Select the option that best expresses the meaning of the underlined…

Concept

A vocabulary-match question asks for the phrasal verb whose dictionary meaning is closest to the underlined word in the same context. To demolish means to deliberately knock down or tear apart a structure, especially a building, until it is destroyed.

Application

In the sentence, houses are being destroyed so the road can be cleared. The standard phrasal verb for deliberately destroying a building is pull down — dictionaries list “pull down” directly as a synonym of “demolish” (for example, “the old houses were pulled down”). So Pulled down is the exact contextual match.

Contrast

• Put down — to suppress, to write or note something, or to kill an injured animal; it is not used for destroying a building.

• Turned down — to reject an offer or request, or to reduce volume, heat, or intensity; it does not describe destroying a structure.

• Broken down — to stop working (a machine), or to split something into parts or decompose; it does not mean to demolish a structure.

Therefore the option that best expresses the meaning of demolished is Pulled down.