SSC CPO Paper II 2021, 2025 PYQs

Concept: Background first, then the order of events at the bus stand.

1. B: it was long since I had met grandmother – background.
2. C: I found her waiting at the bus stand.
3. A: she looked excited when I got off the bus; D: she hugged me with tears of joy.
4. Order: B-C-A-D.

Trick: Background → arrival → reaction → climax (hug).

Answer: (C) BCAD

Concept: Indirect → direct: 'told you' → 'said to you'; he → I; would → will; 'that evening' → 'this evening/today evening'.

1. Speaker is 'he', listener 'you': 'He said to you, "…"'.
2. 'he would discuss' → 'I will discuss'.
3. 'that evening' → time word of the present. Option C is the only one with the right speaker, pronoun and tense.
4. A reverses speaker and listener; B and D keep 'He' and/or past forms.

Trick: First fix the speaker–listener, then the pronoun, then the tense.

Answer: (C) He said to you, “I will discuss the matter today evening.”

Concept: A pseudonym (pen name) is a fictitious name used by an author, e.g. Munshi Premchand (Dhanpat Rai).

1. pseudo = false, -nym = name.
2. Homonym = word with same spelling/sound but different meaning; namesake = person with the same name; alibi = proof of being elsewhere.

Yaad rakhein: Pseudo = fake → pseudonym = fake name.

Answer: (C) pseudonym

Concept: An indirect wh-question has statement order; in direct speech it returns to question order and present tense.

1. 'how it was that he was' → "How is it that you are …?"
2. he → you (Kamal is addressed).
3. B and D keep statement order/past tense; C drops 'is it that' and changes the expression.

Trick: Indirect: how it was … ⇄ Direct: How is it …?

Answer: (A) The Principal said to Kamal, “How is it that you are always late for school?”

Concept: 'Despite' is itself a preposition and is never followed by 'of'. Use 'despite' or 'in spite of'.

1. 'despite of' is wrong.
2. Correct: 'He could not get a job despite his best efforts.'
3. Other segments are correct.

Yaad rakhein: despite = in spite of (never 'despite of').

Answer: (A) despite of

Concept: Track Velu's movements step by step and the pronoun/reference links.

1. A: train arrives; D: 'When he finally stood on the platform' his legs felt wobbly.
2. B: 'So' he sat on a bench (because of wobbly legs).
3. E: put his bundle beside him on the bench and looked around; C: he had never seen so many people.
4. F: near him, people staring at a TV. Order: A-D-B-E-C-F.

Trick: 'So' in B gives the result of D's wobbly legs.

Answer: (A) ADBECF

Concept: A passive with 'should not be + V3' giving advice/prohibition is turned into a negative imperative: Don't + V1 + object.

1. Object 'the animals in the zoo' returns to object position.
2. Active: 'Don't feed the animals in the zoo.'
3. 'Don't fed' uses V2; 'Don't be feeding' is not standard; 'Feed not' is archaic.

Yaad rakhein: Negative command = Do not/Don't + V1.

Answer: (D) Don’t feed the animals in the zoo.

Concept: The voice is the subject 'his fine voice', which cannot hear – it is heard. So the verb must be passive; 'again' suggests the future.

1. 'has never heard' is active – wrong for a non-living subject that receives the action.
2. Correct: 'His fine voice will never be heard in this hall again.'
3. 'never be heard' lacks the auxiliary; 'will never hear' is active.

Trick: Ask: does the subject do the action or receive it? Receive → passive.

Answer: (A) will never be heard

Concept: In compound nouns like daughter-in-law, the plural is formed on the main noun: daughters-in-law.

1. 'both her' needs a plural → daughters-in-law, not 'daughter-in-laws'.
2. Similarly: sons-in-law, passers-by, commanders-in-chief.
3. Other segments are correct.

Yaad rakhein: Pluralise the main word: daughters-in-law.

