Final answer:
In a SQL query, a secondary sort is specified in the ORDER BY clause to sort the data further if an exact match occurs during the primary sort. The options are Ascending or Descending.
Step-by-step explanation:
The answer to the student's question is a specifed sequence known as a secondary sort. In the ORDER BY clause of a SQL query, if an exact match occurs during the primary sort, the secondary sort is used to determine the presentation sequence. The correct answer is: A) Ascending. However, both Ascending (A-Z, 0-9) and Descending (Z-A, 9-0) sorts can be applied according to the required order of the result set. There is no option such as Random or Alphabetical sort in the ORDER BY clause.