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

Concept: Follow each of the three symbols separately: position and orientation.

1. Small circle: bottom-left → top-left → top-right → bottom-right, i.e. one corner clockwise each step; next = bottom-left.
2. Hourglass: top-right → bottom-right → bottom-left → top-left (clockwise) and turns 90° each time; next = top-right, standing upright.
3. Pac-man shape alternates top-left / top-right and turns 90° each time; after four turns it is back to its Fig 1 form at top-left.
4. So Fig 5 is the same as Fig 1 – option (B).

Trick: If every element moves one corner and turns 90°, the 5th figure repeats the 1st.

Answer: (B) Option figure (B)

Concept: Check each letter position separately.

1. 1st letters: P, Q, R, S → T (+1).
2. 2nd letters: T, U, V, W → X (+1).
3. 3rd letters: A, B, C, D → E (+1). Next cluster: TXE.

Trick: Write the clusters one under another and read each column.

Answer: (D) TXE

Concept: Decode each symbol step by step and draw the family tree.

1. D × O: D is the sister of O (D is female).
2. O ÷ E: O is the son of E.
3. E + Y: E is the husband of Y, so Y is O's mother.
4. D, a sister of O, is also Y's child → D is Y's daughter.

Trick: Sister of someone's son = that person's daughter.

Answer: (C) Daughter

Concept: Substitute the signs and use BODMAS.

1. A = +, B = ×, C = −, D = ÷.
2. $32-16÷8+4\times 2$.
3. $=32-2+8=38$.

Trick: ÷ and × first: $16÷8=2$, $4\times 2=8$.

Answer: (A) $38$

Concept: Use alphabet positions for each letter of the pair.

1. First letters: P, R, T, V, X → +2 each → Z.
2. Second letters: L(12), O(15), S(19), X(24), D(30 = 4): differences $+3,+4,+5,+6$.
3. Next difference $+7$: $4+7=11$ → K. Answer ZK.

Trick: When the count passes Z, subtract 26 (X + 6 = 24 + 6 = 30 → D).

Answer: (B) ZK

Concept: The word is split into two halves, the halves are swapped, and every letter is moved 2 places back.

1. CLOUDS → halves CLO | UDS → swap: UDSCLO → each −2: SBQAJM ✓.
2. BRIGHT → halves BRI | GHT → swap: GHTBRI → each −2: EFRZPG ✓.
3. DREAMY → halves DRE | AMY → swap: AMYDRE → −2: YKWBPC.

Trick: Spot that the code's first letter comes from the 4th letter of the word – a sign of swapped halves.

Answer: (B) YKWBPC

Concept: Reverse the word, then shift each letter one place forward.

1. GARDEN → reverse NEDRAG → +1: OFESBH ✓.
2. LADDER → REDDAL → +1: SFEEBM ✓.
3. HANDLE → ELDNAH → +1: FMEOBI.

Trick: The code's first letter (O) is next to the word's last letter (N) – reverse + 1.

Answer: (B) FMEOBI

Concept: Check the differences and their pattern.

1. Differences: $2,6,12$ = $1\times 2,2\times 3,3\times 4$.
2. Next difference $=4\times 5=20$.
3. Next term $=28+20=48$.

Trick: Differences 2, 6, 12, 20 are $n(n+1)$ – a very common SSC pattern.

Answer: (C) $48$

Concept: Relation: living being : the place where it lives/shelters.

1. A bird lives in a nest.
2. Cattle are kept in a barn – same relation.
3. Goat : Grass and Ant : Sugar are food relations; a kennel is a dog's shelter, not a tiger's.

Trick: Make a sentence: ‘A ___ lives in a ___’ and test each option.

Answer: (D) Cattle : Barn

Concept: Draw the path with A at the origin, north up.

1. 3 km east, left → 4 km north, left → 3 km west: he is 4 km straight north of A.
2. Left again → south 2 km: B is $4-2=2$ km north of A.
3. To return to A he must go 2 km towards south.

Trick: Equal east and west moves cancel; only north–south is left: $4-2=2$.

Answer: (A) 2 km towards south

Concept: Break the chain from Roshni's side.

