The only word that could potentially be a compound noun is patents, but that has its own definition-a government meeting of some sort.
A compound noun would be a compound word that is also a noun, but there aren't really any compound words.
I know this doesn't really help, sry.
The answer would be C. The committee's bickering was seriously impeding any real progress.
impede would translate to preventing...such as preventing progress.
jem is shocked when the jury says that Tom Robinson is guilty. He had thought Atticus had surely won the trial for Tom.