IPMAT Indore 2026 · Verbal Ability · Question 45

Step 1 — find the opener. Sentence 3 names the subject in full — “China’s birth rates” — and states the headline fact. Every other sentence refers back: “its death rate” in 2, “to boost it” in 4, “Beijing” responding to a situation in 1.

Step 2 — give the figure. Sentence 4 supplies the specific number for that fall: “the country’s birth rate fell to 5.63 per 1,000 people”, with “to boost it” pointing back to the birth rate in 3.

Step 3 — add the other side of the ledger. Sentence 2 begins “At the same time, its death rate rose” — the natural counterpart to a falling birth rate, and it needs the birth-rate discussion to precede it.

Step 4 — the response. Sentence 1 describes what Beijing now proposes to do, “faced with an ageing population” — the consequence of falling births and rising deaths. A policy response closes the paragraph.

Step 5 — the sequence.

3\to 4\to 2\to 1

Answer: 3421

Shortcut. Facts before response: three sentences give statistics and one describes a policy, so the policy sentence closes. Among the statistics, only 3 names “China” in full, so it opens — and “At the same time” in 2 cannot be second.