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

Concept: Refuse itself means 'not agree to accept'; adding 'to agree to it' makes the expression redundant and awkward.

1. The company offered money; he did not accept it.
2. Correct: ...but he refused it / he refused to accept it.
3. 'When he resigned', 'the company offered him', 'a huge sum of money but' are correct.

Trick: Refuse + the offered thing (refused it/the offer) – not 'refused to agree to it'.

Answer: (C) he refused to agree to it.

Concept: Both clauses describe the same present situation, so the tenses must agree.

1. 'Since his son has not yet completed...' is present perfect – the son is still under eighteen now.
2. So the father's reluctance is also present: he is reluctant, not 'he was reluctant'.
3. 'to fulfil his son's demand' and 'of getting a motorbike' are correct.

Trick: 'Not yet' + present perfect → the result clause stays in the present.

Answer: (D) he was reluctant

Concept: Freezing = extremely cold.

1. The opposite is extremely hot and humid – tropical (as in the hot tropics).
2. Summery = warm but milder; Brisk = cool and fresh; Gnawing = persistently troubling.

Trick: Freezing (polar cold) ↔ tropical (equatorial heat).

Answer: (D) tropical

Concept: A plan of times and activities is a schedule, spelt with 'sch'.

1. 'shedule' misses the 'c' → misspelt.
2. Followed, ultimately and adverse are correct.

Yaad rakhein: Schedule like school.

Answer: (D) shedule

Concept: A person who rides horses in races as a profession is a jockey.

1. Stuntman = performs dangerous acts in films.
2. Southpaw = a left-handed person (esp. a boxer).
3. Batsman = player who bats in cricket.

Trick: Horse race → jockey; horse trainer → equestrian/trainer.

Answer: (A) Jockey

Concept: 'Neither' must pair with 'nor'; here two contrasting qualities are joined, so but is needed.

1. Meaning: the sentence is awkward, yet still grammatically accurate – a contrast.
2. Correct: An awkward but grammatically accurate sentence...
3. 'either' needs 'or'; 'beyond' and 'unless' make no sense here.

Trick: Contrast between two adjectives → 'but' (awkward but accurate).

Answer: (A) awkward but grammatically

Concept: Unique, famous monuments take the definite article the.

1. There is only one Statue of Liberty, so 'a Statue of Liberty' is wrong.
2. Correct: Can we go visit the Statue of Liberty...?
3. 'the United States' already correctly has 'the'.

Trick: One-of-a-kind monuments: the Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower.

Answer: (D) visit a Statue of Liberty

Concept: Candour = the quality of being open, frank and honest.

1. A good critic must judge frankly – so candour = honesty.
2. Will = determination; Resolution = firm decision; Power = strength/authority.

Trick: Candid = frank → candour = honesty.

Answer: (C) honesty

Concept: Something that light cannot pass through, so one cannot see through it, is opaque.

1. Opaque = not transparent – exact match.
2. Transparent is the opposite; Dirty and Black describe condition/colour, not see-through quality.

Trick: Transparent (see through) ↔ translucent (partly) ↔ opaque (not at all).

Answer: (A) Opaque

Concept: Wrongdoing or minor crime, especially by young people, is delinquency.

1. Correct: d-e-l-i-n-q-u-e-n-c-y (an 'n' after 'deli').
2. 'deliquency' drops the 'n' → spelling error in segment (C).
3. Precarious, juvenile, dismissed and jury are correct.

Trick: Delinquent → delinquency (keep the 'n').

Answer: (C) deliquency against him

Concept: By leaps and bounds = very quickly, in large amounts.

1. Leaps and bounds are big jumps – progress made in big jumps is rapid.
2. Example: Her English improved by leaps and bounds.
3. Slowly is the opposite; unknowingly and normally do not fit.

Trick: Big jumps → fast growth → rapidly.

Answer: (D) Rapidly

Concept: Skating / being on thin ice is figurative: being in a risky position where one may get into trouble.

1. (C) After a controversial statement he could face criticism/punishment – figurative risk, correct use.
2. (A), (B), (D) use 'thin ice' in a literal or physical sense (frozen lake, tightrope, icy road), so the idiom is misused.

Trick: Idioms are used figuratively, not literally.

Answer: (C) He was on thin ice after making a controversial statement.

Concept: The verb agrees with the head noun of the subject, not with the noun after 'of'.

1. Subject 'the seeds (of character)' is plural → plural verb are.
2. A general truth needs simple present (passive): the seeds of character are sown.
3. 'had been sown', 'were sown' are past; 'will have been sowing' is wrong voice and tense.

Trick: Ignore the 'of-phrase': seeds … are.

Answer: (D) the seeds of character are sown

Concept: Confusing = making things unclear, misleading someone.

1. In the sentence, the stars are guiding travellers = showing them the right way.
2. Guiding (making the way clear) is the opposite of confusing.
3. Twinkled, travellers and journey have no opposite relation.

Trick: Confuse = mislead ↔ guide = lead correctly.

Answer: (A) Guiding

Concept: With 'prefer', the thing not liked is introduced by to, not 'than'.

1. Structure: prefer + noun/gerund + to + noun/gerund.
2. Correct: I prefer walking to riding.
3. 'above', 'from', 'with' are not used with prefer.

Yaad rakhein: Prefer … to; rather … than (I would rather walk than ride).

Answer: (A) walking to riding

Concept: A noun made specific by a following clause takes the.

1. 'the book they gave us' – a particular book, identified by 'they gave us'.
2. So 'a book' is wrong; correct: We were grateful for the book they gave us.
3. 'We were', 'grateful for', 'they gave us' are correct.

Trick: Noun + defining clause (that/which/they …) → 'the'.

Answer: (D) a book

Concept: Be in seventh heaven = to be extremely happy, delighted.

1. In some traditions the seventh heaven is the highest, happiest heaven.
2. Example: She was in seventh heaven after topping the exam.
3. Being ignored, improving performance or avoiding a topic are unrelated.

Trick: Seventh heaven = highest joy (also: on cloud nine).

Answer: (C) To be in a state of extreme happiness

Concept: 'than' requires the comparative degree; also, statements about a person of the past use past tense.

1. great → comparative greater (with 'than any other').
2. Shakespeare lived in the past → was greater than any other English poet.
3. 'great than' is wrong degree; 'greatest than' mixes superlative with 'than'; 'is' does not suit a historical person here.

Trick: than → comparative (-er); than any other + singular noun.

Answer: (B) was greater than

Concept: Reckon originally means to count or calculate (also 'to consider').

1. The basic dictionary sense: reckon = count/calculate (e.g. reckon the cost).
2. Merit = worth; Imagine = picture in the mind.
3. Assess is close to 'judge' but the primary synonym is count.

Trick: Reckoner (ready reckoner) = a counting/calculating table.

Answer: (C) Count

Concept: Bread and butter = a person's main source of income, the job that pays for basic needs.

1. Example: Teaching is his bread and butter.
2. So it means means of livelihood.
3. 'Comfortable living' and 'money making' go beyond the meaning; 'breakfast' is literal.

Trick: Bread and butter = roti-rozi = livelihood.

Answer: (B) Means of livelihood