Question

read this quotation from paragraph 3. original towns and villages are found along the national road, many barely touched by the passing of time. in this quotation, the authors use of figurative language contributes to the meaning of the article by — a suggesting that towns along the national road have older populations b emphasizing that some towns along the national road have remained unchanged c conveying that the national road gave the surrounding area protected status d indicating that the national road prevented progress along its route

Explanation:

The phrase "barely touched by the passing of time" is a figurative way to say that the towns and villages have not changed much over time. Option A is incorrect as there's no mention of population age. Option C is wrong because there's no indication of protected status. Option D is off - the text doesn't say the road prevented progress, just that the towns/villages are unchanged. Option B correctly interprets the figurative language as emphasizing lack of change.

Answer:

B. emphasizing that some towns along the National Road have remained unchanged