, narrow boobies, indifferent to the fate of the rest of the human race, or maybe not really members of the human race at all .' 69