SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 19 September 2024, Shift 2 · Quantitative Aptitude · Question 1 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 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.

Study the given bar graph and answer the question that follows. The following bar graph shows the quarterly profit (in lakhs) of a departmental store from 1997 to 2000. Rupees in Laks Year → 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 Quarter 1 — 135 | 65 | 120 | 150 Quarter 2 — 115 | 75 | 160 | 180 Quarter 3 — 90 | 100 | 170 | 210 Quarter 4 — 70 | 120 | 190 | 230 What was the percentage increase in annual profit of the departmental store from 1997 to 2000?

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Annual profit is the sum of the four quarters, so add each column of the data table printed under the bars.

1997 = 135 + 115 + 90 + 70 = 410 lakh
2000 = 150 + 180 + 210 + 230 = 770 lakh

Increase = 770 − 410 = 360 lakh
Percentage increase = 360/410 × 100 = 3600/41

41 × 87 = 3567, leaving 33.
So the value is 87 33/41 % → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Applying 84 33/41 % to 410 lakh adds only 347.7 lakh, which would put 2000 at 757.7 lakh instead of 770. The tail 33/41 is common to all four options, so the whole number decides.
(c)
83 33/41 % of 410 lakh is 343.6 lakh of growth, leaving 2000 at 753.6 lakh. It is the smallest decoy and fails the same reconstruction check.
(d)
85 33/41 % of 410 lakh adds 351.8 lakh, giving 761.8 lakh for 2000 — still short. Only 87 covers the gap of 360 lakh exactly.

Concept

Percentage increase compares the change to the starting value, never to the final one: (new − old) / old × 100.

Annual profit is not a single bar here. The graph plots four quarterly bars for each year, so each year's figure has to be built by adding its column.

The answer stays a mixed fraction because 3600 divided by 41 does not terminate. Finish the division instead of rounding: 41 × 87 = 3567, and the remainder 33 sits over the same 41.

The chart carries its own data table beneath the bars, so no bar height has to be judged by eye — the sixteen quarterly figures are printed.

Key facts

Percentage increase = (new value − old value) / old value × 100, with the old value in the denominator.
The 1997 annual profit from the table is 135 + 115 + 90 + 70 = 410 lakh.
The 2000 annual profit from the table is 150 + 180 + 210 + 230 = 770 lakh.
3600 divided by 41 is 87 remainder 33, which is why every option carries the tail 33/41.

Study next

Percentage increase versus percentage of a value, and which number belongs in the denominatorReading grouped bar graphs where several bars make up one yearConverting an improper fraction such as 3600/41 into a mixed number

Common traps

Dividing the 360 lakh increase by the 2000 total of 770 rather than by the 1997 total of 410
Comparing one quarter of 1997 with one quarter of 2000 instead of the annual totals
Rounding 87.8 to 88 when every option is an exact mixed fraction

SSC pairs a bar graph with a single arithmetic step — a total, a ratio or a percentage change. This shift asks for a bar-graph mean at Quant Q.11, and a bar-graph average comparison is asked 13 Sep 2024, 09:00, Quant Q.16.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.