SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 26 September 2024, Shift 1 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 24 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.

What will come in the place of ‘?’ in the following equation, if ‘+’ and ‘–‘ are interchanged and ‘×’ and ‘÷’ are interchanged? 4 – 5 ÷ 9 + 6 × 2 = ?

(a)38
(b)42
(c)36
(d)46

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Rule: swap the printed signs first, then apply BODMAS to the new line.

Printed: 4 – 5 ÷ 9 + 6 × 2
After the swap of + with – and × with ÷: 4 + 5 × 9 – 6 ÷ 2

Now work the higher-rank operations:

5 × 9 = 45 and 6 ÷ 2 = 3
4 + 45 − 3 = 46 → option (d)

Swapping signs is not the same as moving numbers. The digits stay exactly where they are printed, and only the four operators change identity.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
38 — 38 is the size of 4 − 45 + 3, which is what the line gives if only × and ÷ are swapped and the + and – are left as printed. That reading also comes out negative, and −38 is not on offer.
(b)
42 — 42 is 45 − 3, the swapped line worked correctly except that the leading 4 never gets added back. Put it in and the total is 46.
(c)
36 — 36 cannot come out of the swapped line at all. Once BODMAS fixes 5 × 9 = 45 and 6 ÷ 2 = 3, the expression 4 + 45 − 3 has exactly one value.

Concept

A symbol-interchange item tests two skills at once: rewriting the line correctly, and then applying the ordinary order of operations to what you have written.

The rewrite is mechanical. Every printed + becomes −, every − becomes +, every × becomes ÷ and every ÷ becomes ×. Positions never move.

The second half is where the marks go. After the swap the line is an ordinary arithmetic expression, so multiplication and division are settled before addition and subtraction, working left to right within each rank.

Do the swap on paper before evaluating anything. Almost every wrong answer to this question type comes from evaluating and swapping in the same pass, which is when a sign gets left as printed.

Key facts

The instruction swaps two pairs of operators, + with – and × with ÷.
After the swap the line reads 4 + 5 × 9 – 6 ÷ 2.
BODMAS resolves 5 × 9 = 45 and 6 ÷ 2 = 3 before any addition or subtraction.
4 + 45 − 3 = 46.

Study next

Interchange items that also swap two numbers as well as the operatorsQuestions that swap only one pair of signs, where half the line is unchangedBalancing an equation by choosing which signs to interchange

Common traps

Swapping one pair of operators and forgetting the other
Evaluating left to right after the swap instead of applying BODMAS
Rewriting the numbers in a new order, which the instruction never asks for

SSC states the interchange in the stem and prints the equation unaltered, so the rewrite is entirely on you. The same instruction appears at Reasoning Q.2 of this same 26 Sep 2024, 09:00 paper, and again 24 Sep 2024, 16:00, Reasoning Q.21.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.