Taking those choices into consideration, we can assume the underlined group of words is "wanting an exceptional letter of recommendation from her teacher."
With the information above in mind, we can answer that the underlined group of words is:
D. A participial phrase.
A participialphrase consists of a present or past participle and its complement.
A present participle is formed by adding -ing to the base form of a verb.
A participial phrase <u>functions as an adjective</u> in a sentence, <u>modifying a noun.</u>
In the sentence we are analyzing here, the group of words "wanting an exceptional letter of recommendation from her teacher" is a participial phrase.
The present participle is "<u>wanting</u>".
The phrase modifies the noun "Mallory," giving us extra information about it.