Final answer:
The correct option for marking the beginning of a single-line comment in many programming languages is b) //.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct option in this case is b) //. The characters // mark the beginning of a single-line comment in many programming languages, such as Java, C++, and JavaScript. When these characters are used, everything after them in the same line is treated as a comment and is ignored by the compiler or interpreter.