Why did South Central Academy win the game? A. They were the better team
B. The players on East Coast High are rookies
C. East Coast High made four errors
D. Jeff Bacon hit a triple and a double

C

Explanation:

it just is

the sentence does not violate the phrase structure second rule (introduced by noam chomsky) because noun phrases consist of a determiner such as a, the or every, and a noun. in the sentence, the noun phrase the cake includes a determiner (the) and a noun (cake).

on the other hand, the first rule indicates that a sentence encloses a noun phrase, followed by a verb phrase. the example sentence can be analysed as follows:

john (n) + ate (v) + the (det) + cake (n).