I'm in the part of the course where there are flickering signs that it will "click" and come together which is encouraging. I'm scoring in the 60th percentiles during the drills and do wish it were higher. But I do feel a sense of trudging along but I'm keeping the faith.

I agree, the way you analyze the sentence determines the correct answer. If we include the context, i.e. the beginning phrase, then I would argue there is no "winner". I am confused by this question.