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This question tests verb tense and aspect to show an action that began in the past and continued up to another past moment. The signal phrase “By the time … arrived” sets a reference point in the past. To indicate an ongoing action leading up to that moment, the past perfect progressive (“had been waiting”) is appropriate. Choice B correctly expresses duration prior to a specific past time. Choice A (“waits”) is simple present, mismatched with the past-time marker. Choice C (“has waited,” present perfect) links past action to the present, which conflicts with the clearly past reference point (“arrived”). Choice D (“was waited”) is both the wrong tense and the wrong voice; “wait” is intransitive in this context and does not take a passive form (“was waited” is ungrammatical when referring to people waiting themselves). The ACT frequently uses time markers (“by the time,” “before,” “after”) to cue sequence and duration. When one past action is ongoing and precedes another past event, use the past perfect progressive to show continuity leading up to that later past point.