SSC CHSL 2025 PYQs

Concept: "exclaimed with disgust" → direct speech needs a disgust interjection and an exclamatory sentence.

1. Interjection for disgust = Ugh! (Alas = sorrow, Oh no = shock).
2. Exclamatory form: How + adjective + subject + verb → "How terrible this food tastes!"
3. Option D is a question, so it is out.

Yaad rakhein: Alas – sorrow, Hurrah – joy, Bravo – praise, Ugh/Pooh – disgust.

Answer: (B) He said, "Ugh! How terrible this food tastes!"

Concept: Noun from "maintain" changes its spelling.

1. maintain → maintenance (the "ai" becomes "e").
2. Pattern: main-te-nance.
3. Fill: regular maintenance of the machinery.

Trick: Remember "main TEN ance" – ten in the middle, no "ai".

Answer: (D) maintenance

Concept: "Let + object + be + V3" is a passive command; active = V1 + object.

1. Remove "Let … be": left → leave.
2. Object "no path" stays as it is.
3. Active: "Leave no path unexplored …"

Trick: Keep the negative word ("no") exactly; option D flips the meaning, B stays passive.

Answer: (C) Leave no path unexplored in the hunt for the hidden artifacts.

Concept: Identify the misspelt word.

1. Correct form: bureau + cracy = bureaucracy.
2. Option A has "Buraeu…" – letters "ea/ae" swapped.
3. Garrulous (talkative), Refrigerator, Acquiesce (agree quietly) are correct.

Trick: Bureau = office (French) – write "bureau" first, then add "cracy".

Answer: (A) Buraeucracy

Concept: All options use "commitment" and "occurrence"; check both spellings.

1. Correct: occurrence = double c, double r, ending -ence.
2. Option B writes "ocurence" – one c, one r → wrong.
3. Other sentences spell both words correctly.

Trick: "occur" doubles its r before -ence/-ed: occurred, occurrence.

Answer: (B) She hoped to show commitment needed to stop a rare ocurence during the project.

Concept: Undo the back-shift: past → present, "that night" → tonight, "if" → question form.

1. was going → are going; reporting "if" → a direct question.
2. that night → tonight.
3. Option A ✔; B, C keep past "Were"; D drops "me" and keeps "that night".

Trick: In reverse narration, any option keeping "that night/was" is wrong straight away.

Answer: (A) My father asked me, "Are you going to the party tonight?'

Concept: Move tenses one step forward and change "they" back to "you".

1. told the athletes → said to the athletes.
2. had been training → have been training; deserved → deserve.
3. they → you → option C.

Trick: Inside the quotes the speaker talks to the listener – so look for "You", not "They".

Answer: (C) The head coach said to the athletes, "You have been training hard all season and deserve a break."

Concept: "is to + V1" (planned action) becomes "is to be + V3" in passive.

1. Object: a thorough evaluation (of the proposed … modifications).
2. Passive: Subject = the evaluation; verb = is to be conducted; doer → "by the committee".
3. B changes the object, C uses "will be", D is not a passive conversion.

Trick: Keep the modal pattern: is to → is to be + V3; "will be" (C) changes the sense.

Answer: (A) A thorough evaluation is to be conducted of the proposed environmental modifications by the committee.

Concept: Future likelihood (not certainty) is shown by may / might / could.

1. Option D: "the NEP might transform…" – a possible future result ✔
2. C has "will" = certainty; A, B have only main verbs (exchanges, strives).

Trick: Possibility = may/might/could; certainty = will/shall.

Answer: (D) If executed well, the NEP might transform India's learning future.

Concept: A gerund is a verb + ing that works as a noun.

1. "the mode of teaching" – teaching is the object of the preposition "of" → gerund ✔
2. Overhaul, dialogue, strategy are plain nouns, not -ing verb forms.

Trick: An -ing word right after a preposition is almost always a gerund.

Answer: (B) Teaching

Concept: Holistic = looking at the whole, with all parts connected.

1. The passage describes a broad, flexible system mixing skills, subjects and creativity – a "whole" approach.
2. So holistic = viewing all components as linked and unified.
3. A (medical), B and D (narrow focus) do not fit.

Trick: "Holistic" comes from "whole" – pick the option about everything joined together.

Answer: (C) Viewing all components as linked and unified

Concept: Adaptable = able to adjust to change; antonym = unable to change.

1. Rigid = stiff, not flexible → opposite ✔
2. Versatile is a synonym; simple and plain are unrelated.

Trick: Remove the synonym (versatile) and unrelated words – the remaining one is the antonym.

Answer: (B) Rigid

Concept: Locate the line in the passage that states the aim.

1. Passage: NEP "strives to lower drill study… by fostering applied wisdom and innovation".
2. Applied wisdom + innovation = applied and inventive study ✔
3. B is the reverse; A and D clash with the stress on local language.

Trick: Options using extreme words ("delete from all", "English only") are rarely correct in RC.

Answer: (C) To foster applied and inventive study

Concept: Sarcasm = taunting remarks/expression meant to ridicule.

1. Context: she smiles on hearing a "ridiculous excuse" → ridicule.
2. Mockery = making fun of someone ✔
3. Kindness, encouragement, compliment are positive – meaning would reverse.

Trick: Negative context → choose the only negative word.

Answer: (B) Mockery

Concept: Find the word for an elegant, calm and composed manner.

1. Poise = graceful, balanced, self-controlled bearing ✔
2. Clumsy = awkward; grit = courage/determination; frenzy = wild excitement.

Yaad rakhein: A person with poise is "poised"; its opposite is "flustered" or "clumsy".

Answer: (B) Poise

Concept: A synonym has nearly the same meaning as the given word.

1. Esoteric = known or understood only by a few experts; hard for common people to follow.
2. Abstruse = difficult to understand, obscure – same sense.
3. Obvious, Public and Simple all mean clear/open to all – opposites.

Trick: If three options point one way (easy/open) and one points the other, the odd one is usually the synonym of a 'difficult' word.

Answer: (B) Abstruse

Concept: 'Play it by ear' means to act according to the situation, without a fixed plan or preparation.

1. 'Play it by ear' = decide what to do as things unfold, without preparing in advance → (A).
2. (B) 'To plan' is the opposite idea; (C) takes 'ear' literally; (D) 'To improve' is unrelated.

Trick: Musicians who 'play by ear' play without written notes – i.e. without preparation.

Answer: (A) To do something without special preparation

Concept: Idioms carry a figurative meaning, not the literal one.

1. 'Go with the flow' = accept situations as they come, without resisting.
2. (A) is the literal river image; (C) strict rules and (D) opposing the crowd are opposite ideas.

Trick: Picture a leaf floating along a stream – it does not fight the current: that is 'going with the flow'.

Answer: (B) Accept things as they happen

Concept: The same word can change meaning when it changes its part of speech.

1. A, C, D: 'watch' is a verb = to look at / keep an eye on (birds, game, children).
2. B: 'his gold watch' – here 'watch' is a noun = a wrist timepiece.
3. So only B uses a different meaning.

Trick: Check for a determiner/adjective before the word ('his gold ___') – that signals a noun.

Answer: (B) He glanced at his gold watch to check the time.

Concept: Homonyms: same spelling and sound, but different meaning.

1. Given sentence: 'park' (noun) = public garden/open area.
2. A, B, D also use the noun 'park' – same meaning.
3. C: 'park your car' – verb = to leave a vehicle somewhere. Different meaning.

Trick: Look for 'to / can + park' – a helping verb before it makes it a verb, hence the homonym.

Answer: (C) You can park your car in the driveway.