Question

read the passage from sugar changed the world. no one interviewed the africans who labored in the sugar fields to ask them about their hard labor. they were meant to work and die. but there is one way we can hear them. the africans invented music, dances, and songs that carry on the pulse, the beat, of their lives. (to hear examples of music from the sugar lands, go to www.sugarchangedtheworld.com.) in puerto rico, bomba is a form of music and dance that the sugar workers invented. it is a kind of conversation in rhythm involving a woman, the man dancing with her, and the drummers who watch her and find the right rhythm for her movements. a master coming by would see dancing—no words of anger or rebellion. but as she moved and swayed, as the drummers “spoke” back in their beats, the workers were saying that they were not just labor, not just bodies born to work and die. instead they were alive and speaking in
which text evidence best supports the authors’ claim and purpose that enslaved people were more than mercilessly treated workers?
“bomba is a form of music and dance that the sugar workers invented.”
“they were not just labor, not just bodies born to work and die.”
“similarly, in brazil there is a dance called maculelê.”
“people spin, jump, and seem to menace each other.”

Explanation:

The claim is that enslaved people were more than just workers treated mercilessly. The text evidence "They were not just labor, not just bodies born to work and die" directly supports this by emphasizing that enslaved people had more to their existence than just being laborers. The other options either describe a form of music/dance (Bomba, Maculelê) or actions in a dance (people spinning, jumping) which do not as directly address the idea of enslaved people being more than just workers compared to the second option.

Answer:

"They were not just labor, not just bodies born to work and die."