Your question is missing a few elements. I've found the complete question online. It is as follows:
Read the beginning of Divya’s personal narrative, “The Graduation Speech.”
“There’s no way I would ever volunteer to be our graduation speaker,” I snapped. Jill __________ surprised. “I don’t even like raising my hand in school,” I continued. “Why on earth would I put myself in a position to speak in front of our entire class?” She smiled knowingly. “I think you have a lot to say, Divya, and it’s time to finally let it out. You always give me great advice. Graduation is a major turning point, and everyone will be looking for a little advice and encouragement as they venture into the world. See? You __________ the perfect person to give this speech!”
Fill in the blanks in order.
A. seemed . . . . were
B. seems . . . . were
C. seemed . . . . are
D. seems . . . . are
Answer:
The correct answer is C. seemed... are
Explanation:
To complete these sentences, we need to look at the context and the verb tenses. Let's focus on the first one, "'...our graduation speaker,' I snapped. Jill __________ surprised." The blank is placed in the narrative part, not inside the dialog. The narrative is using verbs in the Simple Past tense, as we can see right before the blank with the verb "snapped". We can, therefore, eliminate options B and D because they use the verb "seem" in the Present. We are left with options A and C.
Now, for the second blank, "'I think you have a lot to say, Divya, and it’s time to finally let it out. You always give me great advice. [...] See? You __________ the perfect person to give this speech!'", we must notice it is placed inside the dialog. Jill is the one talking, and her verbs are in the Present tense. She is trying to convince Divya that she is perfect to give the speech. She is not talking about the past, but about a present state. Therefore, we can safely choose letter C to complete this blank.
The whole passage with the correct answers is:
“There’s no way I would ever volunteer to be our graduation speaker,” I snapped. Jill seemed surprised. “I don’t even like raising my hand in school,” I continued. “Why on earth would I put myself in a position to speak in front of our entire class?” She smiled knowingly. “I think you have a lot to say, Divya, and it’s time to finally let it out. You always give me great advice. Graduation is a major turning point, and everyone will be looking for a little advice and encouragement as they venture into the world. See? You are the perfect person to give this speech!”
