<p>Passage 2
I have been asked about the early lack of inter-
est in radio astronomy by the astronomical
community. In retrospect, there appear to have
been two difficulties. First, the astronomers had a
nearly complete lack oi knowledge of electronic
apparatus, viewing it as magical and sinister.
Second, and more important, the astrophysicists
could not dream up any rational way by which the
radio waves could be generated, and since they
didn’t know of such a process, the whole affair was
at best a mistake and at worst a hoax. lve encoun-
tered this attitude at other times and places. If the
why and how are not known, observations are
discounted by the intelligentsia. By contrast, the
engineering fraternity had a clear understanding of
the electronic equipment. More important, they
were not inhibited by mental hang-ups about the
origin of the radio waves. On that subject, their
attitude was-who cares?
The pundits of Marconis day said his ideas
about wireless radio would not work because radio
waves were similar to light and would not bend
around the curvature of the Earth. Even after
Marconis successful transatlantic radio transmis-
sion in 1901, many doubted his results because
there was no known way radio waves would
perform as he reported. However, the telegraphic
cable company believed him. They served him
with a writ to cease and desist because they had
an exclusive monopoly on transatlantic communi-
cation. As usual the intelligentsia fell flat on its
ace.</p>
<p>The tone of this passage is
(A) cautious
(B) nostalgic
(C) sarcastic
(D) understated
(E) uncritically admiring</p>
<p>I’m leaning towards (D) but none of the choices really seem to fit to me.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
he’s mocking or being sarcastic about the lack of interest in early times. he mentions that they were “viewing it as magical and sinister.” then he mentions that the astrophysicists “dream up” meaning they think of an idea or plan just by imagining it without really examining it. and he then says that it “at best” was a “mistake”, making it seem like the most positive way they considered it was only a mistake and “at worst” was a “hoax”. it then mentions that if they don’t know “how and why” observations are considered wrong by the intelligentsia. then he mentions that the astrophysicists have mental hang-ups, which block their way out of knowing and understanding the waves. He then mentions that people considered light and waves the same that even after Marconi successfully made the transatlantic radio transmission in 1901. and then he makes fun of the telegraph cable company by saying that they told Marconi to stop his “wireless waves” thing because they had they had an exclusive monopoly on transatlantic communication using CABLES, and also he was mocking when he used the word “serve”. I hope I gave you the intuition why the author’s tone is sarcastic.