Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

Out in the Pacific Ocean, 3,700 kilometers from Los Angeles, are the Islands of Hawaii, the 50th state of the United States, with Its area of 16,700 square kilometers.

The first Hawaiians arrived from other Pacific Islands sometime around 100 AD. Then in 1778, Captain Cook arrived In Hawaii. He put the islands on his maps of the Pacific Ocean. Then more ships knew Hawaii and began stopping there for supplies. In 1820, a small group of people from the eastern United States came to teach the farms to grow sugar and pineapples. Because there were not enough people to do all the farm work, farm owners brought in Asians - Chinese, Japanese, and Filipinos.

Later Koreans, Portuguese, and Puerto Ricans also came. More people came from the US mainland and from the US mainland and from other Pacific islands, and Hawaii has become a place with traditions from several countries. People from the various nation groups have married each other, so today the groups are partly mixed. Hawaiians are very friendly and always welcome visitors. They celebrate traditional Chinese, Japanese and Filipino holidays as well as holidays from the United States. Hawaii Is known as the Aloha state. “Aloha” means “hello", “goodbye” and "I love you' in Hawaiian.

Catherine was absent from class yesterday _________ she was ill. A. because B. because of C. despite D. though