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

Concept: The idiom through and through means thoroughly, completely, in every way.

1. Example: He is a soldier through and through = a soldier in every respect.
2. eventually = in the end; gradually = slowly, step by step; partially = only in part (the opposite idea).
3. Only completely carries the sense of 'wholly'.

Trick: Think of something soaked 'through and through' – wet right to the core, i.e. completely.

Answer: (B) completely

Concept: Spontaneous means done on a sudden natural impulse, without planning.

1. impulsive = acting suddenly without forethought – same sense.
2. planned and intended mean deliberately thought out – these are antonyms.
3. prejudiced = biased – unrelated.

Trick: Spontaneous applause = sudden, unplanned clapping → impulsive.

Answer: (B) impulsive

Concept: To egg (someone) on means to urge or encourage someone to do something, often something foolish or risky.

1. Example: His friends egged him on to jump into the river.
2. It has nothing to do with agreeing, quarrelling or continuing.
3. So the meaning is encourage.

Yaad rakhein: 'Egg' here comes from Old Norse eggja = to incite, not the food.

Answer: (C) encourage

Concept: Spelling check of each option.

1. custody, cursory, custom – all correctly spelt.
2. Politeness is spelt courtesy (c-o-u-r-t-e-s-y), not curtesy.
3. Hence curtesy is wrongly spelt.

Trick: Courtesy comes from court (polite court manners) – keep the 'ou' of court.

Answer: (D) curtesy

Concept: A protected area where birds or animals live safely is a sanctuary.

1. oasis = fertile spot with water in a desert.
2. retreat = a quiet place to withdraw to; asylum = shelter/protection for refugees or (old use) a mental hospital.
3. Bird/wildlife reserve = sanctuary (e.g. Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary).

Yaad rakhein: Wildlife Sanctuary / Bird Sanctuary – a fixed pair.

Answer: (B) sanctuary

Concept: Preposition use: a thing slips from / out of one's hand, not 'with' it.

1. slip from shows movement away from a source.
2. Correct: The bottle slipped from my hand and broke into a thousand pieces.
3. Other segments are correct, so the error is in with my hand.

Trick: Slip from / out of the hand; 'with' shows accompaniment, not separation.

Answer: (B) with my hand

Concept: A noun can be described by a participle phrase (a reduced relative clause), not by a bare finite verb.

1. the books lie on the table puts a second finite verb without a connector.
2. Correct: the books lying on the table (= the books which were lying on the table).
3. Hence the error is in lie on the table.

Trick: Noun + -ing phrase = 'which is/was doing' in short form.

Answer: (A) lie on the table

Concept: A snake in the grass = a person who pretends to be a friend but is secretly treacherous/deceitful.

1. A snake hidden in grass strikes without warning – like a hidden traitor.
2. mean, suspicious, slippery do not convey hidden betrayal.
3. So the meaning is a deceitful person.

Yaad rakhein: Hidden snake = hidden enemy = deceitful friend (आस्तीन का साँप).

Answer: (D) a deceitful person

Concept: Fixed preposition: resemblance to someone (also bear a resemblance to).

1. The noun resemblance takes to before the person/thing resembled.
2. resemblance between two things is also used, but not from/with/about.
3. Vivek has a strong resemblance to his grandfather.

Yaad rakhein: Similar to, resemblance to; but the verb 'resemble' takes no preposition.

Answer: (C) to

Concept: The definite article the is used with names of particular museums/galleries and with a specific place both speakers know.

1. National Art Gallery is a specific, unique institution → the National Art Gallery.
2. zoo refers to the particular (local) zoo both people know → the zoo.
3. So both blanks take the.

Trick: Museums, galleries, the zoo, the park (specific ones) → 'the'.

Answer: (A) the; the

Concept: Superlative degree always takes the: the best, never a best.

1. best is the superlative of good – it points to one unique top quality.
2. Correct: Rice of the best quality is available ...
3. Hence the error is in a best quality.

Yaad rakhein: Superlative (-est / most / best) → 'the'.

Answer: (B) a best quality

Concept: Spelling check of each option.

1. elementary, boundary, olfactory – correct.
2. The correct spelling is laboratory (l-a-b-o-r-a-t-o-r-y).
3. So laboratary is wrongly spelt.

Trick: Laboratory = a place of labor + 'atory' (like observatory).

Answer: (B) laboratary

Concept: Question tag: a positive statement takes a negative tag with the same auxiliary and subject.

1. Statement: There will probably be a lot of fish ... – positive, auxiliary will, subject there.
2. Tag must be negative: won't there?
3. Correct: ... in their nets, won't there? So the error is in will there.

Trick: Positive → negative tag; 'There is/will be' → tag uses 'there'.

Answer: (D) will there

Concept: Desolate = empty, bare and lifeless; gloomy and dismal.

1. bleak = bare, cold, cheerless – same sense (a desolate/bleak landscape).
2. inhabited, cultivated, protected suggest life and care – opposite ideas.
3. So the synonym is bleak.

Yaad rakhein: Desolate ≈ deserted ≈ bleak.

Answer: (B) bleak

Concept: Ignite = to set on fire, to start burning.

1. burn, light, kindle all mean to set fire – synonyms.
2. The opposite is to put out a fire = extinguish.
3. So the antonym is extinguish.

Trick: Fire extinguisher puts the fire out – opposite of ignition.

Answer: (C) extinguish

Concept: Simple present tense for a regular, repeated fact; singular subject takes verb + s.

1. Subject it (the community) is singular; 'a year' shows a habitual fact.
2. it attracts tens of thousands of visitors a year – active, present simple.
3. is attracted is passive (wrong sense); attract is plural; will attract is future.

Trick: Habitual fact + he/she/it → V1 + s.

Answer: (B) attracts

Concept: The definite article the is used for a specific thing already referred to.

1. The 'reason' is the specific one behind the visitors already mentioned.
2. Upon arrival, the reason for this is clear.
3. a/one/any would make it non-specific, which does not fit 'this'.

Trick: 'reason for this' – a particular reason → 'the'.

Answer: (C) the

Concept: In an inverted sentence beginning with a prepositional phrase, the verb agrees with the real subject that follows it.

1. Normal order: A 100m-long strip of concrete white wall is among the 18 houses and farms.
2. Real subject = a ... strip (singular); 'houses and farms' is inside the phrase.
3. Passage is in present tense, so is; was/were/are do not fit.

Trick: 'Among X is Y' → find Y, match the verb with Y.

Answer: (B) is

Concept: A non-defining relative clause about a thing after a comma takes which.

1. The antecedent is wall – a thing, not a person.
2. ... a strip of concrete white wall, which was once part of the former border ...
3. who/whom are for persons; this cannot join two clauses.

Yaad rakhein: Thing + comma → which (never 'that' after a comma).

Answer: (D) which

Concept: Collocation: a place divided by a border has one part on each side.

1. The wall divided the village, so one part of it was in East Germany and the other in West Germany.
2. branch (of a tree/organisation), piece (a broken bit), component (of a machine) do not suit a village.
3. So the word is part.

Trick: Village/country/city divided → one part ... the other part.

Answer: (D) part