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

Concept: Spot the word whose letters are wrongly arranged.

1. Vociferous (loud and noisy) is spelt with -ferous, not "-firous".
2. Affliction, Episcopal and Innocuous are all spelt correctly.

Yaad rakhein: Many adjectives end in -ferous (carrying/producing): vociferous, coniferous, carboniferous.

Answer: (A) Vocifirous

Concept: Find the misspelt word among words ending in -ulate.

1. The correct spelling is Stipulate (to demand as part of an agreement) — only one p.
2. Manipulate, Postulate and Calculate are correct.

Yaad rakhein: sti-pu-late: single p, just like po-stu-late.

Answer: (C) Stippulate

Concept: The word to be replaced is ruin (to spoil or destroy).

1. Despoil = to spoil, ruin or rob something of its value — same meaning as ruin.
2. Fix, revamp (renovate) and recover are all positive — the opposite idea.

Trick: despoil = de + spoil → spoil completely = ruin.

Answer: (A) despoil

Concept: Clever, sharp and sound in judgement = Shrewd.

1. Shrewd: having sharp powers of judgement, e.g. a shrewd businessman.
2. Shriek = a loud scream; Shrift = confession (short shrift); Shrike = a bird.

Yaad rakhein: Shrewd = smart + sensible judgement.

Answer: (C) Shrewd

Concept: Emulate = to copy or imitate someone you admire, trying to equal them.

1. To emulate someone you pay close attention to and follow them.
2. Its opposite is Neglect (ignore, pay no attention).
3. Respect is close in spirit; spoilt and bash are unrelated.

Trick: Emulate = follow a role model; Neglect = ignore it.

Answer: (B) Neglect

Concept: A person who does something for pleasure, not as a paid job = Amateur.

1. Amateur comes from Latin amator = lover — one who does it out of love.
2. Professional is the exact opposite; Performer is too general; Ascetic = one who renounces pleasures.

Trick: Amateur = "ama" (love) → does it for love, not money.

Answer: (B) Amateur

Concept: Resume = to begin again after a pause.

1. Students will resume (restart/continue) their studies.
2. Opposite: cease = to stop or bring to an end.
3. Usher = guide in; presume = suppose; announce = declare — none mean stop.

Trick: Resume ↔ Cease (restart ↔ stop).

Answer: (A) cease

Concept: Check subject–verb agreement, the phrasal verb and article use in each part.

1. "The investors were" — plural subject with plural verb: correct.
2. "put off by" — phrasal verb put off = discouraged; passive "were put off by" is correct.
3. "the dirty visage of the workshop" — visage = face/outward appearance; adjective + noun + of-phrase is correct.

Trick: Plural subject + were + past participle (put off) = correct passive.

Answer: (C) No error

Concept: Check the double consonants and "sc/ss" patterns.

1. The correct word is Abscission (natural shedding of leaves/fruit in plants): ab-sci-ssion.
2. Abstruse (hard to understand), Incision (a cut) and Abyssal (very deep) are correct.

Yaad rakhein: Abscission = abs + sciss (cut, as in scissors) + ion.

Answer: (A) Abcission

Concept: Dull (of light/colour) = lacking brightness, dim.

1. The most direct opposite of dull is Bright.
2. Clever opposes dull only in the sense of intelligence; coloured and youthful are not opposites.
3. Bright covers both senses (shiny and intelligent), so it is the best answer.

Trick: Dull ↔ Bright is the standard antonym pair.

Answer: (B) Bright

Concept: Find the idiom that means to take a risk.

1. Throw caution to the wind = act boldly, ignoring the risk.
2. Talk through one's hat = talk nonsense; fill somebody's shoes = take someone's place; tighten one's belt = spend less.

Trick: Caution thrown away = risk taken.

Answer: (A) Throw caution to the wind

Concept: Pull together = to work together as a team, cooperate.

1. "They are rivals and cannot pull together" = cannot cooperate.
2. Potter about = do small tasks idly; make up = reconcile/invent; put down = criticise or suppress.

Trick: Pull together = all pull in one direction = teamwork.

Answer: (D) Pull together

Concept: Cutting corners = doing something in the easiest, cheapest or quickest way, often badly.

1. E.g. "The builder cut corners, so the roof leaked."
2. Options A, C and D take the words literally (money, stitching, cutting edges).

Trick: A runner who cuts corners saves distance but breaks the rules — saves effort, loses quality.

Answer: (B) Doing something poorly in order to save time or money

Concept: Spurious = fake, not genuine.

1. Spurious medicine = counterfeit medicine.
2. Opposite: Genuine = real, authentic.
3. Inferior = lower in quality; contemptuous = scornful; virtuous = morally good.

Trick: Spurious ↔ Genuine (fake ↔ real).

Answer: (A) Genuine

Concept: Hostile = unfriendly, opposed.

1. Antagonistic is a synonym of hostile, not an antonym.
2. Favourable = friendly, supportive — the opposite.
3. Accurate and handy are unrelated.

Trick: Hostile environment ↔ Favourable environment.

Answer: (B) Favourable

Concept: A store of weapons and ammunition = Arsenal.

1. Wardrobe = cupboard for clothes; Warehouse = store for goods; Granary = store for grain.
2. Only Arsenal is specific to arms.

Trick: Arsenal = Arms store (both start with "Ar").

Answer: (D) Arsenal

Concept: Call it a day = to stop working on something for the time being.

1. E.g. "We have worked for ten hours; let's call it a day."
2. The idiom does not judge the day as good or bad (A, C), nor relate to thinking in daytime (B).

Trick: Call it a day = declare the work-day over.

Answer: (D) Stop working on something

Concept: A close shave = a narrow escape from danger or an accident.

1. The speaker's car was hit badly but he escaped — a narrow escape.
2. Option A describes "in the firing line"; C is like "keep your hair on"; B is meaningless here.

Trick: A razor that comes very close but does not cut = danger just missed.

Answer: (D) A narrow escape

Concept: Blue blood = a person of noble or aristocratic (high) birth.

1. The phrase comes from Spanish nobles whose veins looked bluish on fair skin.
2. Sentence: noble birth does not guarantee good public behaviour (decorum).
3. Middle-class, honest or poor families do not fit.

Yaad rakhein: Blue blood = royal/high-born family.

Answer: (D) A person belonging to a high family

Concept: To make matters worse = to make an already bad situation even worse.

1. E.g. "We missed the train and, to make matters worse, it started raining."
2. Options A, B and D only play with the words and change the meaning.

Trick: Bad + one more problem = matters made worse.

Answer: (C) Make the situation worse