Hey there! The answer would be D because the paragraph is talking in past tense about the author until this point. It should be "female authors were not respected" instead of are. Hope this helped! :)
It helps bring the reader into what you are going to talk about it's like a tour guide and you slowly showing them what it's about but you also want to interest them so they read on and get to the central /main idea
Answer: Because education is highly important.
Explanation: why you may ask because education brings you along way in life,
1.) Mary
2.) continent
3.) laying
4.) obtuse