Read the excerpt from “Tools of the Spymaster."
James Jay's invisible ink did not become visible by heating. As he described it, his ink "would elude the generally known means of detection, and yet could be rendered visible by a suitable counterpart." Jay's invisible ink consisted of two chemicals. An agent used one chemical to write an invisible message. To read the message, the reader had to brush a second chemical on the paper; that chemical made the message visible. The two-bottle system, supplied by Jay, gave Washington the secure form of writing that he wanted.
Which statement is best supported by text evidence from the excerpt?
Heating was a generally known means of reading invisible ink.
James Jay was widely considered a hero for his invention.
Both the British and the Americans used James Jay’s invisible ink.
Washington helped James Jay develop the two-bottle system.
Heating was a generally known means of reading invisible ink.
The statement best supported by text evidence from the excerpt is: Heating was a generally known means of reading invisible ink.
The statement best supported by text evidence from the excerpt is: Heating was a generally known means of reading invisible ink.
The excerpt states that James Jay's invisible ink "did not become visible by heating." This implies that heating was a method commonly used to make invisible ink visible, but Jay's ink was designed to evade this known method of detection. Therefore, the statement that heating was a generally known means of reading invisible ink is supported by the text evidence.