The brass needed to make the plaques was usually transported in the form of large bracelets – called manillas – and the quantities involved are staggering. In 1548 just one German merchant house agreed to provide Portugal with 432 tons of brass manillas for the West African market. When we look again at the plaque, we can see that one of the Europeans is holding a manilla, and this is the key to the whole scene: the Oba is with his officials who manage and control the European trade. –A History of the World in 100 Objects,
Neil MacGregor

What central idea is best supported by details in the passage?

Returning from vietnam, we were given a parade. crowds of screaming people waving signs — not just on one road, one day. no, they were everywhere. every day. on the streets, on the television, on the radio. a hot, angry tangle of shaking fists and ugly words that threatened us like a monster with a hundred heads. our country had chewed us up and spit us out, and now we were being treated as if it were our fault. which sentence best uses figurative language to match the paragraph's tone? a. our feet were frozen in place as the street itself strained to hold us back. b. i felt unappreciated and condemned for actions i had thought were heroic. c. i hadn't expected to find myself in a rags-to-riches situation such as this. d. we had come home to a feeding frenzy and were being treated as bait.