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

Concept: The terms grow by multiplication and then fall a little – alternate × and − operations.

1. $131\times 9=1179$; $1179-8=1171$.
2. $1171\times 7=8197$.
3. Check: $8197-6=8191$ ✓.

Trick: A sudden ×9 jump followed by a small drop signals the pattern ×9, −8, ×7, −6.

Answer: (B) 8197

Concept: A vertical mirror PQ on the right swaps the left and right columns and laterally inverts each digit; the row order (top to bottom) does not change.

1. Original: left column 3, 9, 8 and right column 8, 6, 3 (top to bottom).
2. In the mirror the right column (8, 6, 3) comes to the left and the left column (3, 9, 8) goes to the right.
3. Every digit is flipped left-right (3 looks like ε, 9 and 6 face the other way). Option (D) shows this.

Trick: Rows stay in the same order; only columns swap and digits are flipped – reject options where digits are upside down.

Answer: (D)

Concept: Plot each move on a grid; a right turn while facing south means facing west, and so on.

1. From A: 2 km south; right turn → west 2 km; right turn → north 2 km (now 2 km west of A).
2. Right turn → east 4 km: she is now 2 km east of A at point B.
3. To return to A she must drive 2 km towards the west.

Trick: Net east–west: $-2+4=2$ km east; net north–south: $-2+2=0$. So B is 2 km east of A.

Answer: (B) 2 km towards west

Concept: Count the lines drawn from the centre of the inner square and see where the group starts in each figure.

1. Figures 1–5 have 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 lines from the centre – one more each time, so figure 6 has 7 lines.
2. The lines form one continuous clockwise fan; its starting line turns 90° anticlockwise each step: up → left → down → right → up → left.
3. Figure 6: start at left and go clockwise for 7 lines: left, top-left, up, top-right, right, bottom-right, down – only the bottom-left line is missing. That is option (C).

Trick: Two changes together: the number of lines grows by 1 and the start rotates 90° anticlockwise.

Answer: (C)

Concept: ‘Worried’ and ‘Anxious’ are synonyms, so we need a synonym of ‘At ease’.

1. At ease = relaxed, free from worry.
2. Calm = peaceful, not worried – a synonym.
3. Distraught, Bothered and Perturbed all mean troubled or worried – opposites of ‘at ease’.

Trick: Three options share one meaning (worried) – the odd one is usually the answer in synonym analogies.

Answer: (B) Calm

Concept: Physiology is the study of the functions of the (human) body: ‘science : what it studies’.

1. Petrology is the study of rocks ✓.
2. Ornithology is the study of birds (not insects); Entomology is the study of insects (not birds).
3. Anthropology is the study of humans; dinosaurs are studied in Palaeontology.

Yaad rakhein: Ornithology – birds, Entomology – insects, Petrology – rocks, Anthropology – mankind.

Answer: (D) Petrology : Rocks

Concept: Replace the letters by signs and solve using BODMAS.

1. 16 D 2 B 9 C 15 A 32 → $16÷2\times 9-15+32$.
2. $16÷2=8$, $8\times 9=72$.
3. $72-15+32=89$.

Trick: Do ÷ and × from left to right before + and −.

Answer: (A) 89

Concept: The given wavy curve must appear in an option in the same size and orientation (no rotation).

1. The figure is a wavy line: it dips down from the left, rises in a hump and then falls to the bottom-right.
2. Look at the curved parts of each pentagon figure – the hooked curve near the top and the arc around the circle.
3. In option (B) the curve joining the hook to the circle forms exactly this wave with the same direction; in the other options the curve is broken by other lines or bends differently.

Trick: For curves, match the direction of each bend (down–up–down) rather than the size.

Answer: (B)

Concept: The house faces south, so he first walks south. Track the net east–west and north–south distances and use Pythagoras.

1. 30 m south; right turn (facing south) → west 6 m; right turn → north 24 m; left turn → west 2 m.
2. Net south $=30-24=6$ m; net west $=6+2=8$ m.
3. Shortest distance $=\sqrt{8^2+6^2}=\sqrt{100}=10$ m.

Trick: 6–8–10 is the 3–4–5 triplet doubled.

Answer: (D) 10 m

Concept: Decode each symbol step by step and draw the family tree.

1. W & Q → W is the husband of Q; Q @ T → Q is the sister of T.
2. T # Y → T is the mother of Y; Y @ M → Y is the sister of M, so M is also T's child.
3. M % K → M is the wife of K, so M is T's daughter and K is T's daughter's husband (son-in-law).

Trick: ‘Wife’ tells you M is female – so M is T's daughter, not son.

