SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 13 September 2025, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 11 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.

Find the part of the sentence that contains an error: That there exists no recourse for citizens (1)/ if environmental violations are condoned at the ministerial level (2)/ underline a systemic erosion of (3)/ constitutional accountability. (4)

(a)(1)
(b)(2)
(c)(3)
(d)(4)

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The subject is the whole clause That there exists no recourse for citizens if environmental violations are condoned at the ministerial level.

A that-clause used as a subject counts as one fact and takes a singular verb. The plural violations, standing just before the verb, pulls it towards underline.

Part (3) should read "underlines a systemic erosion of" → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
(1) — there exists agrees with its singular subject, no recourse, which comes after the verb. The clause itself opens correctly with That.
(b)
(2) — are condoned agrees with the plural violations inside the if-clause. That clause is sound. It only stands between the start of the subject and its verb.
(d)
(4) — constitutional accountability is the noun phrase after erosion of. It has no verb and agrees with nothing, so it holds no error.

Concept

Subject-verb agreement is decided by the head of the subject, not by the noun that happens to stand nearest the verb.

When a whole clause is the subject, as in That he resigned, it counts as one thing, so the verb is singular: That he resigned was a shock.

Here the subject clause ends on the plural violations, so a plural verb sounds right beside it. Find where the subject ends before judging the verb.

Test it by replacing the whole clause with This fact: "This fact underlines a systemic erosion of constitutional accountability." The singular verb is then plainly right.

Key facts

A that-clause used as a subject takes a singular verb: That he resigned was a shock.
The verb agrees with the head of the subject, not with the nearest noun.
In there exists, the verb agrees with the noun that follows it: there exists no recourse, there exist several remedies.

Study next

Clause subjects opening with What, Whether or How: Whether they agree is unclearAgreement after there is and there exists, where the subject follows the verbAgreement across an intervening if-clause or relative clause

Common traps

Matching the verb to violations, the plural that ends the subject clause and stands closest to the verb
Suspecting part (1) because a sentence opening with That looks unfinished

The same clause-subject rule decides 12 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.10, where "That the report failed to address the root causes of the community unrest were surprising" is keyed at part (2): the verb must be was.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Error spotting — all 121 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.