SSC CPO Paper I 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 PYQs

Concept: Past continuous passive (was/were being + V3) becomes past continuous active (was/were + V-ing).

1. Passive: The movie was being released → tense = past continuous.
2. Agent is unstated, so use 'They'; 'They' takes 'were'.
3. Active: They were releasing the movie on Friday.
4. (B) and (C) are in present tense; (D) is present perfect continuous.

Yaad rakhein: was being + V3 ↔ was/were + V-ing (keep the same tense).

Answer: (A) They were releasing the movie on Friday.

Concept: Hold your horses = wait, slow down and think carefully before acting.

1. Example: Hold your horses! Read the contract before you sign it.
2. Option (D) — telling someone to stop and consider carefully — fits.
3. The other options read 'horses' literally or give an unrelated sense.

Yaad rakhein: Hold your horses = be patient, don't rush.

Answer: (D) To tell someone to stop and consider carefully

Concept: Malevolence (Latin male = badly, volens = wishing) = the wish to do evil to others; ill will, hatred.

1. Malevolence = hatred / ill will — matches.
2. Malleable = easily shaped; Magnanimous = generous, forgiving.
3. Malapropos = inappropriate, out of place.

Trick: mal- = bad: malevolence = bad will; its opposite is benevolence (good will).

Answer: (B) Malevolence

Concept: A gourmet is a connoisseur of good food and drink — a person with refined taste in eating.

1. Epicure also means a person who takes particular pleasure in fine food and drink.
2. Hence Gourmet = Epicure.
3. 'Indifferent', 'Detached' and 'Non-indulgent' suggest lack of interest — the opposite.

Yaad rakhein: Gourmet = epicure = connoisseur of food; glutton = one who simply eats too much.

Answer: (C) Epicure

Concept: Never use a double comparative: either more + adjective or adjective + -er, not both. 'Beautiful' takes 'more'.

1. 'more beautifuler' is a double comparative and 'beautifuler' is not a word.
2. 'than I expected' needs a comparative → was more beautiful.
3. 'was beautiful' (positive) and 'was most beautiful' (superlative) cannot go with 'than'; 'is being' changes the tense.

Yaad rakhein: Long adjectives (3+ syllables) → more / most; 'than' always needs the comparative.

Answer: (A) was more beautiful

Concept: Use a before a consonant sound and an before a vowel sound; also 'in the flow of capital' is the natural phrase.

1. 'an slow' is wrong; 'slow' begins with a consonant sound → 'a'.
2. 'a sluggish change in the flow of capital' keeps the meaning 'slow' (sluggish = slow) with correct article and phrase.
3. 'an deliberate', 'an sudden' have wrong articles; 'abrupt' changes the meaning from slow to sudden.

Yaad rakhein: a + consonant sound, an + vowel sound; keep the original meaning while correcting.

Answer: (B) a sluggish change in the flow of capital

Concept: Instead of + noun/gerund means 'in place of'; 'instead' alone cannot take an object.

1. 'work instead waste time' lacks 'of' → instead of wasting time.
2. 'despite' and 'in spite of' mean 'although' — they give the wrong sense (work although wasting time).
3. So improvement is required, and (D) is correct.

Yaad rakhein: instead of + V-ing = in place of doing; in spite of = despite = even though.

Answer: (D) instead of wasting time

Concept: Detachment = being emotionally uninvolved; objectivity, aloofness.

1. The opposite of detached, objective judgement is personal involvement — subjectivity.
2. 'Neutrality' is a synonym of detachment.
3. 'Justice' and 'Humour' are unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: Detachment / objectivity ↔ involvement / subjectivity.

Answer: (D) Subjectivity

Concept: Wet blanket = a person who spoils other people's fun or enthusiasm.

1. A wet blanket thrown on a fire puts it out — similarly such a person 'puts out' others' joy.
2. Example: Don't be a wet blanket; come to the party.
3. Other options (stupid, ill, untrustworthy) do not match.

Trick: Wet blanket on a fire → fire dies → fun dies; also called a killjoy or party pooper.

Answer: (B) One who spoils other people’s fun

Concept: A is used before consonant sounds and an before vowel sounds.

