SSC CGL 2025 PYQs

Concept: Brave = courageous; its opposite is cowardly/timid.

1. Pusillanimous = lacking courage, faint-hearted ✓.
2. Fearless, gallant, intrepid all mean brave – synonyms.

Trick: Latin pusillus (very small) + animus (spirit) = small-spirited, cowardly.

Answer: (B) Pusillanimous

Concept: 'Chapter and verse' = with exact sources and complete detail.

1. He cited the rules precisely, point by point.
2. Origin: citing scripture by its chapter and verse numbers.

Yaad rakhein: Think of a precise citation – 'Rule 4, clause 2' – that is chapter and verse.

Answer: (C) With exact reference and full detail

Concept: Correct spelling: R-E-P-R-O-V-E (to scold, rebuke).

1. Built as re + prove – same 'prove' spelling.
2. A, B, C insert extra or wrong vowels (-uove, -uve, -oove).

Trick: If you can spell 'prove', you can spell 'reprove' (also approve, improve).

Answer: (D) Reprove

Concept: Undo the backshift: reported past perfect (for a recent experience) returns to present perfect.

1. she → I; had seen → have seen.
2. Put the words in quotes with natural order: 'I have never before seen …'
3. B keeps past perfect; C has wrong order; D changes the tense to past perfect inversion.

Trick: Direct speech uses the speaker's own time – 'never before' + present perfect for an experience up to now.

Answer: (A) "I have never before seen such an extraordinary performance," she said.

Concept: Topic → details → effect → long-term conclusion.

1. 1 introduces fire as a turning point.
2. 2 ('It provided…') lists its uses; 3 ('This advancement…') gives the benefit.
3. 4 ('Over time…') closes with the long-term impact.

Trick: Pronoun links: 'It' needs 1 before it, 'This' needs 2 before it, 'Over time' signals the end.

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

Concept: A collective noun acting as one unit takes a singular verb; a phrase between commas does not change the subject.

1. Subject = 'The committee' (one body); 'comprising experts…' is only a descriptive phrase.
2. The pronoun 'its' also shows the singular sense.
3. Correct: '…has submitted its report…' → error in part (3).

Trick: Cover the words between the commas and read 'The committee have submitted its…' – the mismatch with 'its' is obvious.

Answer: (C) (3)

Concept: A homonym has the same spelling but a different meaning.

1. In the given sentence, 'codex' = an old manuscript book (handwritten, bound pages).
2. Options (A), (B), (D) – copyist, archivist, vellum cover – all use this same 'old book' sense.
3. Option (C): a software engineer refining a 'codex' = a code/program system – a different meaning → homonym.

Trick: Look for the option whose context (software, speed) is from a completely different field.

Answer: (C) The software engineer refined the codex to improve processing speed.

Concept: 'Debate' (verb) is transitive: it takes its object directly.

1. We debate something, not debate about/on/over it (in formal usage).
2. Correct: 'The committee debated the new policy for hours without a resolution.'

Yaad rakhein: Similar verbs that take no preposition: discuss, describe, emphasise, order, resemble, request ('discuss about' is wrong).

Answer: (C) debated

Concept: Perfect continuous tense: 'for' + period of time, 'since' + point of time.

1. 'Two hours' is a duration, not a starting point.
2. So 'since two hours' is wrong; use 'for two hours'.
3. 'From' is not used with the perfect continuous for duration.

Trick: Ask 'since when?' → answer is a point (since 5 p.m., since Monday); 'for how long?' → a period (for two hours).

Answer: (B) for two hours

Concept: Menagerie = a collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition.

1. Aviary – a large enclosure for birds only.
2. Sanctuary – protected area where animals live freely.
3. Park – public open ground. So 'menagerie' fits.

Yaad rakhein: Apiary = bees, aquarium = fish, aviary = birds, menagerie = wild animals on display.

Answer: (C) Menagerie

Concept: The verb agrees with the head noun of the subject, not with nouns inside an 'of'-phrase.

