My cousin from Cordele loves running. The underlined verbal is functioning as (acting like) a/an

a) gerund - noun that is
the direct object of the
verb loves
b) participle - adjective
that describes what
my cousin loves
c) gerund - adjective that
is the direct object of
the verb loves
d) participle - adverb
that is telling why my
cousin loves to run

Aman lives on the twelfth floor of an apartment building. every morning he takes the elevator down to the lobby and leaves the building. in the evening, he gets into the elevator, and, if there is someone else in the elevator -- or if it was raining that day -- he goes back to his floor directly. otherwise, he goes to the tenth floor and walks up two flights of stairs to his apartment.