Because the letters $ACDKL$ must occur as a block, we can find the answer by finding the
number of permutations of eight objects, namely, the block $ACDKL$ and the remaining $7$ letters.
Because these eight objects can occur in any order, there are $8!$ possible permutations of $ABCDEFGHIJKL$ in which $ACDKL$ occurs as a block.
So, the correct answer is $(C)$.