SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 26 September 2024, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 13 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 most appropriate synonym of the word in brackets to fill in the blank. She __________ requested him to pay the bills. (persistently)

(a)continuously
(b)impetuously
(c)obliviously
(d)tremendously

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Persistently means going on with something firmly and repeatedly, in the face of resistance, so the adverb in the blank must carry the sense of not stopping.

Continuously means without interruption, and it is the one adverb on the list that speaks about duration at all. 'She continuously requested him to pay the bills' keeps what the bracketed word says.

The other three measure manner, awareness and degree — sudden, unaware, huge — and none of them says the asking was kept up. That fixes option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
impetuously — Impetuously means acting on a sudden impulse, without thinking. That pulls against persistently, which needs sustained effort rather than one rash burst.
(c)
obliviously — Obliviously means unaware of what is going on around you. Someone who asks again and again is anything but oblivious, and the word carries no sense of repetition.
(d)
tremendously — Tremendously measures degree — to a very great extent. Persistently measures duration, so tremendously answers the wrong question about the verb.

Concept

A synonym-in-context item is not dictionary matching. The bracketed word sets a sense and the blank sets a slot, and only a word that satisfies both can be right.

The fast route with adverbs is to name the axis each one measures. Impetuously measures manner, obliviously measures awareness, tremendously measures degree, and continuously measures time.

Persistently is a time-and-effort word, so the axis alone decides the item without translating any option into a full definition.

Continuously and continually are not identical — continuously means without a break, continually means again and again — and persistently is nearer to continually. Since continually is not offered, continuously is the closest listed synonym.

Key facts

Persistently means continuing firmly despite difficulty or opposition.
Continuously means without interruption, while continually means repeatedly with breaks.
Impetuously means acting on a sudden impulse, without thought.
Tremendously is a degree adverb and measures intensity, not duration.

Study next

Adverb pairs that differ in aspect, such as continuously and continuallyManner adverbs against degree adverbs in fill-in-the-blank itemsFormal synonyms for persistence, such as doggedly, relentlessly and assiduously

Common traps

Picking tremendously because it sounds forceful in a sentence about pressing someone for money
Demanding an exact dictionary twin when the option set offers only the closest fit
Reading obliviously as obviously

SSC puts the target word in brackets beside the sentence and expects the blank to take its closest listed synonym, which is often not its exact equivalent.

The same frame appears at 11 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.7 (crux, answer essence) and at 25 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.18 (patience, answer endurance).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.