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

Concept: At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Manoj Sarkar won the bronze medal in badminton (men's singles SL3).

1. In the same SL3 event Pramod Bhagat won gold.
2. India's other Tokyo para-badminton medals: Krishna Nagar (gold, SH6) and Suhas Yathiraj (silver, SL4).

Yaad rakhein: Tokyo para-badminton: Pramod (gold), Manoj Sarkar (bronze) – both SL3.

Answer: (B) Badminton

Concept: Hydrogen has three isotopes: protium (${}^1\text{H}$), deuterium (${}^2\text{H}$) and tritium (${}^3\text{H}$).

1. Only tritium is radioactive; it has 1 proton and 2 neutrons and undergoes beta decay (half-life about 12.3 years).
2. Xenon, technetium and thorium are separate elements, not isotopes of hydrogen.

Yaad rakhein: Pro–Deu–Tri: 0, 1, 2 neutrons; only Tri is radioactive.

Answer: (D) Tritium

Concept: Globalisation means integrating the economy of a country with the world economy.

1. Statement I: it creates networks and activities transcending economic, social and geographical boundaries – correct (NCERT definition).
2. Statement II: outsourcing (e.g., BPOs, call centres in India) is one of the important outcomes of globalisation – correct.
3. So both statements are correct.

Yaad rakhein: Outsourcing = a key child of globalisation (NCERT).

Answer: (A) Both I and II

Concept: James Brown, the American singer called 'The Godfather of Soul', titled his 1986 autobiography 'James Brown: The Godfather of Soul'.

1. He was a pioneer of soul and funk music.
2. Tina Turner's autobiography is 'I, Tina'; Johnny Cash wrote 'Man in Black' and 'Cash'; Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) wrote no such autobiography.

Yaad rakhein: Godfather of Soul = James Brown; King of Pop = Michael Jackson.

Answer: (D) James Brown

Concept: Tropical evergreen forests grow in warm, humid areas receiving more than 200 cm annual rainfall (Western Ghats, North-East, Andaman).

1. They are well-stratified, with trees reaching 60 m or more – (A), (B), (D) are correct.
2. About $100\text{cm}$ rainfall suits tropical deciduous forests, not evergreen ones – so (C) is NOT correct.

Yaad rakhein: Evergreen > 200 cm; Moist deciduous 100–200 cm; Dry deciduous 70–100 cm.

Answer: (C) These forests receive annual precipitation of about 100 cm.

Concept: Harappan cities were divided into a raised citadel (western, smaller) and a larger lower town (eastern).

1. The citadel had special public structures: granaries/storehouses, the Great Bath (Mohenjodaro), and fire altars (Kalibangan).
2. Ordinary residential houses for the common people were in the lower town, not the citadel.

Yaad rakhein: Citadel = public/elite buildings; Lower town = common people's houses.

Answer: (D) Residential buildings for masses

Concept: Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar received the Bharat Ratna in 1999.

1. In 1999 the award also went to Amartya Sen, Jayaprakash Narayan (posthumous) and Gopinath Bordoloi (posthumous).
2. M.S. Subbulakshmi got it in 1998; Lata Mangeshkar and Bismillah Khan in 2001.

Yaad rakhein: Musicians with Bharat Ratna: M.S. Subbulakshmi 1998, Ravi Shankar 1999, Lata & Bismillah 2001, Bhimsen Joshi 2009.

Answer: (B) 1999

Concept: Article 112(3) lists expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India – it is not voted by Parliament.

1. The first item is the emoluments and allowances of the President and other expenditure relating to his office.
2. Others: salaries of the Speaker, Chairman/Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Supreme Court judges, CAG, etc.
3. The Contingency Fund is for unforeseen expenses; the Public Account holds money like provident funds.

Yaad rakhein: Charged = non-votable = Consolidated Fund of India (Art. 266).

Answer: (C) consolidated fund

Concept: Atomic radius depends on the number of shells and the effective nuclear charge.

1. Across a period (left → right) electrons enter the same shell while nuclear charge increases, so the electrons are pulled closer – radius decreases (Li > Be > B …).
2. Down a group a new shell is added each time – radius increases (Li < Na < K).
3. Only option (B) states both trends correctly.

Yaad rakhein: Across → shrink, Down ↓ → grow.

Answer: (B) Atomic radius decreases across a period and increases down a group in the periodic table.

Concept: Aqua regia ('royal water') is a freshly prepared mixture of concentrated $\text{HCl}$ and concentrated ${\text{HNO}}_3$ in the ratio $3:1$.

1. It can dissolve noble metals like gold and platinum, which neither acid can dissolve alone.
2. ${\text{HNO}}_3$ oxidises the metal and chloride ions form soluble complexes such as $[{\text{AuCl}}_4{]}^{-}$.
3. Formic acid, acetic acid and chloroform cannot dissolve gold.

Yaad rakhein: Aqua regia = 3 HCl : 1 HNO₃ → dissolves the 'royal' metals.

Answer: (B) Aqua regia

Concept: Write a formula by balancing valencies: H has valency 1, Cl has valency 1, S (in sulphide) has valency 2.

