SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 12 September 2024, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 17 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.

Sentences of a paragraph are given below in jumbled order. Arrange the sentences in the correct order to form a meaningful and coherent paragraph. A. Mobile phones or smartphones are becoming popular all over the world. B. But at the same time, it also harms us in many ways. C. It is the most widely used means of communication today. D. Today, it is very affordable and available to everyone.

(a)ABCD
(b)DACB
(c)CABD
(d)ACDB

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Two anchors settle this before you weigh the middle sentences.

A has to open: it names Mobile phones or smartphones in full, while C, D and B all point back with the pronoun it.
B has to close: But at the same time concedes against a positive account, so that account must already be on the page.
Of the four sequences offered, only ACDB begins with A and ends with B.

In between, C states the phone's role and D gives the reason it spread → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
ABCD — It opens correctly with A but places B second, so the contrast But at the same time arrives before the positive account it is meant to answer.
(b)
DACB — D cannot open, because Today, it is very affordable puts a pronoun in front of the noun it stands for — the phones have not been named yet.
(c)
CABD — C opens with It is the most widely used means, another pronoun before its noun. It also buries B in the middle, so the paragraph ends on affordability after conceding harm.

Concept

Pronouns are the strongest ordering evidence in a jumble. A pronoun needs an antecedent that has already appeared, so a sentence whose subject is a bare it cannot open the paragraph.

Connectives are the second anchor. But at the same time is a concession and must follow what it concedes, which pins B to the end. Fix the first and last sentences from those two signals, then order the middle by content: the general role (C) before the reason for its reach (D).

Three of the four options break one of those two anchors, so the item closes without ever having to argue C against D on meaning alone.

Key facts

A sentence opening with an unexplained pronoun cannot be the first sentence of a paragraph.
But at the same time signals concession and must follow the point it qualifies.
A full noun phrase introduces a topic and pronouns maintain it, which is why the naming sentence comes first.

Study next

Pronoun and antecedent chains as ordering evidenceConcessive connectives: but, however, at the same time, on the other handFixing the opening and closing sentence first, then ordering the middle

Common traps

Ordering by instinct about which sentence sounds like a topic sentence, instead of testing where each pronoun points
Letting a plausible-sounding pair such as C then A override the pronoun rule

SSC gives four labelled sentences and asks for the letter string. The same format runs earlier in this paper at English Q.13 (also 12 Sep 2024, 16:00), and the same pronoun-and-connective reading solves both.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.