"Pregnant Fossil May Shed Light on Animal Behavior" by PBS NewsHour The finding, published in the online edition of the journal Science on Thursday, is definitive evidence that the giant sea creature gave birth to single, live offspring, rather than laying eggs, like most reptiles, says paleontologist and lead author F. Robin O’Keefe. This reproductive behavior also indicates that the animals were gregarious social creatures that cared for their young, similar to toothed whales or dolphins, according to the paper.

Question

Find the word in the text related to the word reproduce. Based on the context and syntax, what conclusion can you draw about the word part -ive?

A. It creates an adjective that tells what something is able to do.
B. It creates a noun that names a person.
C. It creates an adjective that tells what kind something is.
D. It creates an adverb that tells how something is done.

Answer 1

The word related to "reproduce" in the text is "reproductive." Based on the context and syntax, the conclusion we can draw about the word part -ive is:

A. It creates an adjective that tells what something is able to do.

The suffix -ive is commonly used to form adjectives that indicate a tendency or capability, thus "reproductive" describes the capability related to reproduction.