Answer: (C) Daughter’s husband

Concept: A face is opposite to the one number that never appears next to it in any position.

1. Figure 1: 4 is next to 1 and 2.
2. Figure 2: 4 is next to 3 and 5.
3. So 4 touches 1, 2, 3 and 5; the only remaining number, 6, must be opposite 4.

Trick: List all neighbours of the asked number; the number missing from the list is its opposite.

Answer: (D) 6

Concept: Interchange the two signs given in each option and evaluate with BODMAS.

1. Interchanging × and ÷: $192÷16+9-8\times 2$.
2. $192÷16=12$, $8\times 2=16$.
3. $12+9-16=5$ ✓.

Trick: 192 is divisible by 16 – a strong hint that × should become ÷.

Answer: (A) × and ÷

Concept: A word common to two sentences has the code common to their codes.

1. ‘sign’ is in sentences 1 and 2; common code ‘rit’ → sign = rit.
2. ‘the’ and ‘post’ are in sentences 2 and 3; common codes ‘pri’ and ‘dan’ → the/post = pri/dan.
3. Sentence 2 = the, sign, post, fell = pri, dan, rit, nei; the only code left for ‘fell’ is ‘nei’.

Trick: Remove the codes of the known common words; the leftover code belongs to the asked word.

Answer: (B) nei

Concept: Look at the differences between consecutive terms.

1. $15-10=5$, $19-15=4$, $22-19=3$ → differences decrease by 1.
2. Next difference 2: $22+2=24$.
3. Check: $24+1=25$ ✓.

Trick: +5, +4, +3, +2, +1 – a simple falling-difference series.

Answer: (A) 24

Concept: When two positions share a common face in the same place (6 in front), see how the dice was turned and where the hidden face went.

1. Position 1: front 6, top 2, right 3. Position 2: front 6, top 3, right 5.
2. Keeping 6 in front, 3 moved from the right to the top; in this turn the face that was at the bottom comes to the right.
3. So 5 was the bottom face in position 1, i.e. opposite the top face 2.

Trick: Same front face in both positions → the dice has only been turned about the front–back axis; follow one face.

Answer: (C) 2

Concept: The given figure (a stepped line with a small loop at each end) must appear in an option in the same size and orientation.

1. The figure: a horizontal top line ending in a loop on the right, a step down on the left, a vertical line and a bottom horizontal line ending in a loop on the right.
2. Search each option for two loops on the right side joined by such a stepped path.
3. In option (C) the two right-side loops and the step-shaped lines between them match the given figure exactly; the others have loops facing other ways or the step on the wrong side.

Trick: Check where the loops point and on which side the step is – these two details remove the wrong options fastest.

Answer: (C)

Concept: With the mirror MN on the right, the order of characters reverses and each one is laterally inverted; nothing turns upside down.

1. Original order: h r y 7 3 G → in the mirror: G 3 7 y r h (read left to right).
2. Each character is flipped: G and 3 face left, 7 faces the other way, h, r, y are reversed.
3. Option (B) shows exactly this; (A) has some characters upside down, (C) keeps ‘3’ unflipped, (D) keeps the original order.

Trick: Check the last character of the original (G): it must come first and appear reversed.

Answer: (B)

Concept: Track the corner of each element and the direction of its black part separately.

1. The diamond moves clockwise: top-left → top-right → bottom-right → next bottom-left; its black tip turns 90° clockwise: top → right → bottom → next left.
2. The hexagon moves bottom-right → bottom-left → top-left → next top-right; the half-black circle on it moves top → left → bottom → next right.
3. Figure 4: hexagon top-right with the circle on its right side; diamond bottom-left with the black tip on the left – option (B).

Trick: Two elements move in opposite corners; fix their positions first, then check the shading.

Answer: (B)

Concept: Substitute each option's signs in order and check both sides of ‘=’.

1. Option (B): $213+67-119+(248÷31)=169$.
2. $248÷31=8$.
3. $213+67-119+8=169$ ✓.

Trick: 248 is $31\times 8$, so ÷ inside the bracket is very likely; then test the options having ÷ there.

Answer: (B) +, −, +, ÷, =

Concept: Write the alphabet positions and compare the gaps.

1. MKHD: 13, 11, 8, 4 → gaps −2, −3, −4. XVSO: 24, 22, 19, 15 → −2, −3, −4.
2. NLIE: 14, 12, 9, 5 → −2, −3, −4.
3. JHFA: 10, 8, 6, 1 → −2, −2, −5 – different.

Trick: Check the second gap of each cluster: only JHFA has −2 instead of −3.

Answer: (A) JHFA