SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 13 September 2024, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 12 of 99

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 most appropriate ANTONYM of the underlined word. I was happy to know that Sheila passed her final exams.

(a)upbeat
(b)Sad
(c)Excited
(d)Joyful

Answer

Why

Correct — B. The underlined word is happy — "I was happy to know that Sheila passed her final exams."

The stem asks for an ANTONYM, and just one option crosses to the other side of the mood scale: Sad, meaning sorrowful or unhappy.

upbeat, excited and joyful are all ways of being happy. Substitute any of them and the sentence keeps its meaning rather than reversing it, which is the test an antonym has to pass.

The reversal is option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
upbeat — upbeat means cheerful and optimistic — the same side of the scale as 'happy'. An antonym item asks you to cross the scale, not to move along it.
(c)
Excited — Excited is eager, keyed-up anticipation. It is a positive state, so it cannot be the opposite of a word it broadly agrees with.
(d)
Joyful — Joyful is the closest synonym on the list, literally full of joy. It is the trap for a candidate who reads the stem as SYNONYM.

Concept

This is a one-against-three item: three options share a meaning and the fourth stands apart. Your work is deciding which group the stem is asking for.

SSC prints the instruction word in capitals — ANTONYM — because the whole item turns on it. Read that word before you read the sentence.

The sentence frame adds only a part-of-speech constraint here: the slot after 'I was' takes an adjective, and all four options are adjectives. The meaning grouping does the rest.

The sentence carries a second reversible word, 'passed' — and English Q.14 of this same paper is built on that very pair, keying 'passed' as the antonym of 'failed'. Underlining is the only thing that tells you which word is in play, so find it before you compare options.

Key facts

Sad is the standard dictionary antonym of happy: feeling or showing sorrow.
Upbeat, excited and joyful are all positive-mood adjectives, which is what makes this set one-against-three.
The stem prints ANTONYM in capitals, so the instruction is legible before the sentence is.

Study next

Mood adjectives graded by strength: content, happy, elated, ecstaticAntonym pairs tested inside a sentence frame, such as cruel and kind or barren and fertileSpotting the odd word out in a four-option meaning set

Common traps

Reading the stem as SYNONYM and marking Joyful, the best synonym on offer.
Hunting for a difficult word. The answer here is the plainest one in the list, Sad.
Reversing the wrong word, since 'passed' in the same sentence also has an obvious opposite.

SSC underlines one word in a one-line sentence and asks for its opposite. Also asked 11 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.3 (cruel becomes Kind) and 09 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.7 (inquisitive becomes Disinterested).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.