1. 'catchment' (k-sound), 'river' (r-sound) and 'lake' (l-sound) all begin with consonant sounds → a.
2. So: a catchment area … a river, reservoir or a lake — option (B).
3. (A), (C) and (D) wrongly use 'an' before at least one consonant sound.

Yaad rakhein: Go by the first sound, not the letter: a university, an hour.

Answer: (B) Sentence (B) — 'above a catchment area such as a river, reservoir or a lake'

Concept: Carrot and stick approach = persuading someone by offering a reward (carrot) and threatening a punishment (stick).

1. The idea comes from moving a donkey: a carrot in front as a reward, a stick behind as a punishment.
2. A parent using it with children combines rewards and punishments — option (A).
3. (B) describes 'barking up the wrong tree'; (C) 'like two peas in a pod'.

Yaad rakhein: Carrot = reward, stick = punishment.

Answer: (A) Mixture of rewards and punishments

Concept: Daunted = made to feel nervous, discouraged or intimidated.

1. The word 'but' shows contrast: she was brave, but felt frightened by the task.
2. So 'daunted' = intimidated.
3. 'Bold' and 'encouraged' are opposites; 'appreciated' is unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: Daunting task = frightening task; undaunted = fearless.

Answer: (B) intimidated

Concept: Stamped in memory = fixed firmly and permanently in the mind.

1. The accident scene remains printed in Ratan's memory → imprinted.
2. 'Approved' is the literal sense of a rubber stamp, not the sense here.
3. 'Scary' describes the scene, not 'stamped'; 'shunned' means avoided.

Yaad rakhein: stamped / etched / imprinted in memory = unforgettable.

Answer: (D) imprinted

Concept: The protagonist (Greek protos = first) is the main character of a story, play or film.

1. Protagonist = main character — matches.
2. Antagonist = the character who opposes the protagonist (villain).
3. 'Leader' and 'Player' are general words, not literary terms.

Trick: PROtagonist = PRimary; ANTagonist = ANTi (against).

Answer: (B) Protagonist

Concept: Integrate = to combine or join parts into a whole.

1. The opposite is to divide or keep apart → separate.
2. 'Influence', 'Accept' and 'Excite' are not opposites of joining.
3. Example: Integrate the two systems ↔ separate the two systems.

Yaad rakhein: Integrate ↔ separate / segregate / disintegrate.

Answer: (D) Separate

Concept: Personal = private, relating to one person; personnel = the staff or employees of an organisation.

1. Jeremy's private problems → personal problems.
2. 'personnel problems' would mean staff problems — wrong sense.
3. 'personnel problem' and 'person problem' are also wrong; 'his … problems' stays plural.

Yaad rakhein: personAL = one person; personNEL = the staff (HR = personnel department).

Answer: (C) personal problems

Concept: Careless takes the preposition about or of, not for.

1. Correct: He has always been quite careless about (or of) his own safety.
2. So the error is in 'quite careless for'.
3. 'He has always been' (present perfect) and 'his own safety' are correct.

Yaad rakhein: careless about / of; careful of / about; anxious for (desire) — learn adjective + preposition pairs.

Answer: (A) quite careless for

Concept: Cornucopia (the 'horn of plenty') = an abundant supply of good things.

1. A treasure trove is a valuable collection or rich source — closest in meaning.
2. 'Sink hole' = a hole in the ground; 'Malaise' = unease; 'Avarice' = greed.
3. None of these mean abundance.

Yaad rakhein: Cornucopia = horn of plenty = abundance.

Answer: (B) Treasure trove

Concept: Anonymous (Greek an = without, onoma = name) = written or done by someone whose name is unknown.

1. A letter or poem with an unknown author is anonymous.
2. Autonomous = self-governing; Anomalous = abnormal, irregular.
3. Autocrat = a ruler with absolute power.

Trick: an + onym (name) = without a name; compare synonym, antonym, pseudonym.

Answer: (C) Anonymous

Concept: Obliterate = to destroy completely, wipe out.

1. Abolish = to put an end to completely — closest in meaning.
2. 'Patched', 'Healed' and 'Mended' mean repairing — the opposite idea.
3. Example: The flood obliterated the village.

Yaad rakhein: Obliterate = wipe out = annihilate = erase.

Answer: (D) Abolish