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

Concept: Intriguing = arousing curiosity or interest; fascinating.

1. Closest = gripping (holding one’s attention).
2. monotonous (boring) is opposite; simultaneous and investigating are unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: Intriguing ≈ fascinating, gripping, absorbing.

Answer: (B) gripping

Concept: The article depends on the sound of the next word. rather begins with a consonant sound /r/, so it takes a.

1. an rather ✗ → a rather ✓.
2. Correct: Two elderly ladies narrated a rather improbable story to the police.
3. (If ‘rather’ were removed, ‘an improbable story’ would be correct.)

Trick: Check the word immediately after the article, not the noun.

Answer: (B) narrated an rather

Concept: The sentence contrasts two groups: the wise vs the fools. A contrast between two clauses is shown by whereas.

1. The wise try to improve themselves whereas the fools keep blaming their luck.
2. therefore shows result; whether shows choice/doubt; still does not join two contrasting clauses smoothly.

Yaad rakhein: whereas / while = ‘on the other hand’ for comparing two facts.

Answer: (B) whereas

Concept: The noun aptitude (natural ability) takes the fixed preposition for.

1. a natural aptitude for business ✓.
2. to, at, on are not used with aptitude in this sense.

Yaad rakhein: aptitude for, talent for, flair for, knack for.

Answer: (A) for

Concept: The correct spelling is righteous (morally right), pronounced ‘rai-chus’.

1. right + eