SarkariPYQ

SSC Stenographer 2024 PYQ — Question 19

SSC Stenographer - 11/12/2024 (9:00 AM to 11:00 AM) • English • Q19

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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 students were taken on a field trip [A]____ the museum. The curator of the museum enlightened them [B]____ varied information from different periods of history. They saw the fossil remains of dinosaurs and other extinct large mammals. They learned about the importance of mountain ranges like [C]______ Himalayas. They also witnessed the [D]______ of rare royal jewels that were being displayed at the time. They saw busts of Roman Emperors and replicas of famous works of art. They also saw the portrait of Cleopatra, who was a [E1]______, [E2]_____, [E3]_______ Queen.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blanks [E1], [E2] and [E3] respectively.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D

Explanation

The correct answer is option 4 i.e. “beautiful, bronze-skinned, Egyptian.”

E1 = “beautiful”: Ancient sources and historians often emphasized Cleopatra’s renowned beauty, though some noted that it was her intelligence and charisma that made her truly captivating. Roman historian Cassius Dio described her as “a woman of surpassing beauty”.

E2 = “bronze-skinned”: While her exact skin tone isn't documented, many scholars believe she had pale olive or honey‑skinned complexion typical of Eastern Mediterranean ancestry—a descriptor often described metaphorically as “bronze-skinned”.

E3 = “Egyptian”: She was the last queen of Egypt, ruling the Ptolemaic dynasty—posing here as “Egyptian Queen.”

So, the phrase “beautiful, bronze‑skinned, Egyptian Queen” follows logical order: attribute (beauty), appearance (skin tone), and national identity (Egyptian).

Why the other sequences are less fitting:
Option 1 (“beautiful, Egyptian, bronze‑skinned”) places “Egyptian” before “bronze‑skinned,” which feels less natural in descriptive flow.

Option 2 (“Egyptian, bronze‑skinned, beautiful”) starts with nationality (“Egyptian”) first—awkward since “Queen” already implies country.

Option 3 (“bronze‑skinned, beautiful, Egyptian”) leads with skin tone before “beautiful,” which disrupts the natural descriptive emphasis on her famed beauty.