Question 1: Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank…

Directions : In the following passage, some of the sentences have been left out and replaced with blanks represented by letters. First, read the passage and try to understand what it is about. Then fill in the blanks as per the questions given.

Developed, verified, and popularized between 1850 and 1920, germ theory (A) that certain diseases are caused by the invasion of the body by microorganisms. Research by Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, and Robert Koch contributed to public (B)_ of the once-baffling theory, proving that processes such as fermentation and putrefaction, as well as diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis, were caused by germs. And since the Great Stink was not accompanied by germs, it could not possibly start an epidemic. Before germ theory was popularly (C)____, the methods taken to avoid illness and infection were based on guesses rather than facts. In ancient Rome, the association of illness with foul odours may have (D) the creation of a complex infrastructure intended to (E)__ clean water into the city and stinky sewage out by way of separate pipelines. The ancient Roman writer Marcus Terentius Varro described his rudimentary – but not entirely far-fetched – understanding of how contamination (F) in Res Rusticae, published in 36 BCE: Still, total lapses of sanitation were common. People ignorant of germ theory were not unconcerned with hygiene. They simply did not know the proper ways to protect themselves against germs. After germ theory’s development and ____(G)_____, effective sanitation practices resulted in cleaner homes, hospitals, and public spaces – as well as longer life spans for people who had never before known how to avoid getting sick.