(02.03, 02.04 MC) First, read the excerpt from The History of Ice Cream.

The first recorded account of ice cream in the United States was in 1744. In a written letter, a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen detailed a delicious frozen dessert featuring strawberries and milk. The invention of electricity and manufacturing meant that ice cream could be made and kept much more easily, and the popularity of the frozen treat grew quickly across the country.

To start, ice cream was served in a dish. It wasn't until the late 19th century that the ice cream cone made its first appearance. As with ice cream itself, there has always been some controversy over who the true inventor of the ice cream cone was. It is claimed that in 1896, a man by the name of Italo Marchiony invented the ice cream cone in New York City. He was granted a patent for this cup-shaped invention in 1903. Then, in 1904, ice cream was served in a true conical-shaped cone by Ernest Hamwi at the St. Louis World Fair. Whoever the true inventor was, the discovery caught on, and by 1924, Americans were eating over 200 million ice cream cones a year!

Next, read the incomplete summary.

The text The History of Ice Cream, is about the evolution of ice cream first being invented to its growing popularity. There has been a long debate on who first invented this frozen treat. Somewhere between 2,000 and 6,000 years ago, it was first served as a recipe of frozen milk and rice as a dessert and was considered a delicacy to the richest families. Ice cream can be traced back centuries, but it wasn't until the 1500s that it spread across Europe thanks to Catherine de'Medici. It was finally introduced to the United States in 1744 and has only grown in popularity since. Like ice cream, the ice cream cone was invented in the late 19th century and debated over who first invented it. Regardless of the inventors of ice cream or the ice cream cone, this duo is definitely a winning combination.

From this excerpt, which sentence should be between the two bolded sentences to complete the summary?

Select one:
a. Ice cream cones were an important part of making ice cream a popular dessert in the late 19th century.
b. Ice cream was so popular that developments have been made to create hundreds of different flavors.
c. The demand for ice cream and invention of electricity and manufacturing made ice cream more accessible.
d. The Maryland Governor, William Bladen, was the first American to encounter strawberry ice cream.