Question

read the excerpt from \tools of the spymaster.\

both the british and the americans frequently used horseback riders to carry messages, and both sides tried to capture the riders and get the messages. the rider who lost one of washingtons important messages was tallmadge himself. it happened when tallmadge and some of his men were attacked by british troops near the connecticut-new york border. tallmadge escaped unharmed but lost a saddlebag full of secret papers.

luckily, tallmadges code did not fall into british hands. but among the papers was a letter from washington in which he carelessly gave the name and address of an agent, george higday, saying that he was a man who would probably \convey intelligence to me.\ higday was arrested, but he had managed to destroy all evidence of spying. that move probably saved him from hanging.

which statement best expresses the central idea of the excerpt?

good spies know to destroy evidence in case they are arrested.
george higday could have been hanged for spying.
losing secret papers to the enemy could have serious consequences.
george washington was not good at writing letters in code.

Explanation:

Analyze the text and options

The excerpt describes how Benjamin Tallmadge lost a saddlebag of secret papers, including a letter from George Washington containing the name and address of an agent, George Higday. Because of this loss, Higday was arrested and narrowly escaped hanging by destroying the evidence.

Evaluate the choices

• Option 1: "Good spies know to destroy evidence..." is a specific detail about Higday's actions, not the overarching central idea of the entire passage.
• Option 2: "George Higday could have been hanged..." is another specific detail resulting from the main event.
• Option 3: "Losing secret papers to the enemy could have serious consequences" captures the main point of the entire narrative: Tallmadge's loss of the saddlebag led directly to an agent's arrest and near-execution.
• Option 4: "George Washington was not good at writing letters in code" is incorrect and unsupported by the text.

Determine the correct option

Option 3 best summarizes the central idea of the excerpt.

Answer:

• Good spies know to destroy evidence in case they are arrested.
• George Higday could have been hanged for spying.
• Losing secret papers to the enemy could have serious consequences. (Correct answer)
• George Washington was not good at writing letters in code.