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

Concept: With a vertical mirror on the right, each character is reversed left to right; nothing is turned upside down.

1. Each of 7, 8, H, C, Z, S, T, 5, @ must be laterally inverted, but stay upright.
2. Options showing the characters upside down (water-image style) are wrong.
3. Check asymmetric characters such as 7, C, Z, S, 5 and @ — only option (B) shows all of them correctly reversed sideways.
4. Symmetric characters such as 8, H and T look the same.

Trick: Test the asymmetric characters only — symmetric ones (8, H, T) cannot help you choose.

Answer: (B) the second figure

Concept: Check the differences; they form an arithmetic progression.

1. $149-108=41$, $199-149=50$ — the gap grows by 9.
2. So the gaps are 14, 23, 32, 41, 50.
3. $?=53+23=76$, and check: $76+32=108$ ✓

Trick: Work backwards from the known end of the series when the blank is near the start.

Answer: (D) 76

Concept: 'All A are B' gives 'Some B are A'. Two groups both inside B need not meet.

1. Drums and whistles are both inside bells, but no relation between them is given → I does not follow.
2. All drums are bells → Some bells are drums. II follows.
3. All whistles are bells → Some bells are whistles. III follows.

Trick: Same middle term as predicate in both 'All' statements ⇒ no conclusion between the subjects.

Answer: (A) Both conclusions II and III follow.

Concept: Fill the blanks so that a short block repeats.

1. Put M, L, L, M, L in the blanks: L M L | L M L | L M L | L M L.
2. The block 'LML' repeats four times — the series is complete.

Trick: Count the total letters (12) — a repeating block will usually have 3 or 4 letters.

Answer: (A) MLLML

Concept: Replace the signs as given, then use BODMAS.

1. Given: $89\times 36-9+2÷11$
2. After change: $89+36÷9-2\times 11$
3. $=89+4-22=71$

Trick: Rewrite the whole expression first; do not convert sign by sign while calculating.

Answer: (A) 71

Concept: Two patterns alternate: upright stars (figures 1, 3, 5) and tilted stars (figures 2, 4, 6).

1. Upright stars have one shaded point that keeps moving: top → left → bottom.
2. Tilted stars have consecutive shaded points whose number increases: 2 in figure 2, 3 in figure 4.
3. So figure 6 is a tilted star with 4 consecutive shaded points.
4. Option (A) shows a tilted star with 4 adjacent shaded points; (B) and (D) have 3, (C) has more.

Trick: When odd and even figures look different, solve them as two separate series.

Answer: (A) the first figure

Concept: The given parallelogram (long upper side rising to the right, short slanting ends) must appear in the option with the same size and orientation — no rotation.

1. All four options share the same frame, the top triangles and the long diagonal in the lower part.
2. The difference is the extra short line in the lower-left region.
3. In option (D) this line, together with the long diagonal and the upper horizontal region lines, closes a parallelogram of exactly the given shape and tilt.
4. In (A), (B) and (C) the matching sides do not meet, so the shape is not formed.

Trick: Look first for the distinctive edge (here the long rising side), then check if the matching short sides exist at its ends.

Answer: (D) the fourth figure

Concept: Each letter moves forward by its position number: +1, +2, +3, …

1. VACCINE: V+1=W, A+2=C, C+3=F, C+4=G, I+5=N, N+6=T, E+7=L → WCFGNTL ✓
2. SYRINGE → TAUMSML follows the same rule.
3. NEEDLE: N+1=O, E+2=G, E+3=H, D+4=H, L+5=Q, E+6=K → OGHHQK.

Trick: Increasing shifts +1, +2, +3… — check only the last two letters to eliminate options fast.

Answer: (D) OGHHQK

Concept: When a face is common to two dice positions, read the other faces in the same (clockwise) order around it.

1. Face 4 is common (front) in both dice.
2. Going clockwise around 4 (top → right): dice 1 gives 6 → 5 and dice 2 gives 2 → 6.
3. Combining: 2 → 6 → 5 around face 4, so 2 and 5 are on opposite sides of 4.
4. Hence 5 is opposite 2.

Trick: Faces two steps apart in the ring around a common face are opposite each other.

Answer: (D) 5

Concept: Use the second differences.

1. First differences: 20, 25, 35, 55.
2. Second differences: 5, 10, 20 — doubling, so the next is 40.
3. Next first difference $=55+40=95$, so $?=190+95=285$.

Trick: If the first differences look irregular, check whether their differences double.

Answer: (B) 285

Concept: Letters are shifted alternately +1 and −1.

