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

Concept: Find the shift for each letter position.

1. CRAB → YTWD: C$-4$=Y, R$+2$=T, A$-4$=W, B$+2$=D.
2. CALM → YCHO: same $-4,+2,-4,+2$.
3. ZOOM: Z$-4$=V, O$+2$=Q, O$-4$=K, M$+2$=O → VQKO.

Trick: Odd positions $-4$, even positions $+2$.

Answer: (D) VQKO

Concept: Chairs and tables are both furniture, but a chair is not a table.

1. Chair ⊂ Furniture and Table ⊂ Furniture.
2. Chair and Table have nothing in common.
3. So two separate circles inside one big circle — option (D).

Trick: Same class, two different members → two separate circles inside a big one.

Answer: (D) Option (D)

Concept: A vertical mirror on the right reverses the order of the characters and flips each one left–right; top and bottom do not change.

1. E%y95A in the mirror reads A, 5, 9, y, %, E from left to right.
2. Each is laterally inverted: E faces left (Ǝ), 9 and 5 are reversed, y and % are flipped; A is unchanged.
3. None of the characters is turned upside down — option (B) shows this.

Trick: Reject any option where a character is upside down; a vertical mirror never does that.

Answer: (B) Option (B)

Concept: Find the shift for each letter position.

1. BEST → GKXZ: B$+5$=G, E$+6$=K, S$+5$=X, T$+6$=Z.
2. EDGE → JJLK: same $+5,+6,+5,+6$.
3. WIND: W$+5$=B, I$+6$=O, N$+5$=S, D$+6$=J → BOSJ.

Trick: Odd positions $+5$, even positions $+6$ (W$+5$ wraps round to B).

Answer: (A) BOSJ

Concept: 6 people face the centre; for each person, left = clockwise neighbour.

1. Two people between A and F → A and F sit opposite each other.
2. E is one seat away from F, so E is a neighbour of A.
3. C is not next to A, and C must be immediately left of D; this works only with D next to A and C next to F.
4. Clockwise: A, D, C, F, B, E. The immediate left (clockwise neighbour) of F is B.

Trick: In a 6-seat circle "two people between" always means opposite seats.

Answer: (D) B

Concept: Check the differences between consecutive terms.

1. $228-209=19$, $209-192=17$, $192-179=13$, $179-168=11$.
2. Differences are prime numbers in decreasing order: 19, 17, 13, 11, next 7.
3. $168-7=161$.

Trick: When gaps are 19, 17, 13, 11, think of descending primes.

Answer: (D) 161

Concept: Numbers adjacent to the same face form a ring around it; in that ring, alternate numbers are opposite each other.

1. 5 is on top in all three views, so 4, 2, 3, 1 all touch 5 — the face opposite 5 is 6.
2. From the views, the ring around 5 in order is 4 → 2 → 3 → 1.
3. In a ring of four faces, alternate faces are opposite: 4 opposite 3 and 2 opposite 1.

Trick: Common face on top in all views → the four side numbers in order give two opposite pairs.

Answer: (D) 2

Concept: Place all points on a grid taking A as the origin.

1. A $(0,0)$, B $(35,0)$, C $(0,26)$.
2. D is 15 m east of C: $(15,26)$; E is 13 m south of D: $(15,13)$.
3. F is 20 m east of E: $(35,13)$.
4. B $(35,0)$ has the same x-value as F and is 13 m lower, so B is south of F.

Trick: Same east–west value → the answer is purely North or South.

Answer: (A) South

Concept: Try each option by swapping the two signs and evaluating with BODMAS.

1. Swap + and ÷: $7+255÷5\times 3-20$.
2. $255÷5=51$, $51\times 3=153$.
3. $7+153-20=140$ ✓.

Trick: Look for a division that comes out exact: $255÷5=51$ is a strong clue.

Answer: (B) + and ÷

Concept: Code = number of letters × 4.

1. BEDROOM has 7 letters: $7\times 4=28$ ✓.
2. MOON has 4 letters: $4\times 4=16$ ✓.
3. CHAIN has 5 letters: $5\times 4=20$.

Trick: When the codes are small, first compare them with the word length.

Answer: (A) 20

Concept: Replace letters by signs and use BODMAS.

1. $80-12\times 5+27÷9$.
2. $=80-60+3$.
3. $=23$.

