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Day 154: SSC CGL English

5 questions (13 parts). Try each one first, then open its answer.

  1. Question 1 (case study, 5 parts)

    Cloze Test. Asked once: 24 Sep 2024 S1

    In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. The mathematician Federico Ardila-Mantilla grew up in Colombia, an (1) ______________ student but gifted in math. He was failing most of his classes at his high school in Bogotá when someone (2) _______________ him to apply to MIT. He had not heard of the school. To his surprise, he got in, and he went on scholarship. Mathematically, he did well. One of his professors, an acid-tongued theoretician known to (3) ____________ his audience to a herd of cows, routinely tucked ‘open’ math problems into homework assignments, without telling the students. These had never been solved by anyone. Ardila solved one. He went on to receive his bachelor’s and Ph.D. in math from MIT. But his academic experience was also one of isolation. Part of it had to do with his own (4) _____________. Part of it was cultural. As a Latino, he was very much in the minority in the department, and he did not feel comfortable in American mathematical spaces. No one had tried to explicitly (5) ______________ him, yet he felt alone. In math, collaborating with others opens up new kinds of learning and thinking. But in his nine years at MIT, Ardila worked with others only twice.
    96
    Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank no. 1

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    97
    Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank no. 2

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    98
    Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank no. 3

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    99
    Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank no. 4.

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    100
    Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank no. 5.

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  2. Question 2

    Fill in the Blanks. Asked once: 11 Sep 2024 S2

    87
    Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank. Two of the fugitives managed to remain free by adeptly avoiding the____________ of the police.

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  3. Question 3

    Grammar. Asked once: 22 Sep 2025 S1

    98
    A sentence is provided in direct speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding indirect speech. Rita said, “Alas! I am ruined.”

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  4. Question 4

    Idioms and Phrases. Asked once: 23 Sep 2025 S1

    79
    Choose the correct meaning of idiom: Know which way the wind blows

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  5. Question 5 (case study, 5 parts)

    Reading Comprehension. Asked once: 15 Sep 2025 S2

    Read the following passage and answer the questions based on the passage : Art, in its manifold forms—visual, performative, literary, and auditory—constitutes a domain that transcends utilitarian function and enters the realm of the symbolic, the affective, and the transformative. Its significance within society cannot be reduced to decoration or diversion; rather, it operates as a mode of critical reflection, a vessel of collective memory, and a catalyst for socio-cultural evolution. At its core, art interrogates the contours of reality by reframing perception. Whether through the destabilizing surrealism of a Dali canvas or the dissonant harmonies of avant-garde music, art dislodges the observer from complacency and compels re-engagement with the world. It is in this function that art becomes not only an aesthetic but an epistemological act—challenging dominant paradigms and opening discursive space for marginalized narratives. Historically, art has served as an archive of civilizations, encoding within its mediums the aspirations, anxieties, and ideologies of its epoch. From the sacred iconography of temple frescoes to the protest murals adorning urban decay, art becomes a text through which power, resistance, and identity are simultaneously contested and constituted. This historical embeddedness renders art indispensable to understanding not only what a society creates but what it values and fears. In modern democracies, the role of art assumes a distinctly political dimension. Art enables dissent when speech is suppressed, and engenders empathy where rational argument fails. Satire, documentary film, and performance art often articulate the unspeakable, using metaphor and allusion to subvert censure. Yet this potential also renders art vulnerable—to censorship, commodification, and ideological co-option. When stripped of autonomy, art may devolve into propaganda or elitist ornamentation—devoid of critical function. The sociological function of art extends to its capacity to cultivate communal belonging and individual introspection simultaneously. Participatory forms of art—street theatre, public installations, folk traditions—dissolve the binaries of creator and audience, democratizing aesthetic engagement. Meanwhile, solitary encounters with a painting or a poem can occasion personal revelation, catharsis, or ethical inquiry. However, in the algorithmic age, where virality and visibility often dictate cultural value, art faces unprecedented commodification. The aesthetic is frequently reduced to a spectacle optimized for consumption, divorced from nuance, complexity, or transgression. The challenge, therefore, is to preserve the sanctity of artistic integrity in the face of market and media pressures that threaten to flatten it into banality. Ultimately, the role of art in society is neither static nor monolithic. It is a dialectical force—at once reflective and projective, disruptive and redemptive. To safeguard art is to safeguard the capacity of humanity to feel, to question, and to reimagine.
    93
    What is implied by describing art as an “epistemological act” in the passage?

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    94
    The phrase "commodification of art" in the passage most nearly refers to:

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    95
    According to the passage, how does art function in politically repressive environments?

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    96
    Which of the following best explains the dialectical nature of art as per the last paragraph?

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    97
    What is the closest meaning of the word “banality” as used in the sentence: “...threaten to flatten it into banality”?

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