Read the excerpt below from the poem "exile" by julia alvarez and answer the question that follows. the night we fled the country, papi, you told me we were going to the beach, hurried me to get dressed along with the others, while posted at a window you looked out at a curfew-darkened ciudad trujillo, speaking in worried whispers to your brothers, which car to take, who’d be willing to drive it, what explanation to give should we be discovered . . which country is the speaker's family fleeing? russia venezuela america dominican republic

Plz asap read this sentence from paragraph 3 of the article. the boys and girls are merely asked to obtain the signatures of ten friends or relatives. how does the word "merely" affect the meaning of the sentence? a- it suggests that asking people to subscribe to the washington times is something negative. b- it implies that obtaining ten signatures is not a requirement for receiving a prize. c- it downplays the fact that to win the prize, children must ask people to subscribe to the washington times. d- it emphasizes that children receive the prize only if they obtain ten signatures.