PLEASE HELP GUARTEE BRAINLIEST
The student newspaper was printing the story the next day. April knew that the other students would freak out when they read that the student council had not raised enough money to pay for the prom. She told her friends that it was not a big deal. In the previous ten years, the student council had only raised enough money for the prom once. Local businesses always chipped in before the other students found out about the lack of funds. She hoped that telling people this would help stem the hysteria that the newspaper story was bound to cause.
3
Based on its context in this passage, what does the word stem mean in the last sentence?
A.
to stop or hold back
B.
a vertical support
C.
a stalk or trunk
D.
to stimulate