SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 24 September 2024, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 19 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 can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words. Dealing with things in a practical and sensible way

(a)Stoic
(b)Sceptic
(c)Pragmatic
(d)Cynic

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The definition names a way of handling things — practical, realistic, results first — and the single word for that is pragmatic, so option (c) is right.

Word class narrows the field before meaning does. The phrase describes a quality, not a person, and Sceptic and Cynic are nouns naming people; their adjectives would be sceptical and cynical.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Stoic — Stoic describes someone who endures pain or good fortune without showing feeling. That is composure, not practicality — SSC keys it for 'One who does not show response to good or bad'.
(b)
Sceptic — Sceptic is a person who doubts or questions what others accept. Doubt is not a practical, sensible approach, and the word names a person where the definition names a quality.
(d)
Cynic — Cynic is a person who believes others act out of self-interest. That is a low view of motives, not a practical way of dealing with things.

Concept

A one-word substitute item gives you a definition and four candidates, and it usually turns on two things: word class and the core idea of the definition.

Word class first. A definition opening 'Dealing with...' points to a quality and wants an adjective, while one opening 'One who...' points to a person and wants a noun.

Then the core idea. Strip this definition to its centre — practical, sensible, workable — and pragmatic is the word built on exactly that sense.

Stoic, Sceptic and Cynic all come from schools of ancient Greek philosophy, and everyday English has narrowed each to a single trait. Pragmatic sits in the same family, from Greek pragma, a deed or a thing done.

Key facts

Pragmatic means dealing with matters in a practical, results-based way rather than by theory.
Stoic means enduring hardship or pleasure without showing emotion.
Sceptic names a person who doubts accepted claims, and its adjective is sceptical.
Cynic names a person who believes people act from self-interest.

Study next

Noun and adjective pairs in one-word substitutes: cynic and cynical, sceptic and sceptical, optimist and optimisticCharacter words drawn from philosophy: epicurean, hedonist, altruistOne-word substitutes for ways of thinking: dogmatic, empirical, idealistic

Common traps

Choosing Cynic because both words suggest a hard-headed view of the world.
Ignoring word class and picking a noun for a definition that describes a quality.
Reading practical as unfeeling and landing on Stoic.

Three of these four words come round again with the definition changed — also asked 09 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.8, where Stoic is keyed and Cynic and Sceptic sit in the same option list, with Phobic standing where Pragmatic stands here.

One-word substitutes recur across shifts on -ist, -cracy and character words: 17 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.15 keys Pessimist, and 10 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.2 keys Bureaucracy.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.