SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 14 September 2025, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 8 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.

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.

Select the correct option: The memorandum clarified that employees must comply ___ the revised code of ethics.

(a)to
(b)with
(c)by
(d)in

Answer

Why

Correct — B. The trigger is the verb comply. It is usually followed by with before the rule, order or request being obeyed: comply with the law, comply with a request.

So employees must comply with the revised code of ethics → option (b).

The noun keeps the pairing: compliance with, in compliance with.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
to — To is the preposition of comply's near-synonyms adhere to and conform to, which is why it tempts. Comply itself takes with.
(c)
by — By can follow comply for a deadline, as in comply by 31 March. Before the rule itself, by belongs to a different verb: you abide by a code.
(d)
in — In can follow comply to say how far, as in comply in full, but it cannot introduce the rule being obeyed. 'Comply in the revised code' makes no sense.

Concept

This is a dependent preposition item. Some verbs fix the preposition that follows them, and meaning alone will not tell you which.

Near-synonyms of obeying pair differently: comply with, adhere to, conform to, abide by. Because they mean much the same, their prepositions get swapped.

Learn each verb together with its preposition.

Key facts

Comply is usually followed by with: comply with the rules.
The noun keeps the preposition: in compliance with.
Adhere to, conform to and abide by are near-synonyms with different prepositions.

Study next

Dependent prepositions after verbs of obeying: comply with, abide by, adhere to, conform toAdjective and preposition pairs, such as good at an activity and good with people

Common traps

Carrying to over from adhere to or conform to
Choosing by because abide by sits in memory beside comply

The blank sits straight after the verb, so the preposition is the whole test.

Adhere to sits in a segment the key does not mark at 17 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.10 ('each employee must adhere to'), and 18 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.19 keys good with running as the preposition error, the pairing being good at.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Fill in the blank — all 96 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.