SSC CHSL 2025 PYQs

Concept: Sanguine = optimistic, positive about the future.

1. Hopeful = expecting good results → synonym.
2. Pessimistic, Fearful, Anxious all expect something bad → opposite group.

Trick: Three options share one negative mood; the odd one out (Hopeful) is the answer.

Answer: (B) Hopeful

Concept: Up and about = out of bed and moving around again, usually after illness.

1. Example: Grandpa was ill last week but is now up and about.
2. Lazy, angry or sleeping do not show recovery → rejected.

Trick: 'Up' (out of bed) + 'about' (moving around) = active again.

Answer: (B) Active again after illness or rest

Concept: Vacant = not filled or used by anyone.

1. Opposite = Occupied (in use, filled).
2. Empty, Blank, Hollow mean the same as vacant — synonym traps.

Trick: In antonym questions, if three options are similar to the word, pick the odd one.

Answer: (A) Occupied

Concept: Probity = strict honesty and moral uprightness.

1. Opposite = Dishonesty.
2. Integrity, Rectitude, Virtue all mean moral goodness → synonyms, not antonyms.

Trick: Prefix 'dis-' makes the only negative option — the natural antonym here.

Answer: (A) Dishonesty

Concept: Pedantry = showing off one's learning too much, fussing over small academic details.

1. Matches 'excessive display of learning' exactly.
2. Didacticism = intention to teach/moralise; Satire = mocking through humour; Intellectualism = devotion to reason/intellect.

Yaad rakhein: A person who does this is a pedant; adjective = pedantic.

Answer: (B) Pedantry

Concept: Spot the wrongly spelt word.

1. Option (C) has 'seperate' ✗.
2. Correct: separate (s-e-p-a-r-a-t-e).
3. 'definite' is correct in every option.

Trick: Remember: there is 'a rat' in sepa rate.

Answer: (C) They need to seperate the recyclable items before they can get a definite count.

Concept: With a past reporting verb, tenses move one step back and 'this' → 'that'.

1. I → he; have been reviewing → had been reviewing.
2. this proposal → that proposal.
3. do not see → did not see; is → was.
4. (C) keeps 'this'; (B), (D) keep present verbs → only (A) is fully correct.

Trick: Scan options for 'that' + 'did not' + 'was' together — only one has all three.

Answer: (A) The manager said that he had been reviewing that proposal for a week, but he still did not see the benefit, which was the main goal.

Concept: In reported speech: if + present … will → if + past … would; a general 'you' becomes 'one'.

1. study → studied; will pass → would pass.
2. The teacher speaks generally, so 'you' → one, used in both parts.
3. (A) keeps 'you'; (C) keeps present tense; (B) 'he/she' is unclear.

Yaad rakhein: Once 'one' is chosen as subject, keep 'one' throughout (not he/she).

Answer: (D) The teacher said that if one studied hard, one would pass the exam.

Concept: Find the misspelt word.

1. Option (B): 'gaurantee' ✗.
2. Correct: g-u-a-r-a-n-t-e-e — 'u' right after 'g'.

Trick: Think 'guard' — g-u-a-r … then add 'antee': guar + antee.

Answer: (B) Can you gaurantee that the package will arrive today?

Concept: A plural subject needs a plural verb.

1. Subject: 'board members' → plural.
2. 'was' ✗ → were ✓.
3. (A) wrongly makes 'member' singular; (C), (D) change the meaning.

Trick: Change only what is wrong — the option that just swaps 'was' for 'were' wins.

Answer: (B) All the board members were varied

Concept: The pronoun 'one' forms its possessive as one's.

1. 'ones'' ✗ — wrong apostrophe position.
2. 'once' means 'one time' → (B), (C) wrong.
3. 'their' does not agree with 'one' in formal English → (D) wrong.

Yaad rakhein: One → one's; everyone → everyone's; but it → its (no apostrophe).

Answer: (A) One must keep one's word

Concept: Modal passive: Object + modal + be + V3 + by + subject.

1. Object 'the bill' comes first.
2. must pay → must be paid; 'you' → by you.
3. 'must being' is ungrammatical; 'must have been' changes the time.

Trick: After any modal (can/must/should) in passive, write simply 'be + V3'.

Answer: (A) The bill must be paid by you.

Concept: Past perfect passive: Object + had been + V3; the infinitive 'to shut' becomes 'to be shut'.

1. had forgotten → had been forgotten.
2. to shut → to be shut; agent: by the night watchman.
3. (A) uses 'was' (simple past), (C) 'has been' (present perfect), (D) is still active.

Trick: Match the helping verb: 'had' in active → 'had been' in passive.

Answer: (B) The factory gate had been forgotten to be shut by the night watchman before dawn.

Concept: To convert back to direct speech, undo every backshift and restore 'today/yesterday'.

1. needed → need; had been working → have been working; was calling → is calling.
2. that day → today; the day before → yesterday; he/his → I/my.
3. (B) keeps all reported forms; (C), (D) mix past and present wrongly.

Trick: Check the time words first: only (A) and (C) have 'today … yesterday'; then 'is calling' leaves only (A).

Answer: (A) "I need to leave early today because I have been working continuously since yesterday, and my wife is calling me," the employee said to his boss.

Concept: A group of words beginning with a verb's -ing/-ed form, without its own subject, is a participle phrase.

1. 'allowing startups to collaborate…' starts with a present participle.
2. No subject + finite verb → not a clause (rules out noun clause).
3. An absolute phrase needs its own noun + participle (e.g. 'The work done, …'); not the case here.

Trick: Phrase starts with V-ing and describes the earlier action → participle phrase.

Answer: (C) Participle phrase

Concept: A past participle (V3) phrase describing what was done to the subject is passive.

1. 'established' (V3) describes ISRO.
2. Full form: ISRO was established to foster space technology.
3. ISRO receives the action → passive.

Trick: Add 'was/were' before the V3 — if it makes sense, the phrase is passive.

Answer: (B) Passive voice

Concept: Frugal = using money/resources carefully, avoiding waste.

1. Passage links 'frugal engineering' with 'cost-effective' missions.
2. So frugal = economical and thrifty.
3. 'Extravagant and wasteful' is the exact opposite.

Trick: Look for a clue word nearby — 'cost-effective' points straight to economical.

Answer: (B) Economical and thrifty

Concept: Ingenuity = cleverness in inventing or solving problems.

1. Passage: startups hone their 'technical ingenuity' with scientists → inventive skill.
2. Endurance, honesty and engine are unrelated meanings.

Yaad rakhein: Ingenious = clever/inventive; ingenuous = innocent, simple — don't mix them up.

Answer: (A) Cleverness and inventiveness

Concept: Fact-based RC: find the line that answers the question directly.

1. Paragraph 3: 'Private sector participation has further accelerated technological innovation'.
2. Aryabhata and ancient texts are historical points; reduced funding is never mentioned.

Trick: Search the passage for the question's key words 'further accelerated' — the answer sits right before them.

Answer: (B) Private sector participation

Concept: Descent = a downward slope/going down; Dissent = disagreement.

1. Blank 1: 'steep ___ down the mountain path' → descent.
2. Blank 2: 'not a single word of ___' → objection → dissent.
3. Order: descent, dissent.

Trick: descent goes down (like descend); dissent = disagree.

Answer: (B) descent, dissent