SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 13 September 2024, Shift 1 · 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 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 word which means the same as the group of words given. A written statement made under oath

(a)Statement
(b)Testimony
(c)Affirmation
(d)Affidavit

Answer

Why

Correct — D. The definition sets two conditions at once: the statement is written, and it is made under oath.

An affidavit is precisely that — a statement written down and then sworn before someone authorised to administer an oath, so that it can be filed as evidence.

Statement carries no oath, testimony is characteristically spoken, and an affirmation is the form used in place of an oath. Option (d) is the only word meeting both conditions.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Statement — Statement is the general word for anything asserted, written or spoken. It carries no oath at all, so it answers half the definition.
(b)
Testimony — Testimony is the evidence a witness gives, characteristically spoken in court. It is sworn, but it is not the written document the definition describes.
(c)
Affirmation — Affirmation is a solemn declaration made by a person who declines to swear. It stands in place of an oath, so it fails the under oath condition by definition.

Concept

One-word-substitution items are solved by splitting the definition into conditions and testing every option against all of them.

Here the conditions are written and under oath. Statement fails the second, testimony is characteristically oral, and affirmation is a deliberate substitute for swearing.

Three legal words are worth holding apart. An affidavit is the sworn written document, a deposition is sworn testimony recorded outside the courtroom, and an affirmation is the non-religious alternative to an oath.

Affirmation is the option that catches prepared candidates. In everyday use it means little more than a firm assertion, but in legal use it is defined against the oath — and this definition names the oath.

Key facts

An affidavit is a written statement of fact, sworn or affirmed before an authorised officer.
An affirmation is a solemn declaration made in place of a religious oath.
Testimony is the evidence given by a witness, most often spoken.

Study next

Legal one-word substitutes: affidavit, deposition, testimony, plaintiff, verdictSplitting a definition into separate conditions before scanning the optionsWord pairs where everyday sense and technical sense diverge, such as affirmation

Common traps

Choosing affirmation because it sounds formal and legal
Choosing testimony because it is sworn, without noticing that the definition says written

SSC prints the definition as a bare phrase and expects a single word back, with no sentence to lean on.

Cannot be corrected is set the same way at English Q.14 of this 13 Sep 2024, 09:00 paper (Incorrigible), and A period of ten years at 13 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.5 (Decade).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.