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

Concept: ‘To be carried off one’s feet’ means to be overwhelmed with excitement or enthusiasm.

1. Winning the prize filled him with great excitement.
2. So ‘was wild with excitement’ is the meaning.
3. ‘Was dizzy’, ‘Became delirious’ and ‘Danced on his toes’ are literal or wrong senses.

Yaad rakhein: Carried/swept off one’s feet = overwhelmed with joy/excitement.

Answer: (A) Was wild with excitement

Concept: ‘Shake off’ means to get rid of an illness, habit or something unwanted.

1. Harish finally got rid of his migraine after seven years.
2. ‘shake off’ fits: he shook off his migraine.
3. ‘shake up’ = disturb/reorganise; ‘shake down’ = extort or settle; ‘shake out’ = shake to remove dust/unfold.

Yaad rakhein: Shake off a cold / a habit / a migraine = get rid of it.

Answer: (D) shake off

Concept: ‘To a T’ means exactly, perfectly, to the smallest detail.

1. ‘The new routine will suit you to a T’ = it will suit you exactly/perfectly.
2. ‘nicely’ is weaker; ‘a little bit’ and ‘very poorly’ contradict the idiom.
3. So the meaning is ‘exactly’.

Yaad rakhein: To a T = to a tee = perfectly, exactly.

Answer: (C) exactly

Concept: ‘Spill the beans’ means to reveal a secret.

1. To spill the beans is to disclose information that was supposed to be kept hidden.
2. ‘Give away a secret’ is the exact meaning.
3. ‘Sound familiar’, ‘Fail to make an impact’, ‘To be very expensive’ are meanings of other idioms.

Yaad rakhein: Spill the beans = give away / let out a secret.

Answer: (D) Give away a secret

Concept: ‘The crux of the matter’ means the most important or central point of an issue.

1. ‘Critical point of the issue’ = the central, deciding point.
2. ‘The crux of the matter’ conveys exactly this.
3. ‘Chip off the old block’ = a child like the parent; ‘A black sheep’ = disgrace of a family; ‘Don’t cry over spilt milk’ = don’t regret the past.

Yaad rakhein: Crux = core/heart of the matter.

Answer: (C) The crux of the matter

Concept: ‘Except’ means ‘leaving out / not including’; ‘instead of’ means ‘in place of’.

1. The speaker likes all games but leaves out cricket.
2. So ‘except’ is required: I like all games except cricket.
3. ‘instead of’ (in place of) gives no sense; ‘rather’ needs ‘than’; ‘exclude’ and ‘object’ are verbs.

Yaad rakhein: all … except … = everything but one.

Answer: (D) except

Concept: ‘Tricky’ means requiring care, skill or caution because it is difficult or delicate.

1. A tricky task needs exceptional skill or caution in handling.
2. ‘Blunt’ = not sharp/outspoken; ‘Sustainable’ = able to continue; ‘Abstract’ = existing only in ideas.
3. So the substitute is ‘Tricky’.

Yaad rakhein: Tricky = needs careful handling (a tricky situation).

Answer: (B) Tricky

Concept: Second conditional: If + past simple, subject + would/could + V1.

1. ‘if he studied harder’ is past simple, so the main clause is ‘could + V1’.
2. ‘could be pass’ is wrong – ‘pass’ is a verb here and needs no ‘be’.
3. Correct: He could pass his exams if he studied harder. Error is in part 2.

Yaad rakhein: Modal + V1 directly (could pass), never modal + be + V1.

Answer: (A) 2

Concept: The correct spelling is ‘separate’ (s-e-p-a-r-a-t-e).

1. ‘sepparate’ wrongly doubles the ‘p’.
2. The word has one ‘p’ and ‘a’ in the middle: sep-a-rate.
3. ‘saperate’, ‘seprate’, ‘saparate’ are all incorrect.

Yaad rakhein: There is ‘a rat’ in sep-a-rat-e.

Answer: (B) separate

Concept: Check each sentence word by word for a misspelt word.

1. The sentence about ‘intelligence and intellect’ has ‘rudimentery’ – wrong.
2. Correct spelling: ‘rudimentary’ (= basic, elementary), ending ‘-ary’.
3. All words in the other three sentences are spelt correctly.

Yaad rakhein: Adjectives like rudimentary, elementary, momentary end in ‘-ary’.

Answer: (D) One has to understand the rudimentery fact that intelligence and intellect are at two opposite poles.

Concept: The blank needs an adverb of time showing the sequence of events.

