SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 11 September 2024, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 6 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 given question, a statement divided into different segments is given. Rearrange all the segments to form a coherent statement. O: population is expected to triple in P: the next 50 years Q: among the world’s poorest countries R: population shrinkage in that period S: whereas many rich countries will see

(a)SPORQ
(b)RSOPQ
(c)POSQR
(d)QOPSR

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Read each segment for what it still needs.

Q, among the world's poorest countries, is an opening phrase that sets the frame.

O ends on the preposition in, which demands a time phrase, and P supplies it: the next 50 years. O and P are welded together in that order.

S opens with the contrast word whereas and its verb will see needs an object, which R gives it. R also says in that period, pointing back to P.

QOPSR is option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
SPORQ — SPORQ splits whereas many rich countries will see from its object. The verb see is left waiting while two other segments intervene, and population is expected to triple in then runs into population shrinkage.
(b)
RSOPQ — RSOPQ opens on in that period, which points back to a stretch of time nobody has named yet. The frame-setting segment Q is stranded at the end, after the contrast is already complete.
(c)
POSQR — POSQR starts with the bare time phrase the next 50 years and then separates the preposition in from any noun phrase it could govern, leaving triple in running straight into whereas.

Concept

Segment rearrangement is decided by grammar, not by comprehension. Each fragment carries either a socket or a plug.

A preposition or article at the end of a segment points forward — O ends on in, so what follows must be the noun phrase that in governs.

A connector at the start points backwards — whereas, however and thus all need something in front of them to work against.

A back-reference fixes relative order — that period in R can only come after the period has been named in P.

You can settle this item without deciding whether the demographic claim is true. Every choice you make is about which fragment completes which, and the meaning falls out at the end as a check rather than as the method.

Key facts

A segment ending in a preposition must be followed by the noun phrase that preposition governs.
Whereas marks a contrast between two statements, so each half has to be a complete clause in its own right.
A back-reference such as in that period can only follow the segment that names the period.

Study next

Rearrangement items in which two fragments both look like openersConnectors that force order: whereas, however, thus, moreoverWhole-sentence jumbles, the easier variant, at English Q.2 of this paper

Common traps

Accepting an order because it reads acceptably aloud, without checking that every preposition has its object
Ignoring in that period, which on its own fixes R after P

SSC runs two rearrangement formats in one paper — labelled whole sentences at English Q.2 of this shift, and fragments of a single sentence here and at Q.15. The fragment version turns on prepositions and connectors rather than on meaning.

The segment version also runs at 13 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.15, keyed PQORS.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.