SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 14 September 2025, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 11 of 95

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.

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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 certain state governments have invoked archaic laws (1)/ to suppress dissent does not only reflect legal opportunism (2)/ but also undermines the constitutional ethos (3)/ that such provisions were meant to uphold. (4)

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

Answer

Why

Correct — B. The trigger is the correlative pair not only … but also, which must join two matching forms.

The second half is a finite verb: but also undermines the constitutional ethos.

So the first half must match it: not only reflects legal opportunism. Part (2) writes does not only reflect, which sets does … reflect against undermines → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
(1) — Part (1) opens a noun clause correctly. That certain state governments have invoked archaic laws is the start of the sentence's subject, and inside it plural governments takes have invoked.
(c)
(3) — But also undermines is the correct second half. A clause used as a subject is singular, so undermines with -s is right, and it is the form part (2) must match.
(d)
(4) — Were meant to uphold is a correct relative clause: plural provisions takes were, and the past describes what the provisions were originally for.

Concept

Not only … but also is a correlative pair: what follows not only must match, in form, what follows but also.

The subject is a whole clause, That certain state governments have invoked archaic laws to suppress dissent. A clause used as a subject normally takes a singular verb, so both verbs take -s: not only reflects … but also undermines.

Does belongs with not only when the pair is fronted and the clause inverts: Not only does it reflect …, but it also undermines ….

The repair touches part (2) alone: drop does and add -s to reflect. Parts (1), (3) and (4) stay word for word.

Key facts

Not only … but also joins matching forms: verb with verb, phrase with phrase.
A clause used as a subject (That … dissent) normally takes a singular verb.
Fronted not only brings inversion with do: Not only does it reflect …, but it also undermines ….

Study next

Placement of not only, either and neither before the element they pairNoun clauses (That …, What …, Whether …) as singular subjectsInversion after fronted negatives: Not only, Rarely, Little

Common traps

Marking part (3) because undermines looks odd after does. The -s form is right, and part (2) must change to match it.
Agreeing the verb with governments or laws instead of with the whole That-clause, which is singular.

The placement of not only is also keyed at 24 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.16, where not only helped her by giving hints is replaced by helped her not only by.

A not only … but also sentence can carry its error elsewhere: at 15 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.12 the key marks have been in part (4).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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