SSC CPO Paper II 2021, 2025 PYQs

Concept: 'Prefer' is followed by 'to', not 'than': prefer A to B.

1. Underlined: 'prefer coffee than tea'.
2. Correct: 'I prefer coffee to tea in the morning.'
3. (B) 'than to' and (D) 'preferred … than' are both wrong.

Yaad rakhein: Prefer / superior / inferior / senior / junior + to.

Answer: (C) prefer coffee to tea

Concept: Present perfect passive 'has/have been + V3' becomes 'has/have + V3' in the active voice.

1. 'has been made by a committee' → present perfect.
2. Agent 'a committee' becomes subject: 'A committee has made …'.
3. (B) present continuous, (C) future, (D) present perfect continuous – tense changed.

Trick: has been + V3 ↔ has + V3.

Answer: (A) A committee has made the selection of these books for the library.

Concept: Future perfect passive 'will have been + V3' becomes 'will have + V3' in the active voice (an agent like 'the labourers' is supplied).

1. 'will have been completed' → future perfect.
2. Active: 'The labourers will have completed the work …'.
3. (A) present perfect, (B) simple future, (D) future continuous – tense changed.

Trick: will have been + V3 ↔ will have + V3.

Answer: (C) The labourers will have completed the work of laying the optical fibre by the time you reach back home tonight.

Concept: Indirect to direct: 'said that she was going to' → said, "I am going to …"; pronoun becomes first person and past becomes present.

1. 'she' (Kavya herself) → 'I'.
2. 'was going to have' → 'am going to have'.
3. (A) changes 'going to' into 'having'; (B) and (C) keep 'she'.

Trick: Reverse the backshift: was → am/is, she → I.

Answer: (D) Kavya said, “I am going to have a nap in the afternoon.”

Concept: The correct spelling is 'Illustrious' (famous and admired), with 'u' after 'll'.

1. 'Illestrious' ✗ → 'Illustrious' ✓.
2. Illusion, Illiterate and Illegible are spelt correctly.

Trick: Ill-u-strious – like 'illustrate'.

Answer: (A) Illestrious

Concept: 'Swim with sharks' means to be among or deal with dangerous, ruthless or untrustworthy people.

1. Sharks = dangerous people; swimming with them = operating among them.
2. Example: In this cut-throat business, you swim with sharks every day.
3. (A) is literal; (B) and (D) have no link with danger.

Trick: Sharks = dangerous, ruthless people.

Answer: (C) To operate among dangerous people

Concept: Follow the meeting step by step: first impression → introduction → his reaction → his question, which leads to F.

1. A: I met the Swami → E: I was struck by his smile (first impression).
2. C: I introduced myself → D: my Muslim name aroused no reaction.
3. B: before I could speak further, he asked about my sorrow → F: he did not explain how he knew I was sad.

Trick: 'my sorrow' in B links directly to 'I was sad' in F.

Answer: (D) ECDB

Concept: Simple past passive 'was/were + V3' becomes simple past 'V2' in the active voice; a doer (the teacher) is supplied.

1. 'were scolded' → simple past.
2. Active: 'The teacher scolded the students …'.
3. (A) past continuous, (B) present perfect continuous, (D) present perfect – tense changed.

Trick: was/were + V3 ↔ V2.

Answer: (C) The teacher scolded the students for not completing the homework.

Concept: With a past reporting verb ('said'), simple present changes to simple past and 'I' changes to the subject's pronoun.

1. 'I love' → 'she loved'.
2. Reporting verb 'said' stays; 'that' is added.
3. (A) keeps 'I love'; (B) keeps 'loves' (no backshift); (C) changes 'said' to 'says'.

Trick: said + present → past (love → loved).

Answer: (D) She said that she loved the smell of fresh flowers in the morning.

Concept: Simple past active (V2) becomes 'was/were + V3' in the passive voice.

1. 'brought' (simple past) → 'was brought'.
2. Object 'the collection of land revenue' becomes subject; 'by the state' at the end.
3. (B) past continuous, (C) 'was to be' (future in past), (D) past perfect – tense changed.

Trick: V2 ↔ was/were + V3.

Answer: (A) Under Alauddin Khalji, the collection of land revenue was brought under its own control by the state.

