SSC CGL 2025 Tier-II · Paper-I, 19 January 2026 · General Awareness · Question 9 of 150

We transcribed this text from the pictures of a candidate's response sheet for this paper; the answer is the key SSC marked with a green tick 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. This paper reaches us as a candidate's response sheet saved as pictures, so we transcribed the text from those pictures, and a second reader checked every question against them; where the layout carries meaning, we show the picture too. Each answer is the key SSC marked with a green tick 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. UnlockIAS wrote the solutions.

In a standard FIBA (International) game, how many quarters are played, and how long is each quarter?

(a)Four 10-minute quarters
(b)Four 12-minute quarters
(c)Two 20-minute halves
(d)Four 8-minute quarters

Answer

Why

Correct — A. FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, sets a game at four quarters of 10 minutes, 40 minutes of playing time. A tie at the end goes to 5-minute overtime periods.

The clock runs only during live play, so a game takes far longer than 40 minutes on the wall clock. Four 10-minute quarters → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Four 12-minute quarters — Four 12-minute quarters is the NBA's format, 48 minutes in all. International games, including the Olympics, are played under FIBA rules and last 40.
(c)
Two 20-minute halves — Two 20-minute halves is the US college men's format. It adds up to the same 40 minutes, but FIBA splits the time into quarters.
(d)
Four 8-minute quarters — Four 8-minute quarters is the US high-school format under NFHS rules, 32 minutes in all. FIBA quarters are 10 minutes.

Concept

Basketball's period length depends on whose rulebook is in force.

FIBA rules govern international play: four 10-minute quarters. The NBA plays four 12-minute quarters, and US college men's games use two 20-minute halves.

Under FIBA rules, half-time lasts 15 minutes and each overtime period lasts 5 minutes.

The stem's qualifier FIBA (International) decides the answer. The 12-minute quarter is real too, but it belongs to the NBA's rulebook, not FIBA's.

Key facts

FIBA game: four quarters of 10 minutes, 40 minutes in all.
NBA game: four quarters of 12 minutes, 48 minutes in all.
Overtime periods last 5 minutes under FIBA and NBA rules.
A player leaves the game on a fifth foul under FIBA rules and on a sixth in the NBA.

Study next

FIBA shot clock and backcourt time limitsBasketball court markings and the three-point lineJames Naismith and the invention of basketball (1891)

Common traps

Carrying the NBA's 12-minute quarters into a FIBA question.
Picking two 20-minute halves because it also totals 40 minutes. FIBA divides the time into quarters.

14 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.4 asks which statement about basketball violations is correct, and 21 Sep 2025, 16:00, GA Q.11 asks what a personal foul involves (illegal physical contact during play).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Current events — all 162 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.