And overseas trade network driven by the desire for distant luxury items like silk ivory and spices

an informal structure in a bureaucracy would be something like so-called "office politics". where there's a formal structure set up for the organization, but then an informal subculture as well that has a way of organizing the bureaucracy further. this can be positive because it sets up an added degree of organization, albeit informal, within the bureaucracy.

even though you have attached neither the chart nor the generalizations, i have located them online. the right answer is d, since they are asking you about a generalization. you can only infer from the chart that between 2008 and 2009 the number of employed workers decreased significantly (from over 115 millions to 107 millions approximately), which signals some type of economic crisis.  

answer; severe;