1. Head noun = 'prevalence' (singular); 'of infectious diseases among vulnerable populations' is a modifier.
2. Singular subject → singular verb 'remains'.
3. 'Has remaining' is ungrammatical; 'remain/have remained' are plural.

Trick: Strip the 'of…' phrase: 'The prevalence ___ a constant concern' → 'remains'.

Answer: (D) remains

Concept: When the subject receives the action, use the passive (be + V3); the tense follows the time of the event.

1. A scroll cannot discover anything – it is discovered → passive.
2. 'Previously thought to be lost' shows a completed past event → simple past.
3. Singular subject 'scroll' → 'was discovered'.

Trick: Eliminate: 'discovers' (active), 'are' (plural), 'is' (present) – only 'was discovered' survives.

Answer: (A) was discovered

Concept: Yielding = giving way easily, submissive, soft.

1. Obdurate = stubbornly refusing to change one's mind → opposite of yielding.
2. Flexible, compliant, amenable all mean ready to agree/adjust → synonyms, not antonyms.

Trick: Three options share one meaning (agreeable) – the odd one out (obdurate) is the antonym.

Answer: (B) Obdurate

Concept: Hand and glove / hand in glove = in very close partnership (often in something dishonest).

1. A glove fits the hand perfectly – they work as one.
2. So the officials were very closely associated in the deal.

Yaad rakhein: Similar idioms – 'thick as thieves' (very close friends), 'in cahoots' (secretly working together).

Answer: (A) Very closely associated

Concept: 'The number of + plural noun' takes a singular verb; 'A number of + plural noun' takes a plural verb.

1. Subject = 'The number' (one figure) → singular verb.
2. 'were surprisingly low' → 'was surprisingly low'.
3. Error in part (3).

Trick: 'THE number' = one count → was/is; 'A number' = many → were/are.

Answer: (C) (3)

Concept: Active 'have/has to + V1' → Passive 'has/have to be + V3'.

1. Object 'this data add-on pack' becomes the subject (singular → 'has').
2. 'have to activate' → 'has to be activated' + 'by you'; 'manually' stays.
3. (B) and (C) are still active; (D) wrongly makes 'you' the receiver.

Trick: In a correct passive, the original object must begin the sentence – only (A) starts with 'This data add-on pack'.

Answer: (A) This data add-on pack has to be activated by you manually.

Concept: Cautious = careful to avoid risk or error.

1. Circumspect = wary, considering all consequences before acting → synonym.
2. Reckless, brash, unworried = careless/rash → near-opposites.

Yaad rakhein: Circum (around) + spect (look) = 'looking around' before acting – that is caution.

Answer: (D) Circumspect

Concept: 'Said to' → 'told'; past reporting verb backshifts the tense; pronouns change by speaker/listener.

1. 'said to me' → 'told me'; 'speaks' (simple present) → 'spoke'.
2. 'Your' (listener = me) → 'my'; 'me' (speaker = Rashmika) → 'her'.
3. Result: Rashmika told me that my brother spoke ill of her.

Trick: Pronoun rule SON: 1st person → as Subject, 2nd → as Object, No change for 3rd.

Answer: (D) Rashmika told me that my brother spoke ill of her.

Concept: 'is/are being + V3' (passive) → 'is/are + V-ing' (active); keep the tense.

1. Main clause: 'is being acknowledged by global leaders' → 'Global leaders are acknowledging'.
2. Inner clause: 'extreme weather events are being exacerbated' → active 'climate change is exacerbating extreme weather events'.
3. (B) simple present, (C) still passive, (D) future – tense errors.

Trick: Find the tense marker 'being' → answer must have '-ing' with is/are; only (A) keeps the present continuous.

Answer: (A) Global leaders are increasingly acknowledging the fact that climate change is exacerbating extreme weather events.

Concept: Latin comparatives (superior, inferior, senior, junior, prior, prefer) take 'to', never 'than/of/from'.

1. 'superior of' is wrong.
2. Corrected: 'Her performance was superior to every competitor's.'

Yaad rakhein: 'superior' is already comparative – never say 'more superior'.

Answer: (A) superior to