IPMAT Indore 2022 · Verbal Ability · Question 9

The error: a future tense in a conditional clause. Provided introduces a condition, and English conditional clauses take the present tense to refer to the future — never will. Compare:

If it rains tomorrow… (not if it will rain) Provided she has a good record… (not provided she will have)

The fix. “…provided she has a good attendance record.”

Why the others fail:

(b) Reproduces the original error.

(c) had — past tense. The rule describes a standing policy applying whenever leave is requested, so the present is required; the past would make it a single completed condition.

(d) Grammatically acceptable but stylistically poor: it switches to the passive voice (“is maintained by her”) for no reason, making the sentence wordier and less direct. In a correction question, prefer the concise active form when both are grammatical.

Answer: Option 1

Shortcut. The rule in one line: conditional clauses take the present for future meaning. After if, when, unless, provided, as soon as, until and before, use the present — never will.

That kills (b) at once, and the tense mismatch kills (c).

Between (a) and (d), prefer the active and the shorter. Both are grammatical, but sentence-correction questions reward economy and directness; a passive construction introduced where the active works is treated as the inferior answer.