Trick: Do × and ÷ first, then − and + from left to right.

Answer: (C) 23

Concept: Draw the least possible Venn diagram and test each conclusion.

1. All plates are tumblers → Plate circle inside Tumbler circle. No plate is a bowl → Bowl is outside Plate.
2. I: "No tumbler is a plate" is false, since every plate is a tumbler (some tumblers are plates).
3. II: Bowl may or may not touch the Tumbler circle, so "Some tumblers are bowls" is not certain.
4. I and II do not form an either–or pair. Neither follows.

Trick: "All A are B" always gives "Some B are A" — so "No B is A" can never follow.

Answer: (D) Neither conclusion I nor II follows

Concept: A vertical mirror on the right flips the figure left–right; top and bottom stay the same, and every letter is laterally inverted.

1. The resistor on the left moves to the right side and the cell with P and N moves to the left side.
2. The top arrow pointed right, so in the image it points left; the bottom arrow pointed left, so it now points right.
3. The letters P and N also appear reversed (q and И).
4. Only option (C) has all three changes.

Trick: In mirror questions on circuits, check arrow directions and reversed letters — options usually differ only there.

Answer: (C) Option (C)

Concept: A vertical mirror on the right swaps left and right parts of the figure; nothing moves up or down.

1. In the figure the large black region lies on the left side of the hexagon and the small black triangle is at the lower right.
2. In the mirror image the large black region goes to the right side and the small black triangle to the lower left.
3. The inner triangle's apex stays at the top vertex and the empty bottom part stays at the bottom — this is option (C).

Trick: Track one shaded part and its position: left ↔ right, top and bottom unchanged.

Answer: (C) Option (C)

Concept: Interchange + ↔ − and × ↔ ÷, then apply BODMAS.

1. New expression: $11\times 12+78÷6-54$.
2. $=132+13-54$.
3. $=91$.

Trick: Convert every sign first, then calculate.

Answer: (B) 91

Concept: All words begin with "Un"; compare the next differing letters.

1. "Und-" words: Understand (unde-r), Undetermined (unde-t), Undone (undo) → 5, 6, 4 (r before t; e before o).
2. Then Uneasiness (une-) → 3.
3. "Unfa-" words: Unfaithful (unfai) before Unfamiliar (unfam), since i comes before m → 1, 2.
4. Order: 5, 6, 4, 3, 1, 2.

Trick: Group words by the first letter after the common prefix, then sort within each group.

Answer: (B) 5, 6, 4, 3, 1, 2

Concept: Every mother is a woman; actors can be women or men, and some actors are mothers.

1. Mother ⊂ Woman → small circle inside the Woman circle.
2. Some women are actors, some actors are men → the Actor circle partly overlaps Woman.
3. Some mothers are actors → the Actor circle also overlaps the Mother circle.
4. This is shown by option (D).

Trick: Draw the "subset" pair first, then add the class that cuts across both.

Answer: (D) Option (D)

Concept: The five digits move together, each one step along a fixed path: centre → top-right → top-left → bottom-left → bottom-right → centre.

1. 0: C → TR → TL → BL, so next BR.
2. 1: TL → BL → BR → C, so next TR.
3. 8: TR → TL → BL → BR, so next C.
4. 2 (now TL) goes to BL and 7 (now TR) goes to TL. Figure 5: TL 7, TR 1, C 8, BL 2, BR 0 — option (D).

Trick: Find the path from one digit, then move all digits one step at once.

Answer: (D) Option (D)

Concept: Find the rule linking the three numbers.

1. (16, 20, 80): $16+4=20$ and $20\times 4=80$.
2. (12, 16, 64): $12+4=16$ and $16\times 4=64$.
3. (18, 22, 88): $18+4=22$ and $22\times 4=88$ ✓.
4. (20, 25, 100) fails since $20+4\ne 25$.

Trick: Check the "$+4$" step first; it removes three options at once.

Answer: (B) (18, 22, 88)

Concept: Decode each symbol and build the family tree.

1. P − Q: P is the brother of Q. Q + R: Q is the mother of R.
2. R − S: R is the brother of S, so S is also Q's child.
3. S ÷ T: S is the father of T, so S is male — Q's son.
4. T × U: T is the wife of U, so T is female. T is the daughter of Q's son.

Trick: Use the last relation to fix the gender of the person asked about.

Answer: (C) Son's daughter