1. Hydrogen chloride: ${\text{H}}^{+}$ and ${\text{Cl}}^{-}$ combine $1:1$ → $\text{HCl}$, not ${\text{H}}_2\text{Cl}$ – pair I is wrong.
2. Hydrogen sulphide: two $\text{H}$ balance one ${\text{S}}^{2-}$ → ${\text{H}}_2\text{S}$, not ${\text{HS}}_2$ – pair II is wrong.
3. So neither pair is correct.

Yaad rakhein: Criss-cross the valencies: H(1), Cl(1) → HCl; H(1), S(2) → H₂S.

Answer: (B) Neither I nor II

Concept: 'Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi' was written by Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi during the reign of Mubarak Shah of the Sayyid dynasty (15th century).

1. It is the main source for the history of the Sayyid dynasty.
2. Khazain-ul-Futuh is a work of Amir Khusrau and Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi was written by Ziauddin Barani (and Shams-i-Siraj Afif) – these are book titles, not authors.

Yaad rakhein: Mubarak Shahi → Sayyid ruler Mubarak Shah → Yahya Sirhindi.

Answer: (D) Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi

Concept: Article 108 empowers the President to summon a joint sitting of both Houses to resolve a deadlock over an ordinary bill.

1. The joint sitting is presided over by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
2. It cannot be called for a Money Bill or a Constitution Amendment Bill.
3. Article 85 – summoning/prorogation/dissolution; Article 105 – privileges of Parliament; Article 331 – Anglo-Indian representation.

Yaad rakhein: 108 = joint sitting; used only three times (1961, 1978, 2002).

Answer: (C) Article 108

Concept: Sikandar Lodi (1489–1517), the second ruler of the Lodi dynasty, founded the city of Agra in 1504.

1. He shifted his capital from Delhi to Agra to control the region better.
2. He also introduced the 'Gaz-i-Sikandari' measuring yard and wrote Persian verse under the pen name 'Gulrukhi'.

Yaad rakhein: Sikandar Lodi → Agra 1504; Gaz-i-Sikandari.

Answer: (B) 1504 CE

Concept: The National Commission on Agriculture (1976) defined social forestry as management of forests and afforestation of barren land to help environmental, social and rural development.

1. It classified social forestry into three components:
2. (1) Urban forestry, (2) Rural forestry, (3) Farm forestry (NCERT Class 12 Geography).

Yaad rakhein: Social forestry = U-R-F (Urban, Rural, Farm) = 3.

Answer: (C) 3

Concept: The Moderates sought self-government within the British Empire on the model of self-governing colonies (Australia, Canada).

1. This claim was put forward from the Congress platform by Gopal Krishna Gokhale in 1905 (Benaras session, which he presided).
2. Dadabhai Naoroji repeated it in 1906 at the Calcutta session, declaring 'Swaraj' as the goal.
3. Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal were Extremists who wanted complete swaraj.

Yaad rakhein: Swarajya claim: Gokhale 1905 → Naoroji 1906.

Answer: (D) Gopal Krishna Gokhale

Concept: In IUPAC naming, the suffix '-ene' indicates a C=C double bond and a prefix di-, tri- gives the number of such bonds.

1. A compound with exactly two C=C double bonds is a diene (e.g., 1,3-butadiene, ${\text{CH}}_2=\text{CH}-\text{CH}={\text{CH}}_2$).
2. Dialkyne/trialkyne refer to C≡C triple bonds; terpenes are natural compounds built from isoprene units.

Yaad rakhein: -ene = double, -yne = triple; di = 2.

Answer: (B) Dienes

Concept: Flautist Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia learnt from Annapurna Devi, daughter of Ustad Allauddin Khan.

1. Allauddin Khan's school traces its lineage to the Senia tradition (descendants and disciples of Tansen), through his guru Wazir Khan of Rampur.
2. Hence Chaurasia's music is placed in the Senia (Senia–Maihar) gharana.
3. Rampur-Jaipur and 'Prasanna' are not his gharana.

Yaad rakhein: Senia = Tansen's lineage → Allauddin Khan → Annapurna Devi → Hariprasad Chaurasia.

Answer: (C) Senia

Concept: The NSS 75th round (2017–18) report on education gave state-wise literacy rates for persons aged 7 and above.

1. Rajasthan had the lowest female literacy rate, $57.6\%$.
2. Andhra Pradesh had the lowest overall literacy rate ($66.4\%$); Kerala was the highest ($96.2\%$).
3. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh had higher female literacy than Rajasthan in this survey.

Yaad rakhein: NSS 75th: lowest overall → Andhra Pradesh; lowest female → Rajasthan.

Answer: (A) Rajasthan

Concept: Newton's third law: every action has an equal and opposite reaction; momentum is conserved.

1. A rocket/jet engine pushes hot gases backward at high speed (action).
2. The gases push the engine forward with an equal force (reaction) – this is thrust.
3. A deflating balloon moves forward for the same reason; thrust also equals rate of change of momentum (second law).

Yaad rakhein: Gas back → rocket forward = third law.

Answer: (A) Newton’s laws of motion