Hello! The correct answer is:

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To "persuade" means to convince someone to do something by arguing or reasoning with them. A persuasive speech is a type of speech in which the speaker tries to convince the audience to believe what they believe. The speaker cannot force his or her opinion on others. However, they can use certain words or express their opinion in such a way that hopefully causes others to accept their point of view.
The correct answer is b.
Hardly, as an adverb means "just", hardly, in this context is acting as a limiting modifier of the word ever. <em>Hardly ever</em> means very occasionally. We may use words like it to emphasize how infrequently an action takes place. You should note also that there could be other ways to give quite the same meaning, like when you use <em>rarely</em> or <em>seldom</em>, but, hardly ever has also a <u>negative</u> connotation.
Paying attention or interested