The correct answer is were.
Since English grammar has this thing called the sequence of tenses, which means that if the first verb in the sentence is in the past tense, all following verbs will have to be in the past tense as well.
So here, the first verb is <em>knew, </em>which is the past simple tense of the verb <em>to know, </em>which means that the following verb <em>to be </em>also has to be given in the past. The past simple form of the verb <em>to be </em>for plural is WERE.
To engage the reader, the author asks a thought-provoking question.
The author asks “...how and when did baseball become recognized as the national sport of the United States?”’to introduce the reader to the topic of the text and cause them to begin considering it.
Answer:
The businessman said I should get out of his office
Answer:HARIBO
That’s the first gummy bear company
SEQUENCING is arranging things in order so they can be numbered or related in a connected series.