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Question

Difficulty: HardNoun and Adjective Suffixes

Complete the technical passage by converting the base verb 'maintain' into an abstract noun and the root 'perceive' into a qualifying adjective. What words correctly complete the statement?

Answer:Consistent mechanical 【maintenance】 is vital to ensure that even barely 【perceptible】 defects in the aircraft frame are discovered prior to flight operations.

Answer

The statement is completed by the noun 'maintenance' for the first blank and the adjective 'perceptible' (or 'perceivable') for the second blank.
The first blank requires a noun denoting the act or process of keeping equipment in working order, formed by combining the base 'maintain' with the noun suffix '-ance' (yielding 'maintenance'). The second blank requires an adjective denoting the ability to be detected or discerned, formed by attaching the adjective suffix '-ible' to the root 'perceive' (yielding 'perceptible').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the syntactic role required for the first blank.
The position directly following the adjective 'mechanical' and serving as the subject of the clause requires a noun.
A noun phrase is needed to function as the subject preceding the linking verb 'is'.
2
Apply the appropriate noun suffix and stem vowel shift to 'maintain'.
Adding the noun-forming suffix '-ance' with the morphological shift produces 'maintenance'.
The suffix '-ance' forms action or state nouns from verbs, shifting the spelling from 'maintain' to 'mainten-'.
3
Analyze the syntactic role required for the second blank.
The position modifying the plural noun 'defects' following the adverb 'barely' requires an adjective.
Adverbs modify adjectives which in turn modify nouns within the noun phrase.
4
Apply the appropriate adjective suffix to the root 'perceive'.
Adding the adjective-forming suffix '-ible' (or '-able') produces 'perceptible'.
The suffix '-ible' denotes capability or susceptibility ('capable of being perceived'), forming an evaluative adjective.

Key Concept

Noun and Adjective Suffix Morphology and Base Stem Transformations
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Topics

Noun and Adjective Suffixes

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