Question

read the passage. then, select the synonym of the word in bold. under normal conditions, the skin has the inherent ability to heal itself. in the case of extremely serious wounds, however, the skin cells may not be able to regenerate properly. in these cases, a skin graft can serve as a scaffold to which the patient’s skin cells attach, encouraging the skin’s fundamental capabilities.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the context and the word "inherent" and "fundamental" in the passage.

1. Analyze the meaning of "inherent": It means something that is a natural, essential, or built - in part of a thing.
2. Analyze the meaning of "fundamental" in the sentence "encouraging the skin's fundamental capabilities": "Fundamental" here means something that is basic, essential, or inherent to the skin's nature.
3. Compare with other possible words (even though not given here, from the passage's own context, "fundamental" is used in a similar sense as "inherent" to describe the skin's capabilities. "Inherent" refers to a natural, in - built ability, and "fundamental" refers to a basic, essential ability that is part of the skin's nature.

So the synonym of "inherent" in this context is "fundamental".

The word "inherent" means a natural, built - in quality. In the passage, "fundamental" is used to describe the skin's capabilities in a similar way (basic, essential, part of its nature), so "fundamental" is a synonym.

Answer:

fundamental