I would say C. “was”. It’s definitely not “am”, because that just sounds completely wrong. It’s not “are” because that sounds a bit wrong, too. It can’t be “were” because it’s only referring to one group, not many groups. The only answer it could be is C.
<em>My Opinion:</em>
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<em>(E) relating it to the words mesmerized audiences</em>
<em>Not sure tho, Good Luck! =)</em>
