In the sentence below is "the" required before huge and why?

Solution 1:

It is, because mortality is made definite by associated with it. When such modification occurs after the noun, it is known as 'cataphoric'.

Solution 2:

To my ear, it sounds strange. Maybe it's just an American thing, but we tend to refer to mortality and morbidity without an article, and when we use the, it is usually expressed as *the _ rate*.

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