SSC CHSL 2025 PYQs

Concept: A relative clause starts with who/which/that/whose and describes a preceding noun.

1. In (B): '…jewelry that reflected regional craftsmanship…' — 'that' refers to 'jewelry'.
2. A and C have -ing participle phrases; D has no relative pronoun.

Trick: Spot the relative pronoun (who, which, that, whose, whom) right after a noun.

Answer: (B) Historically, women wore gold, silver, and gemstone jewelry that reflected regional craftsmanship, social status, and cultural traditions.

Concept: Versatile = able to be used in many different ways.

1. In the passage, the mixed style works both on ordinary days and at festivals — one style, many uses.
2. blending/combine = mixing; reshaped = changed form.

Trick: Versatile = 'all-rounder' quality.

Answer: (B) versatile

Concept: Find the meaning from the examples given in the passage.

1. Line: 'improved infrastructure…, including modern retail outlets and online marketplaces'.
2. So infrastructure = facilities, retail outlets and online platforms.
3. Other options talk about culture or design, not facilities.

Trick: 'including' introduces examples of the word just before it — use them.

Answer: (B) Facilities, retail outlets, and online platforms

Concept: The conclusion of the passage gives its main suggestion.

1. Last para: designers blend 'heritage motifs with modern materials'; fashion is 'self-expression'.
2. A (unchanged), C (only status), D (no creativity) contradict the passage.

Trick: Extreme words like 'purely', 'only', 'discourages' usually mark wrong RC options.

Answer: (B) It combines heritage with modernity, allowing personal expression.

Concept: Headstrong = stubborn, determined to do as one likes.

1. Compliant = willing to obey or agree — the opposite.
2. Obstinate, Intractable, Defiant all mean stubborn/rebellious (synonyms).

Trick: Three options share one meaning → the odd one out is the antonym.

Answer: (A) Compliant

Concept: Praise = express approval or admiration.

1. Commend = praise formally — same meaning.
2. Cheat/Beguile = deceive; Support = help/back up (not praise).

Trick: Commend → 'commendation' = official praise (e.g. commendation certificate).

Answer: (B) Commend

Concept: Adding '-ment' to 'agree' keeps all letters: agree + ment.

1. Correct spelling: agreement (double 'e').
2. prolonged, committee, intransigence are correct.

Trick: Root word + -ment: no letter is dropped (agree-ment, manage-ment, judge-ment in UK).

Answer: (B) agrement

Concept: Check each word for its standard spelling.

1. Correct form: ordinary (or-di-na-ry), not 'ordanary'.
2. challenged, conventional, culinary are spelt correctly.

Yaad rakhein: 'ordinary' is linked to 'order' — keep the 'i' after 'ord': ord-i-nary.

Answer: (D) ordanary

Concept: The prefix decides the meaning: intra = within, inter = between, extra = outside, trans = across.

1. Voyages 'within our own galaxy' → intra + galactic.
2. Intergalactic = between galaxies; Extragalactic = outside our galaxy.

Trick: Intra-state (inside a state) vs Inter-state (between states) — same logic.

Answer: (B) Intragalactic

Concept: Former students/graduates of an institution are called alumni.

1. Alumni (plural); alumnus (male), alumna (female).
2. Alma mater = the institution itself, not the person.
3. Post-graduate = holder of a master's level degree; Freelancer = self-employed worker.

Trick: Alumni = people; Alma mater = place.

Answer: (A) Alumni

Concept: A plural subject needs a plural verb, and a past time marker needs a past tense.

1. 'All of the cities' is plural, so 'is' is wrong.
2. 'yesterday' shows finished past action, so 'is being affected' is also wrong.
3. Fix: replace 'is being affected' with 'were affected'.
4. A, B and D are fine: 'Half of the rooms are', 'Eleven people were', 'Some of the shows are'.

Trick: With 'all/some/half of + noun', the verb follows the noun after 'of' – plural noun, plural verb.

Answer: (C) All of the cities in New York is being affected by the rain yesterday.

Concept: Each option hides a common SSC error; find the one with none.

1. A: 'senior to me' – Latin comparatives (senior, junior, prior) take 'to', not 'than'.
2. B: 'prevented from going' – prevent + from + V-ing.
3. C: 'look forward to meeting' – here 'to' is a preposition, so V-ing follows.
4. D: with 'as well as', the verb agrees with the first subject 'The teacher' → 'was' is correct.

Trick: Subject joined by 'as well as / along with / together with' – ignore the second part; the verb follows the first noun.

Answer: (D) The teacher, as well as his students, was late.

Concept: 'For fear of' is a fixed phrase meaning 'because one is afraid of (something happening)'.

1. The informer did not want to testify because he feared revenge.
2. So the blank takes for fear of.
3. The phrase 'in fear of' describes being scared of a person/thing, not a reason for avoiding an act.

Yaad rakhein: Similar fixed phrases: 'for the sake of', 'for want of' (due to lack of), 'in spite of'.

Answer: (D) for

Concept: When the second clause happens despite the first, use a contrast conjunction.

1. Heavy snow was forecast, yet the function went ahead – a clear contrast.
2. 'Even though' expresses contrast → correct.
3. 'Because/Since' show reason (illogical here); 'Unless' shows condition.

Trick: Expected result did NOT happen → think 'although / even though / despite'.

Answer: (A) Even though

Concept: When '-ous' is added to 'humour', the 'u' before 'r' is dropped.

1. humour + ous → humorous (H-U-M-O-R-O-U-S).
2. There is no 'i' before '-ous'; options A, B, C insert or misplace letters.

Trick: Same pattern: glamour → glamorous, vigour → vigorous, rigour → rigorous.

Answer: (D) Humorous

Concept: 'Made of' = material still recognisable; 'made from' = material changed completely.

1. Paper is produced by pulping wood – wood is no longer visible as wood.
2. So 'made from wood' is correct.
3. 'made up of' means 'consisting of parts' (a team made up of 11 players).

Trick: Can you still see the raw material? Yes → of (wooden chair); No → from (paper, wine from grapes).

Answer: (C) made from wood

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

1. In the given sentence, 'duck' = the bird (noun).
2. A, B, D also use 'duck' as the bird – same meaning.
3. C: 'duck' = to bend down quickly (verb) – different meaning → homonym.

Trick: Eliminate every option that keeps the original meaning; the odd one is the homonym.

Answer: (C) He had to duck to avoid the low-hanging branch.

Concept: Match both parts of the definition: deep respect + admiration.

1. Reverent = feeling or showing deep respect and admiration (often with awe).
2. Courteous/Polite = merely well-mannered.
3. Deferential = yielding to someone's opinion out of respect – no 'admiration' idea.

Yaad rakhein: Related: reverence (noun), revere (verb) – 'People revere Gandhi.'

Answer: (C) Reverent

Concept: Deleterious means causing harm.

1. Deleterious = harmful, damaging.
2. B, C, D (harmful, damaging, injurious) are its synonyms.
3. Opposite = beneficial (helpful, good for).

Trick: Three options share one meaning → they are synonyms; the odd one out is the antonym.

Answer: (A) Beneficial

Concept: Reverse the backshift: remove 'that', add quotes, change 'that morning' to 'this morning'.

1. 'operates' is a general fact, so it stays in present: 'The machine operates automatically'.
2. 'had malfunctioned' (past perfect) goes back to simple past 'malfunctioned'.
3. 'that morning' → 'this morning'.
4. Only C has all three changes.

Trick: Check the time word first: indirect 'that' → direct 'this'. This removes A at once.

Answer: (C) She said, 'The machine operates automatically, but malfunctioned this morning."