The shapecontractionslocationtexture of the tongue and hyoid muscles prevent the airway from collapsing under the pressure of air coming into the lungs.

The sentence is describing the muscles’ action that keeps the airway open. Their contractions help support the airway against pressure, so “contractions” makes sense: “The contractions of the tongue and hyoid muscles prevent the airway from collapsing.” “Shape,” “location,” and “texture” do not describe this muscle action.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.