SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 24 September 2024, Shift 3 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 12 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 word pair that best represents a similar relationship to the one expressed in the pair of words given below. (The words must be considered as meaningful English words and must not be related to each other based on the number of letters/number of consonants/vowels in the word) Love : Harmony

(a)Calm : Sad
(b)Peace : Bliss
(c)Rage : Cool
(d)Anger : Excitement

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Name the link in the given pair before reading the options.

Love and Harmony are not opposites, not cause and effect and not degrees of one another. Both simply name agreeable, concordant states — they sit in the same positive register.

Peace and Bliss do exactly that: both name settled, pleasant states, and neither works against the other.

The remaining pairs each set a positive word beside a negative one, so option (b) is the pair carrying the same relationship.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Calm : Sad — Calm is agreeable and Sad is not, so this pair crosses from a positive state to a negative one. Love and Harmony stay on one side.
(c)
Rage : Cool — These are near opposites — Rage is agitation and Cool is composure. An antonym pair cannot mirror a same-register pair.
(d)
Anger : Excitement — Anger is a negative state while Excitement is a heightened and generally welcome one, so the two words do not share a register the way Love and Harmony do.

Concept

A word-pair analogy asks you to describe the link in the given pair precisely, then find the option carrying the same link.

The honest description here is broad: both Love and Harmony name pleasant, concordant states. There is no tighter mechanism on offer — no whole and part, no worker and tool, no step up in intensity.

A broad link is still usable, because the polarity of a word can be checked one word at a time, and just one option keeps both of its words positive.

A word-pair analogy leaves room for argument, because more than one link can usually be defended. Eliminating on a feature you can check word by word is safer than defending a clever reading.

Key facts

Love and Harmony are both positive states, neither opposite to nor caused by the other.
Peace and Bliss are likewise both positive states.
Calm : Sad, Rage : Cool and Anger : Excitement each set a positive word beside a negative one.
The bracketed note bars answers based on letter counts or on counts of vowels and consonants.

Study next

Word-pair analogies built on degree, such as warm and hotAnalogies built on cause and effect, and on tool and userUsing polarity as a first filter before hunting for a finer link

Common traps

Hunting a subtle link when polarity has already removed three options
Reading Anger : Excitement as a same-register pair because both feelings are strong
Choosing Rage : Cool because it feels like a strong relationship, when antonymy is the wrong relationship

SSC reuses this stem together with its bracketed note. 10 Sep 2024, 16:00, Reasoning Q.12 keys Infinite : Cosmic, and 18 Sep 2024, 16:00, Reasoning Q.4 keys Manipulation : Deceive.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.