What was the direct predecessor to Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML)?

A.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

B.
Extensible Markup Language (XML)

C.
LaTeX

D.
Generalized Markup Language (GML)

Explanation:
D: A markup language is a way to structure text and also how it will be viewed. When you adjust margins and other formatting capabilities in a word processor, you are marking up
the text in the word processor’s markup language. If you develop a Web page, you are using some type of markup language. You can control how it looks and some of the actual
functionality the page provides. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) came out in the early 1990s. It came from Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), which came from the
Generalized Markup Language (GML). GML is a macrolanguage developed in the 1960s for the IBM text formatter, SCRIPT/VS. GML markup simplifies the description of how a
document appears (font, structure, etc.). Once the document is marked up, it can be formatted for different devices (a printer, for example) without changing the document. GML was
used as the foundation for the industry-developed SGML. While GML is a structured document description language, SGML is a set of rules for the creation of such languages. SGML
was developed for the purpose of enabling the sharing of machine-readable documents. It is used in a number of industries, including the government, military, and law.
A is incorrect because HTML came from SGML. HTML came out in the early 1990s and was developed as a system for annotating text for Web pages. SGML is an ISO standard
that defines generalized markup languages for documents. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) was created by physicist Tim Berners-Lee for the use and sharing of documents while
he was at CERN. Based on an in-house version of SGML called SGMLguid, HTML was initially defined as an application of SGML. Today the text and image formatting language is
used by Web browsers to dynamically format Web pages.
B is incorrect because Extensible Markup Language (XML) was developed after SGML. XML was developed as a specification to create various markup languages. From this
specification more specific XML standards were created to be able to provide individual industries the functions they required. Individual industries have different needs in how they use
markup languages. SGML was not a specification that was designed to allow the creation of individual and different markup languages.
C is incorrect because LaTeX was written in the early 1980s as the successor to TeX. LaTeX is the markup language and document preparation system used with the TeX
typesetting program. Academic scholars are the most common users of LaTeX. Together with TeX, LaTeX provides a high quality of typesetting.