SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 14 September 2025, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 18 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 11 September 2026.

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on the passage:
India’s tryst with the Olympic Games began in 1900, when Norman Pritchard, a British-Indian athlete, clinched two silver medals in athletics. However, it wasn’t until the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics that India emerged as a formidable force in hockey, winning its first team gold. What followed was a golden era, where the Indian men’s hockey team dominated the Olympic arena with eight gold medals between 1928 and 1980—an unmatched legacy. Despite this early excellence, India’s Olympic journey has been riddled with inconsistencies. Post-1980, a conspicuous medal drought gripped the nation, exposing systemic inefficiencies: lack of infrastructure, inadequate training, and minimal grassroots scouting. Athletes often relied more on personal resilience than institutional support to achieve global recognition. The 21st century, however, has ushered in a phase of cautious optimism. With the establishment of bodies like the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and increased corporate sponsorship, Indian athletes now enjoy improved access to international-level coaching, nutrition, and psychological training. The medal tallies, though modest, have seen an upward trend—symbolized by Neeraj Chopra’s historic gold in javelin at Tokyo 2020. What’s most heartening is the diversification of sports. No longer confined to hockey and wrestling, India is now making strides in disciplines like badminton, shooting, boxing, and athletics. Equally noteworthy is the rising representation and success of Indian women athletes, who have frequently been the torchbearers in recent Olympic outings. Yet, challenges remain. The transition from potential to podium demands long-term investment, scientific sports management, and societal encouragement that transcends cricket-centric fandom. While India’s Olympic identity is still evolving, the collective ambition is clearer than ever: to transform from a participant nation into a sporting powerhouse.

What recent trend is encouraging in India's Olympic profile?

(a)Reduced investment in cricket
(b)Domination in hockey again
(c)Emergence of multiple sports and women athletes
(d)Decline of Western dominance

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The question's word encouraging matches the passage's most heartening: 'What's most heartening is the diversification of sports.'

That covers the sports half. India is 'No longer confined to hockey and wrestling' and is 'making strides in disciplines like badminton, shooting, boxing, and athletics.'

The next sentence adds the women: 'Equally noteworthy is the rising representation and success of Indian women athletes' → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Reduced investment in cricket — Cricket appears once, as the 'cricket-centric fandom' that Indian sport still has to move beyond. The passage lists that among the challenges that remain and never says investment in cricket fell.
(b)
Domination in hockey again — Hockey dominance is the past: eight golds between 1928 and 1980. The recent trend runs the other way — India is 'No longer confined to hockey and wrestling'.
(d)
Decline of Western dominance — The passage never mentions Western nations or any change in which countries dominate the Games. An option built on an idea absent from the text cannot be the trend it describes.

Concept

A trend question asks what the passage presents as changing now, not what it records from history. Map the question's word onto the passage's own: encouraging here is the passage's heartening.

Then check that the option covers everything the passage attaches to that word. It names two things — more sports, and the rise of women athletes — and the keyed option keeps both.

The passage has other good news too: TOPS, corporate sponsorship, and an upward medal trend 'symbolized by Neeraj Chopra's historic gold in javelin at Tokyo 2020'. None of those is offered as an option.

The trend it explicitly calls 'most heartening' is diversification, with women athletes added as 'equally noteworthy'.

Key facts

Heartening means encouraging — the passage's word for the trend the question asks about.
The passage names badminton, shooting, boxing and athletics as the disciplines beyond hockey and wrestling.
It says Indian women athletes 'have frequently been the torchbearers in recent Olympic outings'.

Study next

Matching the question's wording to the passage's synonym: encouraging and hearteningSeparating past achievements from present trends in a history-style passageTwo-part options: checking that both halves are in the text

Common traps

Choosing hockey because the passage praises it at length — that praise belongs to the 1928-1980 era, not the recent trend.
Reading 'cricket-centric fandom' as a claim that cricket is losing investment — the passage names it as a challenge still to overcome.

The same passage also sets English Q.15, Q.16, Q.17 and Q.19 of this shift.

Q.16 asks what plagued the post-1980 years, the decline this trend is set against, and Q.19 asks what the passage implies about where the ambition goes next.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on the passage:
India’s tryst with the Olympic Games began in 1900, when Norman Pritchard, a British-Indian athlete, clinched two silver medals in athletics. However, it wasn’t until the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics that India emerged as a formidable force in hockey, winning its first team gold. What followed was a golden era, where the Indian men’s hockey team dominated the Olympic arena with eight gold medals between 1928 and 1980—an unmatched legacy. Despite this early excellence, India’s Olympic journey has been riddled with inconsistencies. Post-1980, a conspicuous medal drought gripped the nation, exposing systemic inefficiencies: lack of infrastructure, inadequate training, and minimal grassroots scouting. Athletes often relied more on personal resilience than institutional support to achieve global recognition. The 21st century, however, has ushered in a phase of cautious optimism. With the establishment of bodies like the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and increased corporate sponsorship, Indian athletes now enjoy improved access to international-level coaching, nutrition, and psychological training. The medal tallies, though modest, have seen an upward trend—symbolized by Neeraj Chopra’s historic gold in javelin at Tokyo 2020. What’s most heartening is the diversification of sports. No longer confined to hockey and wrestling, India is now making strides in disciplines like badminton, shooting, boxing, and athletics. Equally noteworthy is the rising representation and success of Indian women athletes, who have frequently been the torchbearers in recent Olympic outings. Yet, challenges remain. The transition from potential to podium demands long-term investment, scientific sports management, and societal encouragement that transcends cricket-centric fandom. While India’s Olympic identity is still evolving, the collective ambition is clearer than ever: to transform from a participant nation into a sporting powerhouse.