IPMAT Indore 2024 · Verbal Ability · Question 30

Blank 1 — the fixed phrase. “Without precedent” is the established idiom meaning unprecedented. Though without parallel also exists, without precedent is the standard collocation for an event of this kind, and the sentence is describing something never seen before in history — which is precisely what precedent means.

Without similarity and without equivalent are not idiomatic English.

Blank 2 — pairing with “containing”. The phrase is “containing and ______ the spread”. Mitigating (reducing the severity of) pairs naturally with containing: contain it, and soften what gets through.

Eradicating is far too absolute — nobody claimed to be eradicating COVID-19 as a first priority, and it would make the third clause pointless.

Combating and controlling are plausible but weaker; and crucially, their options fail on blank 1.

Blank 3 — the technical term. “Reducing the ______ of the disease” needs a measure of new cases arising. In epidemiology:

Incidence = the rate of new cases over a period ✔ — this is what public health policy seeks to reduce.

Prevalence = the total existing cases at a point in time.

Toll usually means deaths, which the sentence separates from healthcare pressure.

Outbreak would be redundant, since the sentence already began “The outbreak of COVID-19”.

Answer: Option 2

Shortcut. Blank 1 alone decides this question. Without precedent is a set phrase; the other three are not English. One recognition, one answer.

If you want a second confirmation, use the redundancy test on blank 3: option (d) would make the sentence read “the outbreak of COVID-19 … reducing the outbreak of the disease” — repeating a word from the first line. Repetition of a word already used is a near-certain sign of a wrong option in cloze.

Worth adding to your word list: incidence (new cases) vs prevalence (total cases) — a distinction tested in several entrance exams.