News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 1

January 2011
Level ≥ Advanced
Style ≥ Individual or group activities
Welcome to the Guardian Weekly’s special news-based materials to support learners and teachers of
English. Each month, the Guardian Weekly newspaper selects topical news articles that can be used to
practise English language skills. The materials are graded for two levels: Advanced and Lower Intermediate.
These worksheets can be downloaded free from guardian.co.uk/weekly/. You can also find more advice
for teachers and learners from the Guardian Weekly’s Learning English section on the site.
Materials prepared by Janet Hardy-Gould

Artist gives codebreakers hope of solving CIA puzzle

Challenging art ... Jim Sanborn’s sculpture with embedded riddle CIA

e Do you like the idea of devising your own codes?

Before reading
1 Look at the questions below. Use a dictionary to 2 Look at the headline, photo and caption of the
check the words in bold if necessary. Then work article. Discuss the questions below in small groups.
with a partner to ask and answer the questions. a What is the object in the picture? What is on it?
a Do you enjoy solving difficult word puzzles or b Which US organisation is the sculpture linked to?
riddles? c What do you know about this organisation? Why is
b Have you ever cracked a code or password? the sculpture appropriate?
c Do you get frustrated when the answer to a
crossword or puzzle eludes you?
d Would you like to decipher secret codes as a full-
time job?
≥2
News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 2

January 2011

7 The fourth and final code involves 97 of the 869

Article characters carved into the main portion of the
Artist gives codebreaker hope of sculpture. Sanborn has now revealed, through
the New York Times, a six-letter element of those
solving CIA puzzle 97 letters.
1 Some of the best brains in code-breaking,
8 He has disclosed that the part of the sculpture
including cryptographers in the CIA and the
that reads “nypvtt” becomes “Berlin” once
National Security Agency and thousands of
decoded.
amateur sleuths worldwide, have been given
fresh hope that they may crack one of the world’s
9 Sanborn says that so far only two of the 97
toughest puzzles, which has remained unsolved
characters have been deciphered. He told the
for 20 years.
New York Times he had become so fed up with
obsessives contacting him to claim success
2 The riddle is embedded in a work of art that
that he has set up his own website to filter out
stands outside the main entrance to the CIA’s
approaches.
headquarters in Virginia. The artist who
designed the 1990 sculpture, Jim Sanborn, has
10 Correspondents will only be awarded access
become so frustrated by the failure of the code-
to the website if they can show that they have
breaking community to crack his puzzle that he
successfully decoded the first 10 letters of the
has dangled a six-letter clue in front of them.
97-letter puzzle.
3 The clue offers the hope that a problem that has Ed Pilkington New York
eluded the finest thinkers in the intelligence
community, as well as their high-powered
computers, may now be solved. The riddle has
also inspired websites and user groups.
Glossary
4 Sanborn’s sculpture was commissioned to mark
the extension of the agency’s headquarters in cryptographer (noun) a person who analyses or
Langley, and was itself a play on the intelligence creates secret code systems
function of the agency: the sculpture’s name, CIA (abbreviation) Central Intelligence Agency. The
Kryptos, means “hidden” in Greek. CIA is a US government department that collects
information about other countries, often secretly.
National Security Agency (noun) an intelligence
5 Sanborn, who won the $250,000 commission
agency which is part of the US Department of Defence.
to design the work in a competition, embedded
It collects and analyses foreign communications.
four puzzles in the curved copper panels of to dangle something in front of somebody
the sculpture. He spent four months devising (expression) to offer somebody a good thing in order to
the codes, with the help of a retired CIA persuade them to do something
cryptographer.

6 Three of the four puzzles were solved in the

first few years by a CIA physicist who cracked
the code using just pen and paper, and then by a
California-based IT specialist using a computer.

