SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 19 September 2025, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 11 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.

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.

Find the part of the sentence that contains an error: The team’s objective, despite its vagueness, (1)/ were understood by the evaluators (2)/ to focus more on inclusivity (3)/ than on quantifiable metrics. (4)

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

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Strip the sentence to its core: objective ... were understood. The head of the subject is objective, a singular noun.

The phrase despite its vagueness is set off by commas. It adds a comment and changes nothing about the subject — its own pronoun, its, already treats objective as singular.

Part (2) should read "was understood by the evaluators" → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
(1) — The team’s objective is a correct subject: team’s is a possessive describing objective, and the commas enclose despite its vagueness properly. The singular its agrees with objective.
(c)
(3) — be understood to + verb is a normal passive pattern — The plan was understood to favour exports — so to focus more on inclusivity completes it correctly.
(d)
(4) — than on quantifiable metrics balances more on inclusivity. More on X than on Y repeats the preposition in both halves, so the comparison is parallel.

Concept

The verb agrees with the head of the subject — the one noun the rest of the subject describes. Here that noun is objective.

Two things surround it: the possessive team’s before it, and a comma-enclosed phrase, despite its vagueness, after it. Neither changes the number of the subject.

Test by deleting the modifiers and everything between the commas: The objective was understood. Agreement that is right in the stripped sentence is right in the full one.

In British English a collective noun such as team can take a plural verb — The team are training. That does not apply here: team’s is only a possessive, and the subject is objective.

Key facts

The verb agrees with the head noun of the subject, not with a noun in a possessive or a parenthetical phrase.
A phrase between commas, such as despite its vagueness, does not change the number of the subject.
Be understood + to-infinitive is a standard passive pattern: The plan was understood to favour exports.

Study next

Subjects followed by along with, as well as or together with: The CEO along with his deputies was presentCollective nouns such as team, committee and jury, singular or plural by meaningParallel comparisons with a repeated preposition: more on X than on Y

Common traps

Reading team as the subject and treating it as a plural collective noun
Suspecting part (4) because than on repeats the preposition, which is what parallelism requires

18 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.10 hides the head the same way: The CEO along with his deputies were present, with the error in part (2). Along with adds a companion, not a second subject.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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