SSC CGL 2025 PYQs

Concept: Unscented = without smell/fragrance.

1. Redolent = strongly fragrant (e.g. redolent of roses) ⇒ opposite.
2. Odorless, scentless, inodorous all mean 'no smell' – synonyms, not antonyms.

Trick: Three options mean the same thing – the odd one out is the antonym.

Answer: (C) Redolent

Concept: 'Play gooseberry' (British) = be the unwanted third person with a couple.

1. He felt awkward because the couple wanted privacy and he was in the way.
2. Mediator, bad jokes, commitment – no link to the idiom.

Yaad rakhein: Similar idea: 'third wheel' (American English).

Answer: (B) Be an unwanted third person with a courting couple

Concept: Schism = a split/division in a group (pronounced 'siz-um' or 'skiz-um').

1. Correct: S-C-H-I-S-M – starts with 'sch' like 'school', 'schedule'.
2. Shicsm, Scism, Shcism disturb the 'sch' cluster.

Trick: Think 'SCHool → SCHism' – same opening letters.

Answer: (B) Schism

Concept: A person who always suspects others act only out of self-interest = cynic.

1. Cynic doubts people's sincerity and motives.
2. Pessimist expects bad outcomes (about events, not motives); optimist and idealist are positive.

Trick: Key word 'motives' ⇒ cynic; key word 'outcomes/future' ⇒ pessimist.

Answer: (B) Cynic

Concept: General statement → feature → contrast (However) → response.

1. 1 introduces the topic (digital currencies change banking).
2. 3 adds a benefit; 4 'However' gives the downside.
3. 2 ends with the government's reaction ⇒ 1-3-4-2.

Trick: 'However' must come right after the positive point it contrasts (3 → 4).

Answer: (A) 1-3-4-2

Concept: Antonym = word of opposite meaning.

1. Joyous = full of joy, very happy.
2. Lugubrious = gloomy, mournful, sad in a heavy way – the opposite.
3. Happy, Cheerful, Delighted all mean the same as Joyous (synonyms).

Trick: Three options that mean the same thing are synonyms of the word – the odd one out is the antonym.

Answer: (C) Lugubrious

Concept: A cricket idiom: a 'duck' is a score of zero.

1. To break one's duck = to get the first run, i.e. to achieve a first success after failing.
2. In the sentence, after repeated failures she finally passed → first success.

Yaad rakhein: 'Duck' (0 runs) comes from the egg-like shape of zero – 'duck's egg'.

Answer: (C) Achieve a first success after previous failures

Concept: To cut someone dead = to deliberately ignore a person you know.

1. She passed him in the corridor and acted as if he did not exist.
2. No words were spoken, so it is not an open insult or sarcastic praise – it is deliberate ignoring.

Yaad rakhein: Related: 'give someone the cold shoulder' – also means to ignore or treat coldly.

Answer: (A) Ignored me deliberately

Concept: Break the word into known parts: phenomeno + logical.

1. Correct: PHE-NO-ME-NO-LO-GI-CAL.
2. (A) misses 'a' in -cal; (C) has 'Pha' and double 'l'; (D) changes 'meno' to 'minono'.

Trick: Write 'phenomenon', drop the final 'n', add '-logical' → phenomeno-logical.

Answer: (B) Phenomenological

Concept: Circum (around) + locution (way of speaking) = talking around the point.

1. Correct: CIR-CUM-LO-CU-TION.
2. (B) drops the 'u' before -tion; (C) drops the 'c' in 'Cir'; (D) writes 'lu' instead of 'lo'.

Trick: Same root as circumference, circumstance (circum) and elocution (locution).

Answer: (A) Circumlocution

Concept: Euphemism = a mild, polite word used in place of a harsh or unpleasant one.

1. Example: 'passed away' for 'died'.
2. Allusion = indirect reference; Analogy = comparison to explain; Allegory = story with a hidden moral meaning.

Trick: Eu- means 'good' (euphoria, eulogy) – a euphemism is a 'good-sounding' word.

Answer: (B) Euphemism

Concept: Start with the general topic, then follow time order: before → during → result.

1. 3 introduces animals that hibernate in winter – opener.
2. 4 'To prepare…' tells what they do in autumn (before).
3. 2 tells what happens during hibernation; 1 'This act…' sums up its purpose → 3-4-2-1.

Trick: 'These animals' (4) and 'This act' (1) are pointers – they can never open a paragraph.

Answer: (D) 3, 4, 2, 1

Concept: Main idea first, then sequence words: First → Next → Finally.

1. 4 gives the central idea (careful planning matters).
2. 2 'The first step…', 3 'Next…', 1 'Finally…' → 4-2-3-1.

Trick: Sequence markers (first, next, finally) fix the order by themselves; only (B) starts with 4 and keeps 2-3-1.

Answer: (B) 4-2-3-1

Concept: Ephemeral = lasting for a very short time.

1. Example: 'Fame on social media is often ephemeral.'
2. Eternal = lasting forever (opposite); Archetype = typical model; Chronicle = record of events in time order.

Yaad rakhein: Synonyms: transient, fleeting, short-lived, momentary.

Answer: (A) Ephemeral

Concept: 'Equipment' is uncountable: it never takes -s and goes with 'amount'/'much' and a singular verb.

1. 'equipments' is wrong → 'equipment'.
2. With an uncountable noun use 'a large amount of … was': 'A large amount of equipment was delivered…'.
3. The error is in part (1).

Yaad rakhein: Never pluralise: equipment, furniture, luggage, baggage, information, advice, machinery, scenery.

Answer: (A) (1)

Concept: Simple future passive: will be + V3.

1. Active: The board will review your application.
2. Object 'your application' becomes subject; 'will review' → 'will be reviewed'.
3. (A) past, (B) present, (C) future perfect – tense changed, so wrong.

Trick: Tense must not change in voice change – match 'will' + 'be' + V3.

Answer: (D) Your application will be reviewed by the board after the interview process.

Concept: Homonym = same spelling/sound, different meaning.

1. In the sentence, 'ring' = a band of metal worn on the finger (noun).
2. (B), (C), (D) use 'ring' as a circular object/shape – same basic sense.
3. (A) 'the door bell started to ring' = to make a sound (verb) – different meaning, so it is the homonym.

Trick: Look for the option where the part of speech changes (noun → verb) – that usually gives the homonym.

Answer: (A) The door bell started to ring while I was sleeping.

Concept: 'X were believed to have been V3 by Y' → active: 'It was believed that Y V2 X'.

1. Agent 'the clerical staff' becomes the subject of the inner clause.
2. Inner clause active: 'the clerical staff misplaced the documents'.
3. Outer 'were believed' becomes impersonal 'It was believed that…' → (B).

Trick: Reject options that keep 'by the clerical staff' (still passive) or change the action's time ('to misplace').

Answer: (B) It was believed that the clerical staff misplaced the documents.

Concept: Read the phrase with its contrast in the same sentence.

1. The idea was 'once relegated to science fiction' but is now 'a tangible objective'.
2. Tangible = real, achievable → colonising Mars is becoming realistic.

Trick: Words like 'once … now increasingly' signal a change from impossible to possible – reject 'impossible' and 'distant dream'.

Answer: (C) Mars colonization is becoming realistic

Concept: Locate the keyword 'subsurface water ice' in the passage.

1. Under in-situ resource utilisation, the ice is to be turned into drinking water, oxygen to breathe and fuel for the trip back.
2. Cooling, plants and magnetic fields are not mentioned.

Trick: For fact questions, scan for the exact noun in the question – the answer sits in that very sentence.

Answer: (B) Converting into water, oxygen and fuel