I believe that it is A for your question.
This is a fragment - the sentence is incomplete, it lacks a main verb. It would be a complex sentence if it was finished, if it said - ...a concrete symbol that would provide the substance they needed to restore their shaken hope <em>presented itself to them, </em>or something along those lines. Since there is no such verb, the sentence is not finished.
If you read the vocab section at the beginning before you start reading, you will know what any of the words mean from the list, while reading the text.
So, let's say your vocab section has the word "joyous", and it's definition "very happy". When you read this before reading your text, you will not have to wonder what "joyous" means.
Does that make sense?
Also, put this into your own words, so you get full points.
