"Descendants from all the builders of Babel, come to trade at Marseilles, sought the shade alike—taking refuge in any hiding-place from a sea too intensely blue to be looked at, and a sky of purple, set with one great flaming jewel of fire"
In this line you can see Marseilles as a place were people suffers. A place too hot to even stare at things as the sun reflection blinds you. The only thing that merely conforts them is seeking for shadow. By the term Babel we know that everyone is form a different place and speak different languages making comunication very difficult. It seems as a place were no one wants to be more than necessary . The sun is described as great flaming jewel of fire, meaning it is extremely hot in there. As you can realize, it is not possible to be confortable in a place like that. As you read you even fell inconfortable.  
 
        
             
        
        
        
Predicate nominative is also popularly known as the predicate noun. It is a noun, a pronoun or any nominal that follows the linking verb and most of the time the form of the verb be.  It links or completes the linking and change the name of the subject. It complements or completes the verb in the sentence. However, predicate nominative completes only linking verbs.  Predicate nominative can be compound while some do not have one. Therefore in the sentence "Sugar is the main ingredient in taffy", the predicate nominative is "ingredient". 
        
             
        
        
        
The correct answer is <span>a free-form outline is not organized from top to bottom
The remaining possible answer are incorrect.</span>
        
                    
             
        
        
        
Pretty sure the answer is stiffness. Hope this helps.