SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 25 September 2024, Shift 1 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 9 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 combination of mathematical signs to sequentially place from left to right in the blanks below to balance the given equation. 75 _ 3 _ 17 _ 8 = 0

(a)÷, −, −
(b)×, +, −
(c)−, −, ×
(d)−, −, +

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Substitute each option's signs into the line and evaluate under BODMAS, settling the division before the subtractions.

Rule: fill the blanks left to right, then work × and ÷ before + and −.

Option (a) gives 75 ÷ 3 − 17 − 8.
75 ÷ 3 = 25
25 − 17 = 8
8 − 8 = 0 ✓

The line balances exactly, so option (a) is the combination the question asks for.

Why the others are wrong

(b)
×, +, − — 75 × 3 + 17 − 8 comes to 225 + 17 − 8 = 234. Multiplying first drives the total far above zero and nothing later in the line brings it back down.
(c)
−, −, × — 75 − 3 − 17 × 8 needs the product first: 17 × 8 = 136, so 75 − 3 − 136 = −64. Read straight left to right without BODMAS it looks like 440, which is what makes it tempting.
(d)
−, −, + — 75 − 3 − 17 + 8 comes to 63. With only addition and subtraction in the line, nothing cuts the 75 down far enough to reach zero.

Concept

A sign-substitution item is four small evaluations, and the order of operations decides all four. Under BODMAS the × and ÷ are settled first wherever they stand in the line, then the + and − are taken left to right.

There is a shortcut worth having. The first term here is 75, which is far larger than everything after it, so the only sign that can bring the line to zero is one that shrinks 75.

That points at ÷ before any arithmetic is done, and option (a) is the only option offering it in the first blank.

Only one option can balance the equation, so the moment a substitution reaches zero you can stop. Checking the rest is time spent confirming what the question has already guaranteed.

Key facts

75 ÷ 3 = 25, and 25 − 17 − 8 = 0, so the line balances exactly.
Under BODMAS, × and ÷ are settled before + and −, whatever their position in the line.
Option (c) evaluates to −64 under BODMAS and to 440 if the line is read strictly left to right.

Study next

Sign-substitution equations with four blanks, where the number of combinations is largerItems that ask you to interchange two given signs rather than supply missing onesBalancing equations in which brackets are part of the substitution

Common traps

Working strictly left to right and ignoring BODMAS, which makes option (c) look like 440.
Testing options in the printed order instead of asking first which sign can shrink 75 enough to reach zero.

SSC prints the blanks in order and expects BODMAS rather than left-to-right reading. A four-blank version is set at 19 Sep 2024, 12:30, Reasoning Q.9, where 8 + 27 ÷ 9 − 6 − 5 = 0 is the combination that balances.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.