It supports the weight of the upper body as it's spread across the pelvis and into the legs. It also connects the spine to the hipbones.
The passive transport of water is specifically called osmosis.
The rain gauge is an instrument used by meteorologists to measure the amount of precipitation in a particular region in a particular amount of time.
The rain gauge is placed on the ground in order to collect the rain or the precipitation sample. The rain gauge is labelled with the quantities, which can be used to measure the amount of precipitation.
So, the correct answer is option (a). on or near the ground.
