SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 11 September 2024, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 24 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.

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Appearances may not reveal the man. So, you shouldn't make (1) _________ about a man's character based on how he (2) _________ . People smile and smile, yet prove to be (3) _________ . On the other hand, people with rough exteriors prove to be the (4) _________ and most considerate people on earth. They are the people who are beautiful from (5) _________ .

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 4.(

(a)bitterest
(b)kindest
(c)strangest
(d)gloomiest

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Two signals point the same way. On the other hand reverses the previous sentence about smiling people who turn out grumpy, so this blank has to be positive.

The blank is also joined by and to most considerate, and coordinated adjectives share a tone. A superlative standing beside most considerate has to name a virtue.

Kindest is the only positive superlative offered, so option (b) fills the slot.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
bitterest — bitterest means most resentful. It is negative, and coordinating it with most considerate would praise and condemn the same people in one breath.
(c)
strangest — strangest means most unusual, which is not praise. It does not pair with most considerate, and it says nothing about the rough-exterior, good-heart contrast the passage is drawing.
(d)
gloomiest — gloomiest means most despondent. It repeats the negative tone of the sentence before, which is exactly what On the other hand forbids.

Concept

When a blank is joined to another word by and, the two share grammar and tone alike. That coordination test is usually faster than reasoning from meaning.

Here the blank is coordinated with most considerate, a superlative adjective of praise, so the missing word must be a superlative adjective of praise too.

Paragraph structure agrees. On the other hand has just reversed a sentence about pleasant-looking people who prove unpleasant, so the sentence following it must describe rough-looking people who prove pleasant.

All four options are superlatives, so the grammatical form separates nothing. The choice turns entirely on tone.

Key facts

Adjectives joined by and normally share the same tone, and kindest matches most considerate.
On the other hand is a contrast connector and reverses the sense of the sentence before it.
The passage's argument is that rough exteriors can hide considerate people.
Bitterest, gloomiest and strangest are all non-complimentary, so none pairs with most considerate.

Study next

Coordination as a cloze test: matching tone across and, or, butSuperlative formation: -est on short adjectives, most on longer onesContrast markers that flip a paragraph: on the other hand, in contrast, conversely

Common traps

Treating all four superlatives as equally available because they share the same form.
Missing that On the other hand has already flipped the paragraph to the positive side.

When a cloze blank sits inside a coordinated pair, read the word on the other side of and first — it fixes both the word class and the tone. The same passage supplies English Q21 to Q25 of this shift.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Appearances may not reveal the man. So, you shouldn't make (1) _________ about a man's character based on how he (2) _________ . People smile and smile, yet prove to be (3) _________ . On the other hand, people with rough exteriors prove to be the (4) _________ and most considerate people on earth. They are the people who are beautiful from (5) _________ .