SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 17 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 10 of 99

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.

Read the following statement carefully and identify the conclusion that follows. Statement: Fewer people applied for teaching posts this year. Conclusions: I. Teaching is losing popularity. II. Applicants may be seeking better-paying jobs.

(a)Only Conclusion I follows
(b)Only Conclusion II follows
(c)Both I and II follow
(d)Neither I nor II follows

Answer

Why

Correct — C.
Rule: a conclusion follows if the statement reasonably supports it.

I: fewer people applying for teaching posts means fewer want the job this year, a sign of falling popularity.

II: it claims only that applicants may be seeking better-paying jobs. That is one possible reason for the fall, not a firm claim, and the key accepts it.

Both follow → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Only Conclusion I follows — Only I rejects II. But II is hedged with may: it offers a possible reason for the fall, and the key accepts it.
(b)
Only Conclusion II follows — Only II rejects I, yet fewer applicants for teaching posts is the plainest sign of falling popularity. The key accepts I as well.
(d)
Neither I nor II follows — Neither treats both as unsupported. The key reads the fall in applications as support for I, and II, hedged with may, claims only a possibility.

Concept

In a statement–conclusion item, judge each conclusion by the statement alone, not by what you know of the world.

The wording of a conclusion sets how much support it needs. A flat claim, 'Teaching is losing popularity', needs the statement behind it. A hedged claim, 'Applicants may be seeking better-paying jobs', asserts only a possibility, which is less to prove.

An honest caveat. The statement gives one year's fall and no reason for it. So I reads a trend into a single year, and II names a cause the statement never mentions.

The key accepts both as reasonable readings, not as certainties, and this card follows the key.

Key facts

A conclusion is judged on the statement alone, not on outside knowledge.
'May' marks a possibility and claims less than a flat statement.
A fall in applications shows lower interest but does not say why interest fell.

Study next

Statement–conclusion items with a flat claim about something the statement never mentionsStatement–assumption items: what the speaker takes for grantedCause-and-effect pairs: deciding which event explains the other

Common traps

Rejecting II for naming a reason the statement does not give, without noticing the hedge 'may'
Accepting a conclusion because it is true in general, not because this statement supports it

19 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.14 also keys Both I and II: an order to avoid sirens except in emergencies supports 'Sirens are often used unnecessarily' and 'This will help reduce noise pollution'.

17 Sep 2025, 16:00, Reasoning Q.12 keys only I: rising library attendance supports renewed interest in reading, but not the flat claim that digital platforms have become less popular.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Drawing inferences — all 90 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.