SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 10 September 2024, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 4 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 option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words. a short section (as of a book) that leads to or explains the main part.

(a)Conclusion
(b)Foreword
(c)Paraphrase
(d)Postscript

Answer

Why

Correct — B. The load-bearing words in the definition are leads to or explains the main part, so the word must name something placed before the body of a book.

Foreword is that section: a short opening piece printed ahead of the main text to introduce the book. Fore- means in front, and it is spelt with word, not ward.

Of the four, only option (b) sits at the front of a book and does an introducing job.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Conclusion — A conclusion closes a book or an argument. It sums up what has already been said instead of leading into it, so it fails the before-the-main-part requirement.
(c)
Paraphrase — A paraphrase restates a passage in different words. It can appear anywhere in a text and is not a named structural section of a book at all.
(d)
Postscript — Post- means after. A postscript is added at the end, after the main text or after a letter is signed, which is the exact reverse of the position required.

Concept

One-word substitution is decided by the structural word in the definition — here the position word, leads to the main part.

Books have a settled vocabulary for their parts. A foreword is a short introductory section, usually written by someone other than the author. A preface is the author's own opening note. An epilogue or a postscript closes the work.

Match the position first, then separate the words that share that position.

Strictly, a foreword is written by someone other than the author, and the author's own opening note is a preface.

The stem does not say who wrote the section, and no option names the author's version, so foreword is the only word that fits the position at all.

Key facts

A foreword is a short introductory section at the front of a book, usually written by someone other than the author.
A preface is the author's own introductory note.
A postscript is matter added at the end, from Latin post meaning after.

Study next

Vocabulary for the parts of a book: preface, foreword, prologue, epilogue, appendixPrefix pairs that fix position words, fore- against post- and pre- against ante-One-word substitutes for fears and phobias, a set SSC returns to

Common traps

Spelling it foreward or forward, which are different words.
Choosing postscript because a postscript also explains something about the text.

SSC prints the defining phrase for a one-word substitution close to a dictionary's own wording, so the exact words of the definition are the clue.

One-word substitution also appears at 10 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.11 and English Q.12, and in the morning shift at 10 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.2 and English Q.7.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.