SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 22 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 16 of 98

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.

Eligibility Criteria: Should have passed 12th with minimum 60% marks. 40 WPM typing speed is a must. Should have completed certificate course in Typing or Data Entry. Age should be between 18 to 28 years only. Case: Raj has passed 12th with 65%, possesses a 38 WPM typing speed, and is a certified Data Entry professional. He is 24 years old.

(a)Eligible
(b)Not eligible due to age
(c)Not eligible due to typing speed
(d)Not eligible due to missing certification

Answer

Why

Correct — C.
Rule: every criterion must be met; failing any one makes the candidate ineligible.

12th marks: 65% against a minimum of 60% → met.
Typing: 38 WPM against a required 40 WPM → not met.
Certificate: a certified Data Entry professional → met.
Age: 24, within 18 to 28 → met.

Typing speed is the line Raj fails → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Eligible — 38 WPM is below the 40 WPM the criteria call a must. One failed criterion is enough to make Raj ineligible.
(b)
Not eligible due to age — Raj is 24, inside the 18 to 28 band, so the age criterion is met. His shortfall is typing speed.
(d)
Not eligible due to missing certification — Raj is a certified Data Entry professional, and the criteria accept a certificate course in Typing or Data Entry. That line is met.

Concept

An eligibility item lists conditions joined by an unstated AND: the candidate must satisfy every one. Your job is to find the line the case breaks.

Match the case to the criteria one line at a time and read the numbers at the boundary. Here 65% clears 60%, 24 sits inside 18 to 28, and 38 falls short of 40.

Options (b), (c) and (d) each name a single criterion, so once you find the failed line you have the answer.

Key facts

Raj clears the marks criterion: 65% against a minimum of 60%.
Raj's typing speed, 38 WPM, is 2 short of the required 40 WPM.
A certified Data Entry professional satisfies 'certificate course in Typing or Data Entry'.

Study next

Eligibility cases with 'or' conditions, where either route is enoughBoundary values, such as a minimum of 60% against a score of exactly 60%Situational items that ask for the first step

Common traps

Skimming the numbers and missing that 38 is below 40.
Doubting the certificate because the case says 'Data Entry professional' rather than 'completed a course'.

Here the criteria come as four separate lines and the case as a single sentence, so the work is a line-by-line match. Options (b) and (d) name criteria Raj actually meets, and (a) ignores the one he fails.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Critical thinking — all 23 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.