The thesis statement brings our attention to the main topic of the report, which indicates that the report will focus on the piece(s) of evidence found in this specific meteorite.
The report discusses the possibility of life on Mars and explores the life's probable origins. The thesis statement brings our attention to the main topic of the report, which indicates that the report will focus on the piece(s) of evidence found in this specific meteorite.
It is a gerund. If we added the preposition 'by' like, 'by sprinting the gazelle outran...', we'd know better that prepositions, the case with 'by' for instance, went with gerunds.
