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

Concept: The terms are multiplied alternately by 2 and 3.

1. $16\times 2=32$
2. $32\times 3=96$
3. $96\times 2=192$, $192\times 3=576$, $576\times 2=1152$

Trick: When the series grows fast but unevenly, test alternate multipliers like ×2, ×3.

Answer: (D) $96$

Concept: Second-order difference series: the differences themselves increase by a fixed step.

1. Differences: $66-46=20$, $94-66=28$, $132-94=38$, $182-132=50$
2. Differences of differences: $8,10,12$ → next is $14$
3. Next difference $=50+14=64$, so $?=182+64=246$

Trick: If first differences are irregular, take differences again – a steady +2 pattern appears.

Answer: (A) $246$

Concept: The letters of the word are rearranged in reverse alphabetical order (Z → A).

1. FOREST has letters E, F, O, R, S, T. In reverse alphabetical order: T, S, R, O, F, E = TSROFE.
2. MOVING has letters G, I, M, N, O, V. In reverse alphabetical order: V, O, N, M, I, G = VONMIG.
3. GIMNOV (B) is the plain alphabetical order, the opposite of the rule.

Trick: When the answer uses exactly the same letters, check alphabetical or reverse-alphabetical arrangement first.

Answer: (D) VONMIG

Concept: Decode the statement from the end, replacing each phrase by the person it points to.

1. My mother's only daughter = the lady herself.
2. The lady's husband's son's father = the lady's husband.
3. So, 'His brother is my husband' → the man is the brother of the lady's husband.

Trick: "My mother's only daughter" always means the speaker herself (if the speaker is female).

Answer: (B) Brother

Concept: A number common to both positions has all the other visible numbers as its neighbours; the leftover number is its opposite.

1. 4 appears in both positions.
2. Neighbours of 4: 5 and 6 (first view), 1 and 2 (second view).
3. The only number not adjacent to 4 is 3, so 3 and 4 are opposite.

Trick: Common face → list its four neighbours → the missing number is opposite.

Answer: (A) $4$

Concept: In a net, faces that are one face apart in a straight line of three are opposite each other.

1. Bottom row F – P – L: F is opposite L.
2. Top row A – H – K: A is opposite K.
3. The remaining pair P and H must be opposite.

Trick: In a row of three squares, the first and third are opposite; the leftover pair is the third opposite pair.

Answer: (A) H

Concept: In each row, (first + second) × 5 = third.

1. Row 1: $(19+9)\times 5=140$
2. Row 2: $(17+9)\times 5=130$
3. Row 3: $(?+5)\times 5=120\Rightarrow ?+5=24\Rightarrow ?=19$

Trick: When the third column is a multiple of 10, try (sum) × 5 or (sum) × 10.

Answer: (D) $19$

Concept: First column has perfect squares; middle number = third number + square root of the first.

1. Row 1: $49+\sqrt{36}=49+6=55$
2. Row 2: $39+\sqrt{64}=39+8=47$
3. Row 3: $61+\sqrt{49}=61+7=68$

Trick: Perfect squares in a column (36, 64, 49) are a strong hint to use their square roots.

Answer: (D) $68$

Concept: A word common to two phrases has the code common to both codes.

1. 'my personal use' (521) & 'personal things' (29): common word personal = 2.
2. Then things = 9; 'use these things' (169) & 'my personal use' (521): use = 1.
3. So my = 5 and these = 6. Code 569 = my, these, things.

Trick: Compare phrases pair-wise: common word ↔ common digit.

Answer: (B) my these things

Concept: Split the word into two halves; shift each letter +1, then write each half in reverse.

1. DOU → EPV → reversed VPE; BLE → CMF → reversed FMC; so DOUBLE = VPEFMC.
2. CLI → DMJ → reversed JMD.
3. QUE → RVF → reversed FVR. CLIQUE = JMDFVR.

Trick: Code length equals word length and letters are 'one ahead' – check +1 with half-wise reversal.

Answer: (C) JMDFVR

Concept: Find which classes lie inside others and which only partly overlap.

1. Men and car drivers are both human beings → both circles lie inside the big circle.
2. Some men are car drivers and some are not; some car drivers are women → men and car drivers overlap.
3. Thus two intersecting circles inside one big circle.

Trick: Draw the biggest class first, then place the sub-classes inside and check overlap.

Answer: (C)

Concept: Use the sum and the difference of two ages.

