work out

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

It would take a very clever thief several hours to work out even one of them (codes).

a. find a way to open b. solve

The answer is "a". Is that right?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[Gillnetter]

Dear teachers,

It would take a very clever thief several hours to work out even one of them (codes).

a. find a way to open b. solve

The answer is "a". Is that right?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

You can't open a code but you can solve a code - go with b.

[jiang]

Gillnetter
Key Member
Hi Gillnetter,

Thank you very much for your explanation.
The answer is given by the textbook. The following is the relevant part of the text:


I always use the letter-lock myself. My two words are ..... and .....Who would guess them? It would take a very clever thief several hours to work out even one of them. (The person had two boxes and I think the letter-lock refers to the letter-lock of the two boxes)

The question I asked the other day was taken from this part of the text. And the choices are :
a. find a way to open b. solve
The given answer is "a". I asked the question because I was unable to find the definitino "find a way to open" under "work out" but I did find the definitino "solve". That's why I asked the question. Is it possible the give answer is correct in that in that particular context "work out" means to solve the problem of letter-lock and open the box? I feel confused.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[jiang]

Hi Gillnetter,
Could you please kindly explain in the context I provide is the answer still "b"?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

Gillnetter
Key Member
Hi Gillnetter,

Thank you very much for your explanation.
The answer is given by the textbook. The following is the relevant part of the text:


I always use the letter-lock myself. My two words are ..... and .....Who would guess them? It would take a very clever thief several hours to work out even one of them. (The person had two boxes and I think the letter-lock refers to the letter-lock of the two boxes)

The question I asked the other day was taken from this part of the text. And the choices are :
a. find a way to open b. solve
The given answer is "a". I asked the question because I was unable to find the definitino "find a way to open" under "work out" but I did find the definitino "solve". That's why I asked the question. Is it possible the give answer is correct in that in that particular context "work out" means to solve the problem of letter-lock and open the box? I feel confused.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[5jj]

Gillnetter has explained that you cannot open a code. if the book gives that as an answer, the book is wrong.

If, however, the 'open' is referring to a safe, rather than a code, then it is correct.

[emsr2d2]

The confusion seems to stem from the fact that there are two boxes and two keywords, so theoretically the thief could be trying to work out "even one [of them]" of the boxes or the keywords.

However, I've never heard "work out" used to mean "open", but it certainly means "solve".

The last thing mentioned before the words "even one of them" is "two keywords" so I completely feel that "work out" refers to the keywords.