Navajo Code Talkers: The Century’s Best-Kept Secret

Instructions

Read the information passage "Navajo Code Talkers: The Century’s Best-Kept Secret" and answer the text-dependent questions below. 

Required

1

In paragraph 1, the word __________ best helps the reader understand the meaning of the word "Clandestine."

Required

1

Who first suggested using Navajo for military radio communications?

Required

1

The author begins and ends the selection with references to successful battles in order to __________

Required

1

Read these sentences from paragraph 2.
"In the 1940s there was no such thing as a “secure line.” All talk had to go out onto the public airwaves.
The author includes this information to —

Required

1

In paragraph 1, the author mentions “guttural noises and complex intonations” in order to __________

Required

2

Which of these best illustrates how much the general public knew about the Navajo code immediately following World War II?

	Illustrates the public knew	Does NOT illustrate the public knew
Its application in World War II as a clandestine system of communication was one of the twentieth century’s best-kept secrets.
A hand grenade was “potato,” and plain old bombs were “eggs.”
That was the situation in 1942 when the Pentagon authorized one of the boldest gambits of the war.
It wasn’t until 1968, when the military felt convinced that the Code Talkers would not be needed for any future wars, that America learned of the incredible contribution a handful of Native Americans made to winning history’s biggest war.
Each Talker was so valuable, he traveled everywhere with a personal bodyguard.

Required

1

Which of these is the best summary of the selection?

At the beginning of World War II, the Navajo language was perfect for use as a secret code. It had never been translated into another language, and because it had no alphabet, it had never been written down. The only people who knew the language were native speakers in the United States. Before the language could be used for coded communication, an alphabet and spelling system had to be developed for it.

1

From the information included in the table from the Navajo Code Talkers’ Dictionary, the reader can learn __________

1

Who first suggested using Navajo for military radio communications?

Read these sentences from paragraph 2."In the 1940s there was no such thing as a “secure line.” All talk had to go out onto the public airwaves.The author includes this information to —

Which of these best illustrates how much the general public knew about the Navajo code immediately following World War II?

Which of these is the best summary of the selection?

What is one purpose of the caption accompanying the photograph of the Code Talkers?

Read these sentences from paragraph 2.
"In the 1940s there was no such thing as a “secure line.” All talk had to go out onto the public airwaves.
The author includes this information to —