SSC CGL 2025 PYQs

Concept: Callow = lacking experience or maturity (usually of a young person).

1. 'Inexperienced' means not having much practice or knowledge of life.
2. 'Callow' carries the same idea, e.g. a callow recruit.
3. Experienced and Mature are opposites; Clever means intelligent, not related.

Yaad rakhein: Callow ≈ 'raw, green, naive' – remember 'a callow youth'.

Answer: (B) Callow

Concept: 'Blow hot and cold' = to keep switching between being for and against something.

1. It fits 'changing one's mind constantly'.
2. Piece of cake = very easy; apple of discord = root of a quarrel; cup of tea = what one likes.

Trick: Hot ↔ cold = two opposite states → changing opinions again and again.

Answer: (C) blow hot and cold

Concept: Fulsome praise = flattering to excess, so it sounds insincere.

1. Opposite of insincere, overdone praise = sincere (genuine).
2. Overdone, Abundant, Lavish all describe excess – close to fulsome, not opposite.

Trick: Three options share one idea (too much); the odd one out is usually the antonym.

Answer: (B) Sincere

Concept: Negative command → told/ordered + object + not to + V1.

1. 'said to' becomes 'told'; 'Do not allow' becomes 'not to allow'.
2. So the reporting verb becomes told, followed by the guard + not to allow.
3. B: 'said the guard' is wrong; C: 'forbade … not to' is a double negative; D: wrong structure.

Trick: Imperative in indirect speech always uses an infinitive (to / not to) – look for 'told … not to'.

Answer: (A) The officer told the guard not to allow anyone to enter without permission.

Concept: Paradox = a statement that seems self-contradictory but holds a truth.

1. Example: 'Less is more.'
2. Axiom = an accepted truth; Maxim = a short rule of conduct; Irony = outcome opposite to what is expected.

Trick: Para (against) + dox (opinion) → seems to go against common sense.

Answer: (C) Paradox

Concept: 'No sooner' is always followed by 'than'.

1. Structure: No sooner + had + subject + V3 … than + past simple.
2. So: No sooner had the curtain fallen than the audience erupted into applause.

Trick: Hardly/Scarcely → when; No sooner → than (pair 'sooner' with comparative 'than').

Answer: (C) than

Concept: Contrast between two ideas needs 'in spite of / despite' + noun/-ing.

1. She was warned, yet she went ahead → contrast.
2. 'In spite of having been warned' is correct; 'Due to', 'As', 'Since' show reason and break the logic.

Trick: If the second half is unexpected after the first, choose a contrast word.

Answer: (A) In spite of

Concept: Start with the definition, then mechanism, factors and finally importance.

1. 4 introduces evaporation by name – the opener.
2. 2 ('It occurs when…') explains how it happens.
3. 3 gives the factors; 1 ('This process…') sums up its role → 4, 2, 3, 1.

Trick: A sentence beginning with 'It' or 'This' cannot open the paragraph – that removes B and C.

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

Concept: After recommend/suggest/insist/demand + that, use the base verb.

1. 'that the new policy be implemented' – base form 'be' for every subject.
2. is / was / will be do not fit this mandative clause.

Trick: Insert an invisible 'should': that the policy (should) be implemented.

Answer: (C) be

Concept: A relative pronoun takes the verb form of its antecedent.

1. 'which' refers to 'The committee' – acting as one unit (singular).
2. Main verb is also singular ('has been granted').
3. So write 'which oversees' – error in part (1).

Trick: Match the verb inside the which-clause with the main verb: has → oversees.

Answer: (A) (1)

Concept: Placatory = meant to calm someone or make them less angry.

1. Opposite = aggravating (making anger or a problem worse).
2. Conciliatory, Calming, Soothing are synonyms of placatory.

Trick: 'Placate' = pacify; its opposite is provoke/aggravate.

Answer: (C) Aggravating

Concept: Simple past passive: was/were + V3 + by + agent.

1. Object 'the sleeping birds in the trees' (plural) becomes the subject → 'were'.
2. startled → were startled by the sudden noise.
3. B (past perfect), C (continuous), D (present) change the tense.

Trick: Tense must stay the same – startled (V2) → was/were + V3.

Answer: (A) The sleeping birds in the trees were startled by the sudden noise.

Concept: Tripos has two senses: the Cambridge honours examination, and a three-legged stool.

1. Given sentence: 'math tripos' = the exam.
2. A, B, D also mean the exam.
3. C: 'wooden tripos stood in the corner' = a three-legged stool – different sense.

Yaad rakhein: Tri = three; the exam was named after the three-legged stool once used at Cambridge.

Answer: (C) The ancient wooden tripos stood in the corner of the room.

Concept: The agent after 'by' becomes the subject; 'It was reported that' can shrink to 'reportedly'.

1. Doer: unidentified hackers → subject.
2. had been stolen → stole (active).
3. Unidentified hackers reportedly stole confidential data. B, C, D alter the facts.

Trick: Find 'by + doer' first – the answer must begin with that doer.

Answer: (A) Unidentified hackers reportedly stole confidential data.

Concept: The main idea must cover the whole passage, not one side.

1. Passage lists gains (efficiency, access) and harms (attention, memory).
2. It ends by asking for balanced use → technology has both enhanced and challenged cognition.

Trick: Drop extreme options with 'obsolete', 'replaced', 'completely'.

Answer: (B) Technology has both enhanced and challenged human cognition.

Concept: Locate the line about psychologists.

1. Psychologists warn about 'digital amnesia' – depending on devices to store information.
2. Handing over numbers, dates, directions to devices weakens memory → people forget essential information.

Trick: Match key words: psychologists → digital amnesia → forgetting.

Answer: (B) Technology causes people to forget essential information.

Concept: Find the 'However, advocates…' sentence.

1. Advocates say delegating routine recall lets the mind focus on higher-order thinking.
2. Option B restates this; A and C are extreme, D is not stated.

Trick: 'However' signals the opposing view – the answer sits right after it.

Answer: (B) They argue it allows the mind to focus on complex and higher-order thinking.

Concept: Tone is judged from how evenly the author treats both sides.

1. Author gives benefits and concerns fairly.
2. Concludes with 'use it judiciously' and mindfulness → balanced and reflective.

Trick: A passage with 'On one hand… on the other hand… therefore balance' is almost always 'balanced'.

Answer: (B) Balanced and reflective

Concept: Look for the line that states 'the central challenge'.

1. The passage says the challenge is to use technology judiciously.
2. That means balancing cognitive independence with technological assistance → B.

Trick: When the passage names 'the central challenge' directly, the answer echoes those words.

Answer: (B) How to balance cognitive independence with technological assistance

Concept: 'Discuss' is transitive and takes a direct object.

1. 'discussed about implementing' → 'discussed implementing'.
2. C keeps the wrong 'about'; D is a wrong passive; B is wordy.

Trick: Discuss, describe, reach, enter, resemble – no preposition after them.

Answer: (A) discussed implementing