Question

read the beginning of divyas personal narrative, \the graduation speech.\
\theres no way i would ever volunteer to be our graduation speaker,\ i snapped. jill wol surprised. \i dont 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 its 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 wol the perfect person to give this speech!\

fill in the blanks in order.
seemed . . . were
seems . . . were
seemed . . . are
seems . . . are

Explanation:

1. The narrative is written in past tense (evidenced by "snapped," "continued," "smiled"). For the first blank describing Jill's reaction, the past tense verb "seemed" matches the story's timeline, eliminating present tense "seems."
2. For the second blank, Jill is making a direct statement about Divya in the context of her present qualities that make her fit for the speech. The present tense "are" correctly describes this current truth, while past tense "were" would be inconsistent with her point about Divya's current suitability.

Answer:

seemed . . . are