In the opening sentences of the passage (“Now I know . . . color of my hair!”), the author refers to Alice Walker primarily to a impress her audience with the breadth of her literary knowledge

b flaunt her access to privileged information about the planning of the commencement ceremony

c congratulate her audience for inviting her instead of a lesser-known speaker

d acknowledge the potentially embarrassing circumstances under which she is delivering her speech

e suggest that she pays more attention to her personal appearance than do other celebrities

D. acknowledge the potentially embarrassing circumstances under which she is delivering her speech

Explanation:

like many students at university, you may be unhappy about the results you attain in exams. you may feel that even with all you are doing there must be something more -- or different-- you could be doing to get better grades. we have all at some time or other heard of that student who only studies a couple of hours for final exams and scores a's every time. we stand in awe of those who seem to breeze through without undue effort and seem to need very little in the way of studying to nail an exam. the reasons for success, in what i think are the vast majority of cases, are less esoteric than many students think: successful students consistently apply a series of productive strategies with view to attaining clearly identified learning and grade goals throughout the academic term.