SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 24 September 2024, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · 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 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 most appropriate idiom to fill in the blank. After months of dedication and effort, I finally completed the marathon. I can really _______________ for this accomplishment.

(a)up a creek without a paddle
(b)eat like a horse
(c)pat myself on the back
(d)blow hot and cold

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The blank follows the modal can, so it needs a verb phrase, and the subject is I, so a reflexive inside the idiom must be myself.

The situation is a marathon finished after months of effort, and the blank is followed by for this accomplishment — the speaker is claiming credit for something done well.

Pat myself on the back is the fixed idiom for congratulating oneself on an achievement, and it takes exactly that for + achievement pattern → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
up a creek without a paddle — Up a creek without a paddle means stuck in a difficult situation with no way out. It also needs a linking verb (I am up a creek), so it cannot sit after can really.
(b)
eat like a horse — Eat like a horse means to eat a very large amount. It is a verb phrase, so the grammar fits, but nothing in the sentence is about appetite.
(d)
blow hot and cold — Blow hot and cold means to keep switching between enthusiasm and indifference. Months of dedication is the opposite of that wavering.

Concept

An idiom-completion item is decided twice over. First by grammar: what can occupy the slot, given the words on either side of the blank.

Then by sense: does the idiom's fixed meaning match the situation described.

Here the grammar admits three of the four options, because three are verb phrases. Only the meaning separates them, and the giveaway is for this accomplishment — that preposition asks for an idiom of self-praise.

Pat someone on the back is also literal English for the gesture. The idiom is the reflexive version, where the person patted is the speaker.

Key facts

Pat oneself on the back means to praise or congratulate oneself for something achieved.
Up a creek without a paddle means to be in a difficult situation with no easy way out.
Blow hot and cold means to keep changing one's opinion or enthusiasm about something.
Eat like a horse means to eat a great deal.

Study next

Idioms that need a linking verb versus idioms that are complete verb phrasesReflexive pronouns inside fixed expressionsIdioms of praise, blame and self-regard

Common traps

Fitting a non-verb idiom such as up a creek without a paddle into a slot that follows can really.
Rejecting pat myself on the back because the familiar form is pat him on the back.
Reading blow hot and cold as giving one's all, because of the heat imagery.

SSC sets idioms two ways: a blank to fill, as here, and an underlined segment to substitute. Blank-filling idioms are also asked at 10 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.3 (on the fence) and 18 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.7 (fair-weather friend).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.