1. Kala Bhavan was founded in 1919 and became part of Visva-Bharati founded in 1921.
2. So it joined the university afterwards – ‘later’.
3. ‘better’, ‘faster’, ‘slower’ describe manner or comparison, not time order.

Yaad rakhein: Dates in the sentence (1919 → 1921) signal a time word.

Answer: (B) later

Concept: ‘Idyllic’ means extremely peaceful, picturesque and charming (usually rural).

1. The village is described with bare red earth, trees, seasons, animals and birds – a pleasant natural setting.
2. ‘an idyllic village’ fits, and ‘an’ also needs a vowel-sound word.
3. ‘normal’, ‘magical’, ‘reliable’ begin with consonant sounds and do not fit ‘an’ or the sense.

Yaad rakhein: The article ‘an’ before the blank is a clue – only ‘idyllic’ begins with a vowel.

Answer: (D) idyllic

Concept: ‘In favour of’ shows one thing was set aside for another.

1. Kala Bhavan offered an ‘alternative methodology’.
2. Studio-based practice was given up in favour of learning through observation and nature.
3. So ‘rejected’ fits; ‘accepted’ contradicts ‘alternative … in favour of’; ‘investigated’, ‘aspired’ do not fit.

Yaad rakhein: X was rejected in favour of Y = Y chosen over X.

Answer: (B) rejected

Concept: ‘Vistas’ are pleasing, wide views of a landscape.

1. The phrase describes open stretches of bare red earth dotted with trees.
2. ‘the vistas of bare red earth’ = wide, beautiful views – positive and visual.
3. ‘murk’ (darkness) and ‘haze’ (mist) are negative/unclear; ‘band’ does not suit a landscape view.

Yaad rakhein: Vista = a broad scenic view (cf. ‘vision’).

Answer: (A) vistas

Concept: ‘Provide inspiration to’ is the natural collocation meaning ‘inspired’.

1. The subjects are the surroundings, colours, animals and birds.
2. They gave inspiration to students: ‘provided inspiration to students’.
3. ‘groomed’ needs a person object; ‘refused’ contradicts the positive tone; ‘agreed’ makes no sense.

Yaad rakhein: provide/offer inspiration to someone.

Answer: (C) provided

Concept: ‘Diversity’ means variety – many different kinds.

1. In the passage, mountains have ‘great cultural diversity’, i.e. many different cultures.
2. The opposite of variety is sameness – ‘Uniformity’.
3. ‘Block’, ‘Dilemma’, ‘Heritage’ are unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: Diversity ↔ Uniformity (variety vs sameness).

Answer: (C) Uniformity

Concept: ‘Migrate’ means to move from one place to another to live.

1. The passage says species and people must ‘adapt or migrate’ – i.e. move away.
2. The opposite of moving away is remaining in the same place – ‘Stay’.
3. ‘Run’, ‘Die’, ‘Assume’ are not opposites of moving.

Yaad rakhein: Migrate (move) ↔ Stay (remain).

Answer: (A) Stay

Concept: Tone = the writer’s attitude, judged from word choice and focus.

1. The passage keeps people at the centre: water for ‘half of humanity’, ‘cultural diversity among people’, ‘people that depend on them’.
2. It shows concern for human welfare and the human–nature relationship – a humanistic tone.
3. It is not ‘laudatory’ (praising), not ‘emotional’ (it is factual) and not ‘biased’ (it is balanced).

Yaad rakhein: Focus on people’s welfare and concern → humanistic.

Answer: (D) Humanistic

Concept: A cause–effect passage shows actions/conditions and the results they produce.

1. Cause: clearing forests on steep slopes → effect: soil erosion and loss of habitat.
2. Cause: erosion and pollution → effect: poorer water downstream; climate change → threatened water supply.
3. Cause: rising temperatures → effect: species and people must adapt or migrate. Hence cause-effect.

Yaad rakhein: Look for ‘can cause’, ‘harm’, ‘threatens’, ‘forcing’ – cause-effect signals.

Answer: (D) Cause-effect

Concept: The central idea is the topic that the whole passage discusses.

1. Paragraph 1: mountains – their land share, biodiversity, water, species and cultures.
2. Paragraph 2: threats to mountain regions – erosion, pollution, climate change.
3. Pollution and climate change are only parts; the whole passage is about the mountain ecosystem.

Yaad rakhein: Central idea = the umbrella topic, not a single detail.

Answer: (B) Mountain ecosystem