SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 18 September 2024, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 17 of 98

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 option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words. Much more than usual or expected

(a)Subordinate
(b)Ordinate
(c)Exceeding
(d)Mordancy

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The clue is 'much more than usual or expected', and exceeding is built on 'exceed' — to go beyond a limit, an amount, or what was looked for.

Used as a modifier it therefore describes a degree or quantity that runs past the normal one, which is the clue restated.

The other three come from unrelated roots — rank, geometry and sarcasm — so none of them can reach that sense. Option (c) is the substitute.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Subordinate — Subordinate means lower in rank or under another's authority. It points below the normal level, the opposite direction from the one the clue asks for.
(b)
Ordinate — Ordinate is a term from coordinate geometry — the y-value of a point, its distance from the horizontal axis. It carries no sense of quantity at all.
(d)
Mordancy — Mordancy is the quality of being mordant: sharply sarcastic, biting in speech. It describes a tone, not an amount.

Concept

A one-word substitute is judged on whether the word's root sense covers the whole clue, not on whether it feels roughly right.

Exceed is Latin ex- ('out') plus cedere ('to go') — to go out beyond. Everything built on it keeps that direction: exceed a speed limit, an exceedingly long wait, sales exceeding the forecast.

So read the clue's direction first. 'Much more than usual' points up and out, which rules out any option whose root points down or sideways.

'Ordinate' is placed here as a lookalike for inordinate, which does mean excessive. That word is not on the page, so the choice lies among the four printed options, and exceeding is the one whose root carries 'beyond'.

Key facts

Exceed means to go beyond a set limit or the expected amount, from Latin ex- plus cedere.
Subordinate describes something lower in rank or under another's control.
Mordant means bitingly sarcastic, and mordancy is that quality as a noun.
In coordinate geometry the ordinate is the y-value of a point.

Study next

Latin roots of direction: ex-, sub-, super-, ultra-One-word substitutes for excess and shortage, such as surplus, deficit and glutChoosing between near-synonyms by the part of speech the clue demands

Common traps

Picking 'subordinate' because it is the most familiar word in the set
Reading 'ordinate' as a clipped form of 'inordinate' and taking it for excessive

SSC mixes lookalikes with unrelated roots in these option sets, so the root and not the feel of the word decides — also asked 19 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.20 ('A person who has supreme power or authority' → sovereign) and English Q.3 of this shift ('A short stay that you make while on a longer journey' → stopover).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.