1. Roshni's mother's father's wife = Roshni's maternal grandmother.
2. Her only son = Roshni's mother's brother, i.e. Roshni's maternal uncle (Mama).
3. The maternal uncle's wife is Roshni's maternal aunt (Mami).

Trick: Mother's father's wife = grandmother; her only son = mother's only brother.

Answer: (B) Maternal uncle's wife (Mami)

Concept: Find the operation between the first pair and check it with the third pair.

1. $88.4-64=24.4$ and $96.2-71.8=24.4$.
2. So the second term = first term $-24.4$.
3. $72.8-24.4=48.4$.

Trick: With decimals, try a constant difference first.

Answer: (D) $48.4$

Concept: Place the cities on a grid, north up.

1. B at the centre, A north of B, D east of B; C west of D lies on the B–D line.
2. E is south of C and south-west of A, so C must be to the west of A's line, i.e. west of B.
3. Thus C – B – D lie in a row from west to east: B is to the east of C.

Trick: Use the ‘south-west of A’ clue to fix which side of B the city C lies.

Answer: (C) East

Concept: The given four-sided shape (a long slanting left edge, a pointed bottom vertex, rotation not allowed) must appear exactly inside the option.

1. The figure has a vertical left side, a short slanting top edge, a slanting right side forming a point on the right, and a lower slanting edge meeting at the bottom.
2. In option (B), in the left-middle part of the design, these lines form exactly this shape with the same orientation.
3. In the other options the needed vertical line or slanting line is missing or placed differently.

Trick: Hunt for the most unusual line (the vertical segment inside the left half) first.

Answer: (B) Option figure (B)

Concept: Compare letter by letter; all words start with ‘Me’.

1. Third letters: Mea(surement), Mel(anin), Mer(itorious), Met(aphor), Met(hodology).
2. a < l < r < t, so Measurement, Melanin, Meritorious come first in that order.
3. Metaphor vs Methodology: 4th letters a < h → Metaphor first. Order: 1, 3, 5, 4, 2.

Trick: Remove the common start ‘Me’ and sort by the next letter.

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

Concept: When one face is common in two views, read the other faces around it in the same rotational order.

1. Face 5 is common (right side) in both views.
2. Around 5, view 1 reads 6 → 4 and view 2 reads 3 → 6.
3. Joining: 3 → 6 → 4 → x around 5. Faces two steps apart are opposite, so 3 is opposite 4 (and 6 is opposite the remaining face).

Trick: Rotating about the common face: faces separated by one face in the cycle are opposite.

Answer: (B) $4$

Concept: Pair is country : its currency.

1. Russia's currency is the Ruble.
2. Myanmar's currency is the Kyat.
3. Baht – Thailand; Dirham – UAE/Morocco; Peseta – Spain's former currency.

Yaad rakhein: Myanmar – Kyat, Thailand – Baht, Cambodia – Riel, Laos – Kip.

Answer: (C) Kyat

Concept: Draw the minimum Venn diagram allowed by the statements.

1. Some pens are markers, and all markers are crayons → the pens that are markers are also crayons.
2. So ‘some crayons are pens’ is definite → II follows.
3. I says no pen is a crayon – this contradicts the above, so I does not follow.

Trick: Some A are B + All B are C ⇒ Some A are C (and Some C are A).

Answer: (D) Only conclusion II follows

Concept: Write the alphabet positions and check the gaps.

1. ADEJ: 1, 4, 5, 10 → $+3,+1,+5$.
2. LOPU: 12, 15, 16, 21 → $+3,+1,+5$; FIJO: 6, 9, 10, 15 → $+3,+1,+5$.
3. PSTZ: 16, 19, 20, 26 → $+3,+1,+6$ – different.

Trick: Only the last gap differs – check it carefully in every option.

Answer: (A) PSTZ

Concept: Look at the differences and how they grow.

1. Differences: $2,4,12,48$.
2. $4=2\times 2,12=4\times 3,48=12\times 4$ → next $=48\times 5=240$.
3. Next term $=114+240=354$.

Trick: Differences multiplied by 2, 3, 4, … grow very fast – check this when the last jump is large.

Answer: (C) $354$