The simile compares the way people were running toward Jason and the news in the papers he is selling with the way iron filings are attracted to a magnet. Iron filings are strongly and unquestionably attracted to magnets suggesting that the people were “unable to resist” moving toward Jason because their interest in the information in the newspapers he is selling is irresistible. Students who choose this answer distinguish its connotation by choosing “unable to resist” over the less accurate options (“were interested in,” and “were curious about”) presented in “A” and “D.”