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

Concept: Heart and soul = with complete energy, effort and enthusiasm.

1. E.g. "She put her heart and soul into the project."
2. Honesty (A), front to front (B) or sympathy (D) are not its meaning.

Trick: Whole heart + whole soul = total effort.

Answer: (C) With all the effort you can put

Concept: After nothing else we use but, not "than".

1. Correct: "It is nothing else but sheer foolishness that you have decided to resign."
2. "than" follows comparatives (better than) or "other" (nothing other than).

Trick: nothing else but / nothing other than.

Answer: (A) It is nothing else than

Concept: Profitable, yielding money = Lucrative.

1. A lucrative job/business brings a lot of money.
2. Ludicrous = absurd; Luddite = one opposed to new technology; Lugger = a small sailing boat.

Trick: Lucrative ~ "lucre" (money).

Answer: (B) Lucrative

Concept: A cock and bull story = an absurd, unbelievable story told as an excuse or lie.

1. The blank is followed by "and bull story" → the fixed idiom is cock and bull story.
2. Fox, wolf and rooster do not form this idiom (rooster is a synonym but idioms are fixed).

Trick: Idioms are fixed: cock-and-bull story = far-fetched tale.

Answer: (C) cock

Concept: The italicised word is Colossal = extremely large.

1. Synonym: Gigantic = huge.
2. Lilliputian, Minute and Minuscule all mean very small — antonyms.

Trick: Colossal ~ Colossus (giant statue) = gigantic.

Answer: (A) Gigantic

Concept: Apple-pie order = perfectly neat and well arranged.

1. Shilpa, busy with two toddlers and no help, can never keep her house completely arranged.
2. "Completely messy" is the opposite; smell-proof and ready for guests are not the meaning.

Trick: Apple-pie order = everything in perfect order.

Answer: (C) Completely arranged

Concept: A habitual action / general truth uses the simple present.

1. "When the weather is hot" (simple present) states a recurring condition, so the main clause is also simple present: I like to eat.
2. "will/shall/should like" are for future or polite requests; "liked" is past and clashes with "is".

Trick: when + present (habit) → main clause present.

Answer: (C) I like to eat

Concept: One who always expects the worst = Pessimist.

1. Opposite of optimist.
2. Pedant = one who shows off minor learning; Periscope = viewing instrument in submarines; Polyglot = one who knows many languages.

Trick: Pessimist sees the glass half empty.

Answer: (D) Pessimist

Concept: Concise = brief, expressing much in few words.

1. Precise is close in meaning, not opposite.
2. Opposite: Lengthy = long and wordy.
3. Frank and intelligent are unrelated.

Trick: Concise ↔ Lengthy / Verbose.

Answer: (C) Lengthy

Concept: The sentence is in the past ("had already been"), so the verb must be the past tense of lead, which is led.

1. lead (present) – led (past) – led (past participle).
2. "leading" needs a helping verb; "lead away" changes the meaning.

Trick: lead → led (not "lead" like read → read).

Answer: (C) led the way

Concept: A title must capture the central idea of the whole passage.

1. The passage begins: reservation is part of action that "seeks to bring equality", then explains how the 2019 Bill extends reservation to economically weaker sections.
2. "Article 15" and "Prohibition of discrimination" cover only one sentence; the Bill name is too narrow.
3. The common thread: reservation as a tool for equality.

Trick: Choose the title that covers the opening idea + all details.

Answer: (D) Reservation for Equality

Concept: Reservation is a form of corrective (affirmative) action — it corrects historical inequality.

1. "seeks to bring equality" → the action corrects an imbalance.
2. Effective/ineffective judge success, not purpose; directive = giving orders.

Trick: Corrective action = action that sets right an injustice.

Answer: (D) corrective

Concept: Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

1. A constitution forbids (prohibits) discrimination; "However" then gives exceptions (special provisions).
2. Exhibits/establishes would mean the Constitution promotes discrimination; inhibits = restrains (used for processes, not by law).

Yaad rakhein: Article 15 = Prohibition of discrimination.

Answer: (B) prohibits

Concept: The passage repeatedly speaks of "provide for the advancement" of weaker sections.

1. Special provisions are made for the advancement (upliftment) of backward classes, SCs and STs.
2. The next sentence uses the same word for EWS: "provide for the advancement of economically weaker sections".
3. Containment and postponement are negative; enhancement is used for things, not classes of people.

Trick: Look for a word repeated elsewhere in the passage.

Answer: (C) advancement

Concept: Seats set aside for a section are reserved seats.

1. "up to 10% of the seats may be reserved for such sections" — this is reservation.
2. Preserved (protected), deserved (earned) and conserved (saved from waste) do not fit seats in admission.

Trick: Reservation → seats are reserved.

Answer: (B) reserved

Concept: The subject "A broad definition" is singular and the list that follows is part of the definition.

1. A definition that covers lakes, rivers, swamps etc. → it includes them.
2. Singular subject → verb + s: "includes" (not "omit"/"leave out").
3. "excludes" contradicts the list ("but also human-made sites").

Trick: Singular subject → V+s; listing examples → includes.

Answer: (D) includes

Concept: To introduce examples we use such as.

1. "human-made artificial sites such as fishponds or reservoirs" — fishponds and reservoirs are examples.
2. "as much as"/"much as" express quantity or concession; "more as" is ungrammatical.

Trick: such as = for example (before a list).

Answer: (C) such as

Concept: Subject "they" (wetlands) is plural; the paragraph is in the simple present.

1. Wetlands store carbon — matches "peatlands alone storing" in the same sentence.
2. "has" is singular; "stored" is past; "have more carbon" does not express the ecosystem function.

Trick: Plural subject + base verb in simple present: they store.

Answer: (C) store

Concept: Multiplicative comparison: twice as much as (for uncountable nouns like carbon).

1. "peatlands alone storing twice as much as all the world's forests".
2. "as long as" is about time/condition; "as such as", "as more as" are ungrammatical.

Trick: twice / thrice + as much as (uncountable), as many as (countable).

Answer: (B) as much as

Concept: The verb is "disappearing" → compare speed with the comparative adverb faster than.

1. "Wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests."
2. "fastest than" mixes superlative with than; "much than" is ungrammatical; "more than" lacks the idea of speed.

Trick: Comparative (-er) + than; superlative (-est) never takes than.

Answer: (A) faster than