Read the excerpt from "tools of the spymaster." general clinton, concerned about what general howe was planning and doing, made use of a mask to write a secret message in a letter to general burgoyne. before writing the letter, clinton had placed an hourglass-shaped mask on a piece of paper and then had formed the secret message within that shape. the unmasked letter had enough false information in it to fool any american who happened to see it. but when burgoyne viewed the letter with the mask, he read clinton's view of the real situation: howe has made a bad move; i don't have enough men to do anything about it. which statement best expresses the central idea of the excerpt?
a. generals were able to send secret messages to each other using a mask.
b. general howe failed to the other generals defeat the americans.
c. the british were better at using codes than the americans.
d. false information in a letter could cause problems for the americans.

The answer is A) Generals were able to send secret messages to each other using a mask.

Explanation:

From the excerpt of "Tools of the Spymaster" we may conclude one thing for sure: the generals were able to send secret messages to each other using a mask.

The excerpt does not offer us enough information to logically assume any of the other options. We are not told what the mistake by General Howe was, or if the British were better at using codes. It is stated that the letter would fool Americans if they read it and, of course, false information is always dangerous. But the focus is on how the message was coded, what was done in order to prevent its meaning from being understood by the enemy. That's why a lot of emphasis is put on the use of a certain hourglass-shaped mask: to show how generals were able to write the secret message within that shape.

(A)

Explanation: Generals were able to send secret messages to each other using a mask.

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