• surprising vs. evident

• surprising vs. evident

Hi!
I read the following in a TOEIC book:

“To: Heather Conner
From: Martin Drysdale
Subject: Your short story submission
Date: May 2

Dear Ms. Conner,

Thank you for your submission to this year’s Francis P. Scott Literary Competition. As you may be aware, Ms. Grace Oberlin was selected as the winner for her short story Never Far, and an awards ceremony, to which you are cordially invited, will be held in her honor on June 18.

As for your submission, it is ______ that you possess both a great deal of talent and potential. After all, of the numerous manuscripts we received this year, our judges deemed your short story Alienation to be in the top five. Consequently, we would like to include your work in our upcoming publication. …

Thank you very much.

Martin Drysdale
Chairman of Francis P. Scott Literary Foundation Awards Committee

(A) unlikely
(B) convenient
(C) surprising
(D) evident” ((Hacker’s TOEIC, New TOEIC Edition))

Which one do you think is correct? I think ‘(C) surprising’ is the best answer, but my friend says ‘(D) evident’ is the correct answer.

Thanks in advance.