SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 9 September 2024, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 7 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 6 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 option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the underlined group of words. She is proficient in speaking many languages.

(a)Heterolinguistic
(b)Bilingual
(c)Multilingual
(d)Monolithic

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The underlined group is 'proficient in speaking many languages', and the load-bearing word in it is many.

The prefix multi- means many, and -lingual means 'of languages'. So multilingual is exactly 'using or speaking several languages'.

The distractors turn on prefixes: bi- fixes the number at two, mono- at one. Only multi- leaves the number open → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Heterolinguistic — Hetero- means other or different, and 'heterolinguistic' is not an ordinary English word for a speaker. It is here because it sounds technical enough to tempt a guess.
(b)
Bilingual — Bi- means two, so bilingual describes someone fluent in exactly two languages. The sentence says many, which is more than two.
(d)
Monolithic — Monolithic is mono- plus -lith, single stone: it describes a large, uniform, indivisible mass or organisation. The language word it is impersonating is monolingual.

Concept

This item is prefix arithmetic. Learn the numbers and the whole family opens up: mono- one, bi- two, tri- three, quad- four, multi- and poly- many.

Attach them to -lingual and you get monolingual, bilingual, trilingual, multilingual.

The related noun is polyglot — a person who knows several languages. Multilingual is the adjective and stretches wider: a country, a document or a signboard can be multilingual, but only a person is a polyglot.

Option (d) shares the mono- prefix with monolingual, the language word a hurried reader expects to find there, and then falls apart on -lith: it means one stone, not one language.

Key facts

Multi- means many, so multilingual means using several languages.
Bilingual is exactly two languages and monolingual is one.
Polyglot is the noun for a person who knows many languages.
Monolithic means formed of one solid block and has nothing to do with language.

Study next

Number prefixes: mono-, bi-, tri-, quad-, multi-, poly-Monolithic against monolingual, a trap built on -lith versus -lingualOne-word substitutes for people: polyglot, bibliophile, misanthrope

Common traps

Choosing bilingual because it is the familiar word, and ignoring that many is more than two
Being pulled towards heterolinguistic because it sounds like a specialist term

SSC builds the option list from one prefix family so the item becomes a counting question rather than a vocabulary question.

Also asked 9 Sep 2024, 9:00, English Q.6, English Q.9 and English Q.16.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.