SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 24 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 3 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 correct mirror image of the given figure when the mirror is placed at MN as shown.

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Rule: a vertical mirror at MN reverses the order of the letters and laterally inverts each one.

The stem is Y F U I Z, with MN drawn to its right.

Reverse the order: Z I U F Y.

Now invert each letter. Y, U and I are symmetrical about a vertical axis, so they come back unchanged; Z becomes Ƨ and F becomes Ⅎ.

The image is a reversed Z, then I, then U, then a reversed F, then Y — option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Option (a) leaves both the Z and the F facing forward and turns the U upside down instead. Turning a letter over is not the same as inverting it left to right.
(b)
Option (b) reverses the F correctly but keeps the Z facing its original way. A mirror cannot spare one letter and turn the rest.
(c)
Option (c) reverses the Z but prints an unturned F, so a forward-facing F survives where the image needs Ⅎ.

Concept

Two of the five letters change under a vertical mirror, and knowing which two makes the item quick.

Y, U and I are symmetrical about a vertical axis, so they return looking identical. Z and F have no such symmetry, so both must appear reversed.

The whole item then reduces to a two-part test: is the string in reverse order, and are the Z and the F both turned? Exactly one option passes both.

The letters are set as plain upright capitals, which is what makes the symmetry argument safe. Slant them into italics and even Y and U stop matching their own mirrors.

Key facts

Capitals symmetrical about a vertical axis: A, H, I, M, O, T, U, V, W, X, Y.
Z and F have no vertical symmetry, so a vertical mirror must show both reversed.
The mirror also reverses reading order, so the letter nearest MN becomes the leftmost letter of the image.

Study next

Water images of letter strings, where the mirror lies horizontallyMirror images of figures that mix letters with shapesTesting the symmetrical-capital list by writing each letter and folding the page

Common traps

Accepting an option because the order is reversed, without checking each letter.
Treating F as symmetrical because both its bars sit on the same side.
Turning a symmetrical letter upside down and calling the result a mirror image.

The same instruction is set at Reasoning Q.2 of this paper on a mixed letter-and-digit string, and again at 10 Sep 2024, 09:00, Reasoning Q.2 and at 9 Sep 2024, 12:30, Reasoning Q.3.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.