1. $V+A=105$ and $V-A=25$
2. $2V=130\Rightarrow V=65$, $A=65-25=40$
3. Pritam $=A+7=40+7=47$ years

Trick: Larger $=\frac{\text{sum}+\text{difference}}{2}$, smaller $=\frac{\text{sum}-\text{difference}}{2}$.

Answer: (D) $47$ years

Concept: Second number $=(n+4)\times (n+11)$, i.e. the product of two numbers 7 apart.

1. $7:(7+4)\times (7+11)=11\times 18=198$
2. $8:(8+4)\times (8+11)=12\times 19=228$ ✓
3. Check others: $9\to 13\times 20=260$, $5\to 9\times 16=144$, $6\to 10\times 17=170$ – none match.

Trick: Factorise the bigger number ($198=11\times 18$) and relate the factors to the first number.

Answer: (D) $8:228$

Concept: Count odd days from a known reference: odd days of year 2000 complete = 0.

1. 2001–2010: 10 years with 2 leap years (2004, 2008) → $10+2=12$ odd days → $12-7=5$.
2. 1 Jan – 30 Sep 2011: $31+28+31+30+31+30+31+31+30=273$ days $=39$ weeks → $0$ odd days.
3. October: $24$ days → $3$ odd days. Total $5+0+3=8\to 1$ → Monday.

Trick: Odd-day code: 0 Sun, 1 Mon, 2 Tue, 3 Wed, 4 Thu, 5 Fri, 6 Sat.

Answer: (B) Monday

Concept: Compare letter by letter from the left.

1. La-: Lacerate (lace), Lactation (lact), Lacuna (lacu) → e < t < u.
2. Then Le- (Lexicon), then Lo- (Locust).
3. Order: Lacerate, Lactation, Lacuna, Lexicon, Locust = 3, 4, 2, 1, 5.

Trick: Group by the first two letters, then sort inside the group by the 4th letter.

Answer: (A) 3, 4, 2, 1, 5

Concept: Unfold step by step; every unfolding creates a mirror image of the cuts about the fold line.

1. The paper is folded three times (top half down, right half left, then once more vertically), so each cut appears 8 times: 4 columns × 2 rows.
2. In the bottom half, the cut shows a square above a triangle (△ near the bottom edge).
3. Mirroring about the horizontal fold puts an inverted triangle ▽ at the top and the square below it.

Trick: Shapes next to a fold line stay next to it after unfolding; shapes near an edge stay near that edge.

Answer: (D)

Concept: Use conversions: 'No A is B' ⇔ 'No B is A'; 'Some A are B' ⇔ 'Some B are A'.

1. I: 'No ground is a college' converts to 'No college is a ground' → follows.
2. III: 'Some colleges are schools' converts to 'Some schools are colleges' → follows.
3. II: 'No school is a college' contradicts III → does not follow.

Trick: E and I statements can always be converted directly.

Answer: (C) Only conclusions I and III follow

Concept: Two folds make 4 layers, so each cut appears 4 times, mirrored about each fold line.

1. First fold is along the diagonal, the second along the line from the corner to the centre – the paper becomes a quarter triangle.
2. The rectangle cut near the top edge reflects to the other three edges: two horizontal (top, bottom) and two vertical (left, right) slots.
3. The circle near the corner reflects to 4 circles near the corners; no cut lies at the centre, so (B) is wrong.

Trick: Reflection across a diagonal turns a horizontal slot into a vertical one.

Answer: (D)

Concept: Track each position of the cluster separately.

1. 1st letters: A, E, ?, O, U → the vowels in order → I.
2. 2nd letters: Z(26), V(22), ?, L(12), F(6) → $-4,-4,-6,-6$ → R(18).
3. 3rd letter = next letter after the 2nd: Z→A, V→W, L→M, F→G, so R→S. Answer IRS.

Trick: Write positions under letters (EJOTY: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25) to see steps quickly.

Answer: (B) IRS

Concept: Track the big oval and the row of four small shapes separately.

1. Oval alternates: top (plain) → bottom (with a line) → top (plain) → so figure 4 has it at the bottom with a line.
2. Small shapes shift one place left each time (first shape goes to the end): ○◇□△ → ◇□△○ → □△○◇ → △○◇□.
3. Only (A) has △○◇□ with the lined oval at the bottom.

Trick: In figure series, break the figure into parts and find a separate rule for each part.

Answer: (A)