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

Concept: The verb ‘agree’ takes ‘with’ for a person or an idea/opinion, ‘to’ for a proposal/terms, and ‘on’ for a topic.

1. Ideas = opinions → agree with your ideas.
2. ‘agree for’ and ‘agree by’ are incorrect; ‘agree to’ is used for a plan or proposal one accepts.

Yaad rakhein: agree with (person/opinion), agree to (proposal), agree on (topic).

Answer: (D) with

Concept: Habitual actions (with ‘usually’, ‘always’, ‘whenever’) take the Simple Present, not the Present Continuous.

1. ‘When he goes on a business trip’ describes a regular habit.
2. So the main clause must be: he usually takes his wife.
3. ‘is usually taking’ is the error.

Trick: usually / often / every time → Simple Present.

Answer: (B) he is usually taking his wife

Concept: A ‘casino’ is a building where people play gambling games for money.

1. Church – place of worship; university – place of higher study; gymnasium – place for physical exercise.
2. Only ‘casino’ fits ‘games played for money’.

Yaad rakhein: Casino = gambling house.

Answer: (B) casino

Concept: ‘Outdo’ means to do better than someone else; to surpass or be more successful than them.

1. Example: She outdid all her classmates in the exam.
2. ‘win’ and ‘succeed’ do not compare with another person; ‘beat’ means defeat in a contest, while the definition asks for doing better generally.

Trick: Prefix ‘out-’ = more than: outdo, outrun, outshine.

Answer: (C) outdo

Concept: An action in progress at a past moment, interrupted or set against another past action, takes the Past Continuous.

1. ‘When I left my house this morning’ – a past point of time.
2. At that time the rain was in progress → it was raining is correct.
3. ‘is raining / rains’ are present tense; ‘rained’ loses the sense of continuing action.

Trick: When + Simple Past, … Past Continuous (background action).

Answer: (D) No substitution required

Concept: ‘Live on’ a planet/island is the fixed usage; ‘on which’ = relative pronoun with preposition.

1. We live on the earth (surface), so: the planet on which we live.
2. ‘for, by, from which we live’ give no sense of location.

Trick: Turn it round: we live ___ the planet → on.

Answer: (B) on

Concept: ‘Miles per hour’ is a unit of speed, so the blank needs ‘speed’.

1. at a speed of 70,000 miles per hour – standard collocation.
2. force, distance and mass are not measured in miles per hour.

Trick: per hour / per second → speed.

Answer: (C) speed

Concept: After a comma, a relative pronoun referring to the whole previous idea (the spinning) is ‘which’ (non-defining clause).

1. ‘it spins on its axis, which causes it to be flattened’ – ‘which’ = the fact that it spins.
2. ‘that’ cannot follow a comma in a non-defining clause; ‘who’ is for persons; ‘where’ is for place.

Trick: comma + relative pronoun for a thing/idea → which.

Answer: (A) which

Concept: An imaginary condition is expressed with ‘were to + V1’ for all subjects (subjunctive), followed by ‘would’ in the main clause.

1. ‘you would be 13 miles nearer’ shows a hypothetical situation.
2. So: if you were to stand at the North Pole.
3. ‘was’ is not used with ‘you’; ‘are/have’ do not form the hypothetical.

Trick: If + subject + were to + V1, … would + V1.

Answer: (C) were

Concept: A comparative form (‘nearer’) is always followed by ‘than’.

1. 13 miles nearer the centre of the earth than if you stood on the Equator.
2. Because the earth is flattened at the poles, the polar radius is shorter than the equatorial radius (see figure).
3. ‘from, where, when’ cannot complete a comparison.

Trick: -er / more … → than.

Answer: (A) than

Concept: A completed action at a definite past time (‘yesterday morning’) needs the Simple Past.

1. ‘yesterday morning’ is past, but ‘rises’ is Simple Present.
2. Correct: The sun rose at 6.35 yesterday morning.
3. Universal truths use the present tense only when no specific past time is mentioned.

Trick: Past time marker → V2 (rise → rose).

Answer: (B) rises at 6.35

Concept: A ‘replica’ is an exact or very close copy of something, especially a model of an object.

1. Example: a replica of the Taj Mahal.
2. ‘forgery’ is a copy made to deceive (illegal); ‘artificial’ = man-made; ‘substitute’ = a replacement, not a copy.

Yaad rakhein: Replica = exact copy; forgery = fraudulent copy.

Answer: (C) replica

Concept: FICTION means something imagined or invented, not real; its synonym is ‘fantasy’.

1. ‘fantasy’ = imagination/unreal story – same idea.
2. ‘fact’ and ‘truth’ are antonyms; ‘literature’ is a broader category that includes non-fiction too.

Yaad rakhein: Fiction = fantasy, invention, myth; opposite: fact.

Answer: (C) fantasy

Concept: An action happening at the moment of speaking (‘right now’) takes the Present Continuous: is/am/are + V-ing.

1. ‘right now’ is a time marker for the present moment.
2. Correct: The secretary is talking over the phone right now.
3. ‘talks’ (habit), ‘talked’ and ‘was talking’ (past) do not fit.

Trick: now / right now / at present → is/am/are + V-ing.

Answer: (D) is talking

Concept: ‘Give (someone) a hand’ means to help or assist someone.

1. Example: Can you give me a hand with these boxes?
2. ‘clap hands’ is ‘give a big hand’ (applause) – different idiom; donating an organ is a literal reading.

Yaad rakhein: Give a hand = help; give a big hand = applaud.

Answer: (B) assist

Concept: ‘Voluntary’ means done of one’s own free will, without being forced.

1. Example: He took voluntary retirement.
2. ‘coerced’, ‘threatened’ and ‘subjected’ all suggest force or pressure – the opposite.

Yaad rakhein: Voluntary = by choice; compulsory/coerced = by force.

Answer: (B) voluntary

Concept: A habitual or repeated action (‘wherever she goes’) is expressed with the Simple Present.

1. ‘wherever she goes’ (present) shows a regular habit.
2. Correct: She takes all kinds of medicine wherever she goes.
3. ‘is taking’ shows a temporary action now; ‘was taking/took’ are past and clash with ‘goes’.

Trick: whenever / wherever + present → Simple Present in main clause.

Answer: (D) takes

Concept: ACCURATE means free from error; exact. Its synonym is ‘correct’.

1. ‘correct’ = right, without mistakes – same meaning.
2. ‘sincere’ = honest; ‘complete’ = whole; ‘appropriate’ = suitable – different meanings.

Yaad rakhein: Accurate = correct, exact, precise.

Answer: (B) correct

Concept: Verbs of perception used involuntarily (hear, see, smell) are stative and are not used in the continuous tense.

1. ‘I am hearing’ is wrong; it should be I hear a strange noise now (or I can hear).
2. The rest of the sentence is correct.

Trick: hear, see, smell, know, like, own → no -ing form for state.

Answer: (C) I am hearing

Concept: Check subject–verb agreement and tense consistency in each part.

1. ‘All of us’ is plural → ‘were’ is correct.
2. ‘were … when we came’ – both past, consistent; ‘a little nervous’ is correct usage.
3. ‘came into this room today’ is fine for a completed action earlier today. So there is no error.

Trick: If every segment agrees in number and tense, choose ‘No error’.

Answer: (D) No error