SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 10 September 2024, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 20 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined word in the given sentence. Mayra has the ability for mathematics.

(a)astute
(b)aptitude
(c)attitude
(d)altitude

Answer

Why

Correct — B. The preposition already in the sentence decides this. English fixes aptitude for — an aptitude for mathematics, an aptitude for languages — while 'ability' takes 'to' plus a verb, as in 'the ability to solve equations'.

Aptitude also carries the sense the sentence wants: a natural talent for a subject.

Read it back — 'Mayra has the aptitude for mathematics' — and option (b) is the substitution that fits.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
astute — astute is an adjective meaning shrewd or quick to see an advantage. The slot after 'the' needs a noun, so this cannot go in whatever its meaning.
(c)
attitude — attitude means a settled way of thinking or feeling, and it pairs with 'to' or 'towards'. It describes a disposition, not a talent.
(d)
altitude — altitude is height above sea level, a purely spatial measurement. It is in the list only because it rhymes with the answer.

Concept

Two filters settle a word-substitution item, and you should apply both.

The first is word class: the blank follows 'the' and precedes 'for', so only a noun can stand there. That removes any adjective in the list at once.

The second is collocation: aptitude selects the preposition 'for'. A near-homophone such as attitude selects 'to' or 'towards' instead, so the preposition in the printed sentence is doing the marking for you before you weigh the meanings.

All four options here sound alike on purpose. Aptitude, attitude and altitude differ by two letters and by nothing in rhythm, which is the whole design of the question.

Key facts

Aptitude means a natural ability to learn or do something, and takes the preposition 'for'.
Attitude means a settled way of thinking or feeling, and takes 'to' or 'towards'.
Altitude means height above sea level.
Astute is an adjective, not a noun.

Study next

Noun and preposition collocations: capacity for, talent for, tendency toConfusable pairs: eminent and imminent, principal and principleAdjective and noun forms of the same root, such as astute and astuteness

Common traps

Choosing attitude because it is the option closest in spelling to the others.
Ignoring the preposition 'for' and judging the options on meaning alone.

SSC builds these sets from words that differ by a syllable or two letters, then relies on the candidate reading only the meaning.

The same eye for a small difference is also tested by the spelling fill-in at 10 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.13 and the incorrectly-spelt item at English Q.15.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.