Mystery and Suspense — Test

Question 12 • CMS 2025-2026 English I CREDIT RECOVERY

Which excerpt from "The Enigma Machine” supports the claim that German soldiers accidentally helped the Allies figure out the Enigma codes?

Answer

With the right settings, the recipient only needed to type in the encrypted text and the message would light up in plain text.

To use the Enigma machine, an operator typed a message into the machine, which would be scrambled by three rotors . . .

The Polish intelligence developed the "bomba", a complicated system of wires and rotors to scan and decode messages within hours.

Typing in messages was a boring task, so operators took shortcuts, like choosing three letters in a row or other simple, predictable patterns.

Explanation

Choice D says German operators took shortcuts by choosing predictable patterns when setting up the machine. Those predictable choices made some Enigma settings easier for the Allies to discover, so the soldiers unintentionally helped the Allies decode messages. The other excerpts describe how the machine worked or what the Polish intelligence service developed, not the soldiers’ accidental help.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.

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