Select the most appropriate idiom that can substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence. Leela was in class when the big fight happened. So, if you want to know the details, You should ask her, you will get the truth given by somebody who is directly involved and therefore likely to be accurate.

Correct — D. The sentence prints its own definition of the missing idiom: information given by somebody who is directly involved and therefore likely to be accurate.

That is what straight from the horse's mouth means — from the original, best-informed source rather than second-hand.

Leela was in the class while the fight happened, so she is that source. Substituting the idiom gives: you will get it straight from the horse's mouth, which is option (d).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  shooting off the cuff — Off the cuff means said without preparation or rehearsal. It describes how something is delivered, not how well informed the speaker is, so it cannot replace a phrase about accuracy.
• (b)
  with kid gloves — To handle someone with kid gloves is to treat them with unusual gentleness. The sentence is about where the information comes from, not about how carefully Leela should be approached.
• (c)
  calling a spade a spade — Calling a spade a spade means speaking plainly and bluntly. Plain speech is not the same as first-hand accuracy, since a blunt speaker can still be repeating a rumour.

An idiom item that prints a paraphrase is really a definition-matching item.

SSC gives you the meaning inside the sentence and asks you to compress it into the idiom. Read the paraphrase for its core idea: here that idea is the source — somebody directly involved.

Then test each idiom against that core. Off the cuff is about preparation, kid gloves about handling, a spade a spade about bluntness. None of those is about where information comes from, so the item is settled before style enters.

Key facts

• Straight from the horse's mouth means from the person directly involved, that is, from the original source.
• Off the cuff means said or done without preparation.
• To handle someone with kid gloves is to deal with them very gently or cautiously.
• To call a spade a spade is to speak plainly, without softening or euphemism.

Common traps

• Choosing calling a spade a spade because the word truth appears in the sentence, when that idiom is about bluntness rather than accuracy.
• Reading off the cuff as a speed idiom about answering quickly and letting speed stand in for reliability.

No directly related past PYQ was found.