SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 12 September 2025, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 5 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Spot the correct spelling of a drug-effect psychology field.

(a)Psychopharmacology
(b)Psychopharmacholog
(c)Psychopharmeocology
(d)Psychopharmocology

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Build the word from three parts and spell each one.

psycho- (mind) + pharmaco- (drug) + -logy (study of)
= Psychopharmacology → option (a)

That is the study of how drugs affect the mind and behaviour, the stem's 'drug-effect psychology field'. The options differ in the middle, so check it: pharma-co, an a after the m, then a single c.

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Psychopharmacholog — Psychopharmacholog has two faults: an extra h after the c, giving -macho- for -maco-, and no final y, which cuts -logy down to -log.
(c)
Psychopharmeocology — Psychopharmeocology writes -meo- where -ma- belongs. The drug root is pharmaco-, with an a straight after the m, as in pharmacy.
(d)
Psychopharmocology — Psychopharmocology changes the a after the m to an o. Pharmacy and pharmacist keep the a, and so does this word.

Concept

Long technical words are spelt by their combining forms, not by sound. Each part is a stable unit with its own meaning:

psycho- mind, from Greek psyche
pharmaco- drug, from Greek pharmakon
-logy study of

Together they give the study of drugs' effects on the mind. The same pharmaco- appears in pharmacology and pharmacokinetics, so a word you know checks the one you do not.

The stem's clue, drug-effect psychology field, hands you both halves: drug for pharmaco-, and psychology for psycho- and -logy.

Key facts

Psychopharmacology is the study of the effects of drugs on the mind and behaviour.
Pharmaco- is the combining form for drug, from Greek pharmakon.
The -logy ending, 'study of', ends in y: pharmacology, psychology.

Study next

Combining forms in science words, such as neuro-, cardio-, cyto- and patho-Drug terms built on pharmaco-, such as pharmacology and pharmacokinetics

Common traps

Spelling the middle by ear: the vowel after pharm- is unstressed, so it can sound like an o or an e
Carrying the ch of psycho- into the drug part, giving -macho- for -maco-

The same format, a technical term described in a few words, is asked at 12 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.5 (Ventriculoperitoneal) and 12 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.5 (Trisomy).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Spelling — all 118 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.