≥3
News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 3

January 2011

Recent information given by artist

While reading
1 Read the article and make brief notes under the
headings below.
Location, date and name of sculpture

2 Read the article again. Note the paragraph number

where can you find the following information. Then
write down the exact information.
a The number of characters in the fourth section
Artist deciphered by codebreakers.
b The former profession of the man who helped
Sanborn.
c How codebreakers can enter Sanborn’s new
internet site.
d The length of time that the puzzle has been
unsolved.
e Which methods people used to crack the first
three codes.
Reason sculpture commissioned, cost and f The name of the publication that the artist used to
material used reveal the recent clue.
g The word that is revealed when the artist’s clue is
decoded.
h The meaning of the sculpture’s name.

3 Work with a partner. Discuss the questions below

Special features of sculpture
with reference to the text.
a Do you like Samborn’s work of art and the idea
behind it?
b Would you like to try and crack the code on the
sculpture? Why?/Why not? See bit.ly/i0P66o for the
entrance to Samborn’s website.
c Do you think anybody will succeed in cracking the
code in the near future?

After reading
1 Complete the text below with the present perfect
or past simple of the verbs in brackets. Use both the
Reason why artist is frustrated
active and the passive.
When Jim Sanborn and cryptographer Ed Scheidt first
(a) (create) the Kryptos
sculpture, they (b) (not
think) it would take so long to crack the whole code.
Three of the puzzles (c)
(decipher) in the early 1990s, but the answer to the
fourth section (d) ≥4
News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 4

January 2011

(continue) to elude even the best cryptographers. Many Now, identify the words below from the article with
online discussion groups the code. Use the words to complete the sentences.
(e) (set up) but no answer idloxuh, ghfrgh, fodlp, dpdwhxu, ihg xs, glvforvh
(f) (find) yet. a We tried to the message
Over the years this fourth puzzle but we were unsuccessful.
(g) (become) one of the b He decided to the
most famous unsolved codes in the world and some information to a colleague.
people (h) (wonder) if c The young codebreaker
it is even possible to find the answer. However, when couldn’t solve the complex riddle.
Sanborn (i) (ask) about d Does anybody to know
this by a journalist in 2003, he simply the answer?
(j) (answer): “Yes, it ain’t e The cryptographers were upset by their
easy, but it’s solvable.” .
f After so many attempts at the puzzle, the
Activity – cryptography codebreakers were .

Work in small groups to crack the Caesar’s code*.
The clues will help you. The words are from the first
two paragraphs.
vohxwk – a person who solves crimes; a detective
*Named after Julius Caesar, this code is one of the
simplest and best-known encryption methods. The
letters of the original message are replaced by a
letter which is a fixed number of positions down the
alphabet eg A = B.

sxccoh – a game that you have to think about carefully

to find the answer

hqwudqfh – a door or gate used for going into a

building

d 1. 20 years. e 6. Pen and paper; with a computer. f 7. New York Times. g 8. Berlin.
Answers h 4. It means “hidden” in Greek.
Before reading
1 a A sculpture. A secret code/ riddle. After reading
b The CIA. (The CIA is a US government department which collects information 1 a created b didn’t think c were deciphered d has continued e have been set up
about other countries, often secretly.) f has been found g has become h have wondered i was asked j answered
c The CIA is involved in code breaking. The secret code on the sculpture reflects
the work of the CIA. Activity
The code has a shift of three with a left rotation. A = D, B = E etc. Clues: sleuth,
While reading puzzle, entrance. idloxuh = failure, ghfrgh = decode, fodlp = claim, dpdwhxu
1 Location etc: Langley, Virginia. 1990. Kryptos. = amateur, ihg xs = fed up, glvforvh = disclose. a decode b disclose c amateur
Artist: Jim Sanborn. d claim e failure f fed up
Reason commissioned etc: To mark the extension of CIA headquarters.
$250,000. Copper.
Special features: it has a riddle embedded in it. The code is in four parts.
Why artist is frustrated: Nobody has cracked all of the code.
Recent information: a six-letter section of the code has been revealed.
2 a 9. Two. b 5. CIA cryptographer. c 10. By giving the first ten letters of the puzzle.