According to public health officials, in 1998 massachusetts became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than under it.(a) than(b) than born(c) than they were(d) than there had been(e) than had been born

A). Than.

Explanation:

As per the question, option A best fits the underlined word both structurally and grammatically(use of than as conjunction) as it accomplishes the comparison as well as meaning of the sentence. The other options are incorrect as they either lack parallelism(in options C and D) or present an incorrect comparison(options B and E compares the babies instead of the women). Thus, option A most appropriately proposes the intended meaning and comparison effectively.

explanation:

you only need simple sentences to answer this. just answer these questions.

what do you think annie thinks of the mother? do you think annie believes the mother is a fit mother for helen.

what about the father? what would annie think of him? she might not like him, but does she respect him.

how about the son? would annie think he is the only voice of sanity in an insane place?

what about helen herself? this is the key question. how does she see helen? what do you suppose she thought her first job was going to be.

these aren't hard questions. just state the obvious. annie is not that well educated: she just knows what she has to do. write it that way.

you can do it if you've read the book or seen the play or movie.

what’s your question?