They were simply asking if Babbage had prepared the machine to always give the answers to the questions Babbage knew he was going to enter - i.e. whether he was

They were simply asking if Babbage had prepared the machine to always give the answers to the questions Babbage knew he was going to enter - i.e. whether he was a fraud. Enter 2+2. Receive 4. That's the right answer. If you enter 1+1, will you still receive 4? It's easy to make a machine that always says 4.