|Question 21Verbal

Source Texts

Text
The parks of Columbus, Ohio, seem to be making people happier. In 2022, a team of researchers _______ to find connections between the physical location in which a social media post was created and the content of that post analyzed geotagged social media posts from various sites in Columbus. The team found that posts from the city’s parks contained more words associated with happiness than did the other posts.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
were hoping
A
was hoping
B
hoped
C
hoping
D