In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

One of the most devastating periods in European history came (1)_______ the fourteenth century, with the epidemic of bubonic plague, also known as the ‘Great Plague’ and later dubbed the ‘Black Death’. At the time of its first pandemic, the bubonic plague was a terrifying disease, killing indiscriminately and (2)________ cities and towns devastated in its wake. It appeared to spread just by touching clothes and people who (3)_____ healthy one day might be dead the next. Faced with such a mysterious and horrifying illness, many believed that this was a divine (4)_________ for their sins. Researchers in Hong Kong at the end of the nineteenth century discovered that the disease is caused by the bacteria ‘Yersinia Pestis’. Modern (5)_______ practices and medicine have greatly subdued the impact of the bubonic plague, but have never completely eliminated it.