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.

Which statement best describes the use of satire in this passage? read the passage from chapter 7 of animal farm as clover looked down the hillside her eyes filled with tears. if she could have spoken her thoughts, it would have been to say that this was not what they had aimed at when they had set themselves years ago to work for the overthrow of the human race. these scenes of terror and slaughter were not what they had looked forward to on that night when old major first stirred them to rebellion. if she herself had had any picture of the future, it had been of a society of animals set free from hunger and the whip, all equal, each working according to his capacity, the strong protecting the weak, as she had protected the lost brood of ducklings with her foreleg on the night of major's speech. instead-she did not know why—they had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes. there was no thought of rebellion or parody is used to illustrate the impact of stalin's purge. ridicule is used to show the gullibility of the russian citizens. reversal is used to show how clover, representing the people, has changed ideals. personification is used to show the reader stalin's thoughts and feelings