Concept: Indirect to direct: 'told me' → said to me; 'she had loved' → 'I loved'; 'with me' → 'with you'; 'the previous evening' → 'last evening'.

1. Speaker 'she' → 'I'; listener 'me' → 'you'.
2. Past perfect 'had loved' → simple past 'loved' (outing was earlier).
3. 'the previous evening' → 'last evening'.
4. (A) keeps 'with me'; (B) and (D) keep 'she'.

Trick: Reverse: previous evening → last evening; had V3 → V2.

Answer: (C) She said to me, “I loved the outing with you last evening.”

Concept: Simple past in direct speech becomes past perfect in indirect speech; 'last summer' becomes 'the previous summer'.

1. 'I visited' → 'he had visited'.
2. 'last summer' → 'the previous summer'.
3. (B) keeps 'I'; (C) and (D) use continuous forms that change the meaning.

Trick: V2 → had + V3; last → previous.

Answer: (A) He said that he had visited Paris the previous summer.

Concept: Simple present question 'Does + S + V1 + O?' becomes 'Is/Are + O + V3 + by + S?'.

1. 'Does the teacher explain' → simple present.
2. Object 'the lesson' (singular) → 'Is the lesson explained'.
3. (B) present perfect, (C) is still active, (D) present continuous.

Trick: Do/Does + V1 ↔ Is/Are + V3.

Answer: (A) Is the lesson explained by the teacher every day?

Concept: The correct prepositional phrase is 'in panic' / 'in a panic', not 'at panic'.

1. 'the whole village was at panic' ✗.
2. Correct: '… the whole village was in panic.'
3. 'in' is used for states/conditions: in panic, in trouble, in danger.

Trick: State of mind → in: in panic, in love, in fear.

Answer: (C) was at panic

Concept: Negative simple present 'does not + V1' becomes 'is/are not + V3' in the passive voice.

1. 'does not answer' → 'is not answered'.
2. Object 'the phone' becomes subject; 'by the secretary'.
3. (B) 'is not been' is ungrammatical; (C) future; (D) present perfect.

Trick: does not + V1 ↔ is not + V3.

Answer: (A) The phone is not answered by the secretary after office hours.

Concept: In a first conditional, the 'if' clause is in the simple present and the main clause is in the simple future.

1. 'if you fulfil all the conditions' – simple present, a future possibility.
2. Main clause: 'will be accepted' (future passive).
3. Underlined 'has been accepted' wrongly says it has already happened; (C) and (D) are past.

Trick: If + present, will + V1 (or will be + V3).

Answer: (A) will be accepted

Concept: Indirect to direct: 'his family had gone' → 'My family went'; 'his village' → 'my village'; 'the previous week' → 'last week'.

1. Pronouns: his → my (the guard is speaking).
2. 'had gone' → 'went' (reverse backshift).
3. 'the previous week' → 'last week'.
4. (A) keeps 'had gone' and 'previous'; (B) keeps 'his'; (D) changes the tense to continuous.

Trick: previous week → last week; had V3 → V2.

Answer: (C) The guard said, “My family went to my village last week.”

Concept: The correlative pattern 'so + adjective/adverb + that' shows a result.

1. 'so intricately designed … that even the most seasoned cryptographers found themselves perplexed'.
2. 'so' in the sentence demands 'that'.
3. 'as', 'since' and 'when' do not complete the so … that structure.

Trick: so … that / such … that → result.

Answer: (C) that

Concept: The correct spelling is 'Martyr' (one who dies for a cause); there is no final 'e'.

1. 'Martyre' ✗ → 'Martyr' ✓.
2. Mariner (sailor), Martial (related to war) and Marriage are correct.

Trick: Martyr ends in -yr, like 'satyr'.

Answer: (B) Martyre

Concept: Indirect to direct: 'said that she was going' → said, "I am going …"; with no listener, use 'said', not 'told'.

1. 'she' (the speaker herself) → 'I'.
2. 'was going' → 'am going'.
3. (A) and (B) keep 'she'; (C) uses 'told' without an object, which is wrong.

Trick: 'told' always needs an object (told me/him); otherwise use 'said'.

Answer: (D) She said, “I am going to the store to buy some groceries.”