SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 13 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 25 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.

If '+' means '−', '−' means '+', '×' means '÷', then 50 + 10 − 5 × 5 = ?

(a)41
(b)60
(c)65
(d)70

Answer

Why

Correct — A.
Rule: swap the signs first, then apply BODMAS.

Rewrite: 50 + 10 − 5 × 5 → 50 − 10 + 5 ÷ 5
Divide first: 5 ÷ 5 = 1
Subtract: 50 − 10 = 40
Add: 40 + 1 = 41 → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
60 — 60 is above 50, but the rewritten expression takes 10 away and adds back just 5 ÷ 5 = 1. Its value must be below 50.
(c)
65 — 65 comes from swapping + and − but leaving × as ×: 50 − 10 + 5 × 5 = 65. The third rule turns × into ÷.
(d)
70 — 70 cannot come from 50 − 10 + 5 ÷ 5, whose value sits below 50. After the swap the expression subtracts 10 and adds 1.

Concept

Sign-interchange questions change what each symbol means, not the order of operations. Rewrite the whole expression with the new meanings before calculating anything, then evaluate it with BODMAS.

A size check helps: after the swap this expression is 50 − 10 + 1, so the answer must be a little under 50. The options 60, 65 and 70 fall at once.

Key facts

In this item + means −, − means + and × means ÷.
÷ is not redefined, and it does not appear in 50 + 10 − 5 × 5.
After rewriting, division and multiplication still come before addition and subtraction.

Study next

Sign interchange with all four operators redefinedChoosing the correct equation after two signs are interchangedBODMAS with decimal answers in symbol-substitution items

Common traps

Swapping + and − but forgetting that × now means ÷, which gives 65
Rewriting correctly and then working left to right: (50 − 10 + 5) ÷ 5 = 9

17 Sep 2025, 16:00, Reasoning Q.23 redefines three signs the same way (10 − 5 + 3 × 2, keyed 4).

19 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.23 redefines all four and lands on a decimal (20 + 5 × 4 − 2, keyed 17.5).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Numerical Operations — all 148 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.