SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 19 September 2024, Shift 1 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 13 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 option that represents the letters that when placed from left to right in the blanks below will complete the given letter series. B _ E N B _ C E N B B C _ N B B C E _ B _ C

(a)CNEBB
(b)BNECB
(c)CBENB
(d)BCENB

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Number the 22 slots, then find the repeating block.

Rule: the block is B B C E N, and the string starts on the block's second letter.

Slots 1-4 = B _ E N, the tail B C E N, so slot 2 is C
Slots 5-9 = B _ C E N, so slot 6 is B

Slots 10-14 = B B C _ N, so slot 13 is E
Slots 15-19 = B B C E _, so slot 19 is N
Slots 20-22 = B _ C, so slot 21 is B

Reading the blanks left to right gives C B E N B -> option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
CNEBB — CNEBB fills the first blank correctly and then puts N at slot 6, where the block needs its second B. In B B C E N no N ever follows an opening B.
(b)
BNECB — BNECB puts B at slot 2, but slot 1 is already B and slot 3 is E. In the block B B C E N the letter standing between B and E is C.
(d)
BCENB — BCENB is the right five letters in the wrong order: it swaps the first two, giving B at slot 2 and C at slot 6. Check slot 2 against slot 3, which is E.

Concept

A blank-filling letter series is a period problem. Find the length of the repeating block, then line the string up against it.

The block here is B B C E N, five letters long, and the string does not begin at the block's first letter — it begins at its second. That offset is the whole difficulty.

Number the slots 1 to 22 before filling anything in. Once the alignment is written down, every blank is read straight off the block instead of guessed.

The block shows itself in the intact stretches: slots 10 to 12 read B B C, and slots 15 to 18 read B B C E. Those fix both the letters and the period.

Key facts

The repeating block is B B C E N, five letters long.
The string is 22 slots long and begins on the block's second letter.
The five blanks fall at slots 2, 6, 13, 19 and 21.
Filled in, the string reads B C E N B B C E N B B C E N B B C E N B B C.

Study next

Letter series built on a repeating block of fixed lengthFinding the period from the first intact repeated runSeries that begin part-way through their block

Common traps

Assuming the string starts at the block's first letter and slicing it 5-5-5-5-2.
Filling the blanks correctly and then reading them out right to left.
Guessing a four-letter block from B _ E N and abandoning the idea when the next group will not fit.

Write the slot numbers above the string before anything else — the offset is invisible until the positions are on paper.

A letter series built on alphabet positions rather than on a repeating block sits at Reasoning Q.1 in this shift (19 Sep 2024, 09:00).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.