SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 19 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 9 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.

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.

If "+" means subtraction, "−" means division, "×" means addition, and "÷" means multiplication, then find: 16 ÷ 2 − 4 + 3 × 5 = ?

(a)27
(b)10
(c)25
(d)20

Answer

Why

Correct — B.
Rule: replace every sign by what it means, then apply BODMAS.

÷ → ×, − → ÷, + → −, × → +
16 ÷ 2 − 4 + 3 × 5 becomes 16 × 2 ÷ 4 − 3 + 5

16 × 2 = 32, and 32 ÷ 4 = 8
8 − 3 + 5 = 10 → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
27 — 27 does not come out of the rewritten expression. Once 16 × 2 ÷ 4 = 8 is fixed, only − 3 and + 5 remain, and 8 − 3 + 5 = 10.
(c)
25 — 25 is out of reach: after 16 × 2 ÷ 4 = 8, the remaining − 3 + 5 moves the total by just 2, to 10.
(d)
20 — 20 does not come from 16 × 2 ÷ 4 − 3 + 5. The × and ÷ give 8 first, and 8 − 3 + 5 = 10.

Concept

Sign-meaning items rename the four operations. Rewrite the expression with the real operations before calculating, then apply BODMAS as usual.

Write the code down as a small table, symbol → operation, and convert one sign at a time from left to right. Converting in your head is where a sign gets skipped or read the wrong way round.

Solving the printed signs as ordinary maths gives 8 − 4 + 15 = 19, which is not among the options. That is a sign the substitution was skipped.

Key facts

Here ÷ means ×, − means ÷, + means − and × means +.
BODMAS: × and ÷ come before + and −, each pair worked left to right.
The rewritten expression is 16 × 2 ÷ 4 − 3 + 5 = 10.

Study next

Sign-meaning items that ask which equation is correctInterchanging two signs to balance an equationOperations coded as letters or words instead of symbols

Common traps

Reading the code backwards and replacing − with + instead of + with −
Solving the printed expression as it stands, which gives 19

19 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.23 uses a different four-sign code on 20 + 5 × 4 − 2, keyed 17.5.

15 Sep 2025, 12:30, Reasoning Q.23 codes the signs in words ('+' means 'divided by'), with 48 × 8 ÷ 12 + 4 − 7 keyed 61.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Numerical Operations — all 92 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.