SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 15 September 2025, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 15 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.

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on the passage :
To bifurcate life into immutable dichotomies of joy and sorrow is to misread its most intrinsic rhythm. Human existence unfolds not as a linear progression of happiness or despair, but as a dynamic interplay where each emotion deepens the resonance of the other. The ecstasy of triumph is never as poignant as when preceded by failure; likewise, the pang of loss finds contour only because we have once cherished the presence of what is now absent. Joy and sorrow, then, are not adversaries but co-authors of the same narrative. From antiquity to modernity, philosophical traditions have acknowledged this existential polarity. The Stoics embraced the inevitability of suffering as a precursor to tranquility, while Eastern philosophies like Buddhism anchor themselves in the impermanence of all experiences. In both frameworks, the pursuit of enduring happiness necessitates an acceptance of transience. Without sorrow, joy would be indistinct—a flat and shallow sensation lacking contrast or value. This interdependence is vividly manifest in the mundane. The delight of spring is intensified by the memory of a harsh winter; the serenity of solitude is meaningful only to one who has tasted the cacophony of crowds. Even our personal growth often emerges from crucibles of pain—grief chisels depth into our emotional landscape, refining our capacity for empathy, resilience, and gratitude. To demand unbroken happiness is to seek a monochromatic life—an existence devoid of emotional texture. The beauty of being lies not in circumventing sorrow, but in embracing it as a necessary foil to joy. These twin sentiments coalesce to form the chiaroscuro of consciousness, rendering our lives more vivid, more intricate, more human.

Which of the following best completes the analogy: Joy is to presence as sorrow is to — ?

(a)Freedom
(b)Anticipation
(c)Absence
(d)Stagnation

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The pairing comes from one sentence: 'the pang of loss finds contour only because we have once cherished the presence of what is now absent.'

Joy goes with what we cherished while it was present. Sorrow, the pang of loss, goes with what is now absent.

So joy : presence :: sorrow : absence → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Freedom — Freedom never appears in the passage, and nothing in it makes sorrow the counterpart of being free. The analogy has to come from the author's own pairing.
(b)
Anticipation — Anticipation looks forward, but the passage's sorrow looks back: it is 'the pang of loss' for something 'once cherished'. The word does not appear in the passage.
(d)
Stagnation — Stagnation is closest to the passage's 'monochromatic life—an existence devoid of emotional texture', and the author ties that to demanding unbroken happiness, not to sorrow.

Concept

A passage-based analogy asks for the pair the author sets up, not a general-knowledge pair. This author builds the essay on opposites that need each other: joy and sorrow, triumph and failure, spring and winter, solitude and crowds.

The analogy lifts one of those pairings, presence and absence, from the sentence about loss.

Here the dictionary opposite of presence and the passage's own pairing agree, so both routes reach (c). In a passage analogy, check the text anyway: the question is set on the passage.

Key facts

The passage's pairing: 'cherished the presence of what is now absent'.
Absence is the noun form of the passage's adjective 'absent'.
The author pairs triumph with failure, spring with winter and solitude with crowds in the same way.

Study next

Vocabulary in context on the same passage: chiaroscuro, keyed 'A blend of light and shadow'Word-pair analogies built on antonyms

Common traps

Choosing stagnation because a sorrowful life sounds stuck, when the passage ties the flat life to unbroken happiness
Answering from general association instead of finding the sentence that pairs presence with its opposite

The same passage also carries 15 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.16 (an inference question) and Q.19, which asks the meaning of chiaroscuro and keys 'A blend of light and shadow'.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Reading comprehension — all 128 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on the passage :
To bifurcate life into immutable dichotomies of joy and sorrow is to misread its most intrinsic rhythm. Human existence unfolds not as a linear progression of happiness or despair, but as a dynamic interplay where each emotion deepens the resonance of the other. The ecstasy of triumph is never as poignant as when preceded by failure; likewise, the pang of loss finds contour only because we have once cherished the presence of what is now absent. Joy and sorrow, then, are not adversaries but co-authors of the same narrative. From antiquity to modernity, philosophical traditions have acknowledged this existential polarity. The Stoics embraced the inevitability of suffering as a precursor to tranquility, while Eastern philosophies like Buddhism anchor themselves in the impermanence of all experiences. In both frameworks, the pursuit of enduring happiness necessitates an acceptance of transience. Without sorrow, joy would be indistinct—a flat and shallow sensation lacking contrast or value. This interdependence is vividly manifest in the mundane. The delight of spring is intensified by the memory of a harsh winter; the serenity of solitude is meaningful only to one who has tasted the cacophony of crowds. Even our personal growth often emerges from crucibles of pain—grief chisels depth into our emotional landscape, refining our capacity for empathy, resilience, and gratitude. To demand unbroken happiness is to seek a monochromatic life—an existence devoid of emotional texture. The beauty of being lies not in circumventing sorrow, but in embracing it as a necessary foil to joy. These twin sentiments coalesce to form the chiaroscuro of consciousness, rendering our lives more vivid, more intricate, more human.