SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 11 September 2024, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 17 of 95

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 10 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 underlined group of words in the following sentence. Despite recent superficial moves toward political reconciliation, Libya remains in the grip of a bloodstained corrupt military exclusive circle of people with a common purpose.

(a)oblique
(b)pique
(c)antique
(d)clique

Answer

Why

Correct — D. The group of words to be replaced is exclusive circle of people with a common purpose, and clique is the one-word name for exactly that — a small, closed set that keeps outsiders out.

Put it back and the sentence reads "a bloodstained corrupt military clique", the ordinary English phrase for a ruling faction.

The other three options rhyme with the answer and mean nothing like it, so sound is no guide here. Option (d) is the only one that fits the definition.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
oblique — Oblique means slanting, or indirect in expression, as in an oblique reference. It describes an angle or a manner, never a group of people.
(b)
pique — Pique is a feeling of wounded pride or irritation, as in a fit of pique. It names an emotion, so it cannot replace a set of people.
(c)
antique — Antique means belonging to an earlier period, or an old and valuable object. Age is not what the underlined words describe.

Concept

A one-word substitute item writes a definition out in full and asks for the single word carrying it. The method is to strip the definition to its core: here, small, closed and shared purpose.

Clique is that word, and it comes with a disapproving tone that matches the sentence's bloodstained and corrupt.

All four options end in the French -ique, so pronunciation gives you nothing and only meaning can decide. Reading the definition before reading the options is what keeps the rhyme from doing the choosing.

Clique is normally pronounced to rhyme with week rather than with pick, which is worth knowing because the rhyme set here is built on the spelling rather than on the sound.

Key facts

A clique is a small exclusive group whose members keep other people out.
Oblique means slanting, or indirect and not explicitly stated.
Pique is a noun meaning irritation or resentment at being slighted.
Antique means dating from an earlier period, or an old and valuable object.

Study next

One-word substitutes for groups: clique, coterie, cabal, juntaThe -ique word family: oblique, pique, antique, unique, critiqueMatching the tone of a one-word substitute to the sentence around it

Common traps

Choosing by sound, because all four options rhyme.
Taking military as the head word and hunting for a term meaning army unit.
Confusing clique with cliche, which is a worn-out phrase and not a group of people.

The same definition turns up in another shift standing on its own: spelled out as a small group of people who spend their time together and do not welcome other people into that group, it is keyed as Clique at 10 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.10.

Here the definition is buried inside a long sentence instead, which is the harder version of the identical item.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.