SSC CHSL 2025 PYQs

Concept: Past perfect 'had + V3' → passive 'had been + V3'; 'What' stays first.

1. 'What' is the object and keeps its place at the start.
2. 'had organized' → had been organized.
3. Doer: 'by the authorities'.

Trick: Only the auxiliary 'had' must survive in the answer: (A) 'was', (C) 'has', (D) 'organizing' – wrong.

Answer: (B) What had been organized by the authorities to manage the traffic flow before the festival began?

Concept: Reverse the backshift: past perfect (after 'said') → present perfect; he → I; that → this.

1. 'had warned' goes back to have warned.
2. 'he' (the coach) becomes 'I'; 'that lazy player' becomes 'this lazy player'.
3. Inside the quotes: I have warned this lazy player…

Trick: Undo three changes together – tense, pronoun, that→this; only (C) has all three.

Answer: (C) The strict coach said, "I have warned this lazy player many times in the past.'

Concept: Undo every backshift and restore the speaker's pronouns.

1. their → Your; they → you; he → I.
2. had been → has been; had to now → must now; was → is; would → will.
3. Only (C) has 'has been' + 'must' + 'is' + 'will' together.

Trick: (A) wrongly keeps 'was', (B) uses 'have to', (D) keeps indirect pronouns – eliminate in seconds.

Answer: (C) "Your dedication has been remarkable, but you must now train for the finals which is a tough battle, and I am sure that you will win it," the coach said to the players.

Concept: Arrange steps of a process in the order they actually happen.

1. P – measure and sift dry ingredients (first step).
2. Q – whisk in eggs and butter; R – pour into tin and bake.
3. S – cake ready to serve (end).

Trick: 'finally' in S marks the last sentence; only (C) ends with S and starts with P.

Answer: (C) P, Q, R, S

Concept: Opening sentence must stand alone; pronouns like 'This', 'It' come later.

1. Q introduces the situation (artificial light at night in cities) – opener.
2. R: 'This environmental issue' names it 'light pollution'.
3. P: 'The problem' shows its effects; S: 'It suggests…' gives the conclusion.

Trick: Q is the only sentence with no 'this/it/the problem' – so start with Q → only (D).

Answer: (D) Q, R, P, S

Concept: A collective noun acting as one unit takes a singular verb and a singular pronoun throughout the sentence.

1. Verb used is 'was' and later the team is called 'it' → the team is treated as ONE unit.
2. So 'their strategy' clashes; use 'its strategy'.
3. Corrected part B: was confident about its strategy.

Trick: Check the verb and the later pronoun first – whichever number they show (singular here), every pronoun for that noun must follow it.

Answer: (B) was confident about their strategy

Concept: Choose the phrase whose meaning matches the idea of fair, rule-based hiring signalled by 'strictly'.

1. On merit = on the basis of ability and performance only – fits fair hiring.
2. Under the table = secretly/illegally; in the red = in debt/loss; on the rocks = in trouble, about to fail.

Trick: 'Strictly' + 'hiring decisions' points to a positive, fair basis – drop every option with a negative or money-loss sense.

Answer: (B) on merit

Concept: Peak = the highest point or summit.

1. Top = highest point → same meaning.
2. Nadir, abyss and low point all denote the lowest position – they are opposites.

Trick: Three options mean 'lowest' – the odd one meaning 'highest' is the synonym.

Answer: (C) Top

Concept: An unexpected (abrupt) action surprises people → 'catch someone off guard'.

1. Off guard = unprepared, taken by surprise – matches 'abrupt decision'.
2. Red-handed = while committing a wrong act; storm in a teacup = fuss over a trivial issue; 'haywire' (misspelt here) = out of control.

Trick: Pair the idiom with the verb: 'caught … off guard' and 'caught red-handed' both exist, but only surprise suits a resignation.

Answer: (A) off guard

Concept: Answer every passage question by locating the matching line; reject options the passage never mentions.

1. The opening sentence calls environmental awareness an essential part of today's education.
2. Exams, technology and career training do not appear anywhere in the text.

Trick: For 'main focus/main idea' questions, the first sentence of a short passage usually gives the answer.

Answer: (B) Environmental awareness

Concept: Answer every passage question by locating the matching line; reject options the passage never mentions.

1. The third sentence links lessons on recycling and conserving resources to eco-friendly daily habits.
2. Tests, purely theoretical teaching and fewer activities contradict the passage.

Trick: Keyword hunt: search 'eco-friendly' in the passage – the words around it give the option.

Answer: (C) By emphasising recycling and conservation

Concept: Answer every passage question by locating the matching line; reject options the passage never mentions.

1. Project-based learning (tree plantation, waste management) is the method that lets students use theory in practice.
2. Online tests, lectures and memorising are not mentioned.

Trick: 'Real-life situations' appears only once in the passage – read that one sentence.

Answer: (B) Project-based learning

Concept: Answer every passage question by locating the matching line; reject options the passage never mentions.

1. Teachers weave environmental topics into all subjects so students see how human actions affect ecology.
2. The other three options are negative ideas absent from the text.

Trick: When the passage praises a group, options with negative actions (avoid, limit) are almost always wrong.

Answer: (C) They integrate environmental topics across subjects

Concept: Answer every passage question by locating the matching line; reject options the passage never mentions.

1. The last sentence, starting with 'Although', names the hurdles: shortage of resources and of awareness.
2. Student interest, syllabus load and government support are never discussed.

Trick: Words like 'although/however/challenges' signal where problems are listed – go straight there.

Answer: (C) Limited resources and awareness

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

1. In the given sentence, bank = a financial institution.
2. Options A, B and D use the same money-related sense.
3. In C, 'grassy bank' = the land along a river's edge – a different meaning.

Trick: Find the sentence where 'bank' cannot be replaced by 'financial institution' – that is the homonym.

Answer: (C) The fisherman stood quietly on the grassy bank.

Concept: Words of the '-ary' family keep the 'a' before -ry.

1. Correct spelling: Voluntary (vo-lun-ta-ry).
2. Documentary, Sanitary and Optional are already correct.

Trick: Say it in syllables: 'vol-un-TA-ry' – four parts, so the 'a' must be written.

Answer: (D) Voluntry

Concept: Vacuum is spelt with one 'c' and a double 'u', without a final 'e'.

1. Wrong: Vaccume → Right: Vacuum (empty space).
2. Legume, Broken and Sustained are correct.

Trick: Remember 'va-CU-UM': the double letter is 'u', not 'c'.

Answer: (C) Vaccume

Concept: 'Icing on the cake' = an extra pleasant thing added to something already good.

1. Already good: the perfect job. Extra bonus: the short commute.
2. B makes it negative, C calls it useless, D takes the words literally.

Trick: Idiom options that read the words literally (a sweet dish) are traps – idioms carry figurative meanings.

Answer: (A) Something that makes a good situation even better

Concept: cine (cinema) + phile (lover) = a film lover.

1. Cinephile = a person passionately interested in cinema.
2. Flask = bottle; Seer = prophet; Contrast = difference – none describes a film lover.

Trick: '-phile' always = lover: bibliophile (books), Anglophile (England), cinephile (films).

Answer: (B) Cinephile

Concept: Hazardous = dangerous, harmful; the antonym must mean helpful/good.

1. Beneficial = giving advantage or good results → opposite.
2. Lethal, deadly, noxious all mean harmful – synonyms.

Trick: Three options share one meaning (harmful) – the single positive word is the antonym.

Answer: (A) Beneficial