1
lesson pretestMultiple Choice

Pretest

Question 1 • Language Arts 9

Read the excerpt from The Code Book . Despite the enormous strength of RSA and other modern ciphers, cryptanalysts are still able to play a valuable role in intelligence gathering. Their success is demonstrated by the fact that cryptanalysts are in greater demand than ever before—the NSA is still the world's largest employer of mathematicians. What is the central idea of this paragraph?

Answer
A
Computers are better than people at keeping the nation safe.
B
Many math experts work for the National Security Agency.
C
Skilled people are still important national security workers.
D
The RSA computer system makes our country more secure.

Explanation

The paragraph says that even though modern ciphers such as RSA are very strong, cryptanalysts still help gather intelligence and are in greater demand than ever. This supports the central idea that skilled people remain important to national security. Choice B is a detail about the NSA, not the paragraph’s main point.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.

Next