1. JACCUZI: J+1=K, A−1=Z, C+1=D, C−1=B, U+1=V, Z−1=Y, I+1=J → KZDBVYJ ✓
2. QUIZZER → RTJYADS (Z+1 wraps to A) ✓
3. BUZZWIG: B+1=C, U−1=T, Z+1=A, Z−1=Y, W+1=X, I−1=H, G+1=H → CTAYXHH.

Trick: Remember the wrap-around: Z + 1 = A and A − 1 = Z.

Answer: (B) CTAYXHH

Concept: Every fold acts like a mirror: on unfolding, the cut appears again as a mirror image across each fold line.

1. First the top half is folded down, then the right half is folded to the left, so the cuts are made in the bottom-left quarter.
2. Unfolding the second fold: the bottom-right quarter shows a left–right mirror image of the triangles.
3. Unfolding the first fold: the top half shows an up–down mirror image of the bottom half.
4. So the four groups are symmetric about both fold lines, as in option (B).

Trick: Two perpendicular folds ⇒ the final pattern must be symmetric about both the horizontal and the vertical middle lines.

Answer: (B) the second figure

Concept: Replace the letters by the signs and apply BODMAS.

1. $115÷23+\sqrt[3]{64}-3\times 9+44$
2. $=5+4-27+44$
3. $=26$

Trick: Simplify the root and the division/multiplication first: $\sqrt[3]{64}=4$.

Answer: (A) 26

Concept: Put each option's signs in order and check whether both sides are equal.

1. Option (A): $355+(12\times 3)=289+(186÷6)+71$
2. LHS $=355+36=391$
3. RHS $=289+31+71=391$ ✓

Trick: Place '=' first: it must split the expression into two parts of nearly equal size — 355 on the left, $289+71$ on the right.

Answer: (A) +, ×, =, +, ÷, +

Concept: Every fold acts like a mirror: on unfolding, the cut appears again as a mirror image across each fold line.

1. The bottom half is folded up, then the right half is folded to the left; the three holes are punched in the top-left quarter along a diagonal (top-left to bottom-right).
2. Unfolding the vertical fold: the top-right quarter gets the mirror line of holes, running from top-right towards the centre.
3. Unfolding the horizontal fold: the bottom half mirrors the top half, so the lines continue to the bottom corners.
4. The 12 holes form an 'X' joining the four corners — option (D).

Trick: A diagonal cut reflected in both fold lines always produces an 'X' (or a diamond) pattern.

Answer: (D) the fourth figure

Concept: Treat each letter position as its own series.

1. 1st letters: P, N, L, J → −2 → H
2. 2nd letters: O, Q, S, U → +2 → W
3. 3rd letters: R, P, N, L → −2 → J
4. 4th letters: K, M, O, Q → +2 → S

Trick: Alternate positions move in opposite directions (−2, +2) — check just the 2nd letter (W) and 3rd letter (J) to pick the option.

Answer: (C) HWJS

Concept: A 'No' link with only part of a group says nothing definite about the rest of that group.

1. Some sixes are sevens, and no seven is an eight — only the sixes that are sevens are surely not eights.
2. Other sixes may or may not be eights, so 'All eights are sixes' (I) is not certain.
3. Similarly, 'No eight is a six' (II) is not certain.
4. I and II are not a complementary 'either–or' pair (that needs 'Some' + 'No'), so neither follows.

Trick: Either-or applies only to a 'Some A are B' / 'No A is B' pair with the same terms — 'All' + 'No' is not such a pair.

Answer: (A) Neither conclusion I nor II follows

Concept: Interchange the two signs in the equation and evaluate using BODMAS.

1. Swap + and ×: $12\times 156÷13+6-100$
2. $156÷13=12$, so $12\times 12=144$
3. $144+6-100=50$ ✓

Trick: Spot $156÷13=12$ — a neat division usually shows which part should stay unchanged.

Answer: (B) + and ×

Concept: A word common to two sentences has the code common to those two coded sentences.

1. 'you' is in all three sentences; 'room' is in all three codes → you = room.
2. 'can' and 'you' are common to sentences 1 and 2; the common codes are 'sent' and 'room'.
3. Since you = room, can = sent.

Trick: First decode the word that appears most often — it removes one code from every sentence.

Answer: (B) sent

Concept: Take the house as origin and track east–west and north–south positions separately.

1. 4 km west, then turn right (north) 6 km: she is 4 km west and 6 km north of the house.
2. Turn right again (east) and ride X km to the school.
3. Point A is 2 km west of the house and the school is due north of A, so the school is 2 km west of the house.
4. East–west: $4-X=2\Rightarrow X=2$ km.

Trick: 'Due south of the school' means the same east–west position as the school.

Answer: (C) 2 km