Answer: (C) daughter-in-laws

Concept: A negative imperative of prohibition/advice ('Do not allow …') is made passive with 'should not be + V3' (or 'Let … not be + V3').

1. Object 'strangers' becomes the subject.
2. Do not allow → should not be allowed.
3. 'Strangers should not be allowed into the society complex.'
4. C ('should not have been') refers to the past; B and D are ungrammatical.

Yaad rakhein: Don't + V1 + object → Object + should not be + V3.

Answer: (A) Strangers should not be allowed into the society complex.

Concept: ‘Disgrace’ means loss of respect or honour; shame.

1. Dishonour = loss of honour/respect – exact synonym.
2. Dispute = argument; discord = disagreement.
3. Disgust = strong dislike – a feeling, not shame.

Trick: dis + grace (honour) ≈ dis + honour.

Answer: (B) dishonour

Concept: The idiom ‘beat a retreat’ means to withdraw or run away quickly from danger.

1. Miscreants saw the police → they fled.
2. ‘Attacked fiercely’, ‘marched ahead’ are the opposite idea.
3. ‘Protested strongly’ has no link with retreat.

Trick: retreat = move back → beat a retreat = run away.

Answer: (A) ran away

Concept: After ‘It is time’ / ‘It is high time’ + subject, we use the simple past tense (unreal past) to show that the action is already late.

1. Structure: It is time + subject + V2.
2. So: It is time we did something useful.
3. ‘should have done’, ‘have done’, ‘would do’ break this rule.

Trick: It is (high) time + we/he + V2 (past form).

Answer: (D) did

Concept: The fixed idiom is ‘stare someone in the face’ = to be obvious or very near and threatening.

1. ‘Poverty was staring her in the face’ = she was close to poverty.
2. The idiom always takes ‘in the face’.
3. ‘to/on/at the face’ are not used in this idiom.

Yaad rakhein: stare / look someone in the face.

Answer: (D) in

Concept: ‘On the wane’ means decreasing or becoming weaker.

1. ‘Wane’ = to decrease (like the moon after full moon).
2. In a recession demand falls → on the decline.
3. ‘On the rise’, ‘at the peak’ are opposites; ‘out of control’ is unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: wax = grow, wane = shrink.

Answer: (A) on the decline

Concept: ‘News’ looks plural but is an uncountable singular noun, so it takes a singular verb.

1. Subject = ‘The news’ (singular).
2. ‘have shocked’ → should be ‘has shocked’.
3. Correct: The news of his involvement in illegal activities has shocked everybody.

Yaad rakhein: news, mathematics, physics, measles → singular verb.

Answer: (C) have shocked everybody

Concept: ‘Determined’ is followed by a to-infinitive: determined to + V1.

1. Correct pattern: be determined to do something.
2. So: He is determined to expand his business.
3. ‘determined in/at/for’ are wrong prepositions here.

Yaad rakhein: determined / eager / anxious + to + V1.

Answer: (A) determined to expand

Concept: Passive ‘will have been + V3’ is future perfect; its active form is ‘will have + V3’.

1. Passive: The breakfast will have been finished by nine.
2. Active subject: They; object: the breakfast.
3. Active: They will have finished the breakfast by nine.

Trick: Future perfect: will have + V3 (active) ↔ will have been + V3 (passive).

Answer: (C) They will have finished the breakfast by nine.

Concept: Infinitive ‘to + V1’ becomes ‘to be + V3’ in the passive; ‘have to’ stays as it is.

1. Object ‘it’ becomes subject: It has to …
2. to see → to be seen; to believe → to be believed.
3. Passive: It has to be seen to be believed.

Trick: to + V1 → to be + V3.

Answer: (A) It has to be seen to be believed.

Concept: ‘Come to light’ means to become known or be revealed.

1. The embezzlement (fraud) became known → it has been revealed.
2. ‘Been concealed’ is the opposite.
3. ‘Rewarded’, ‘punished’ do not mean becoming known.

Yaad rakhein: come to light = come out in the open.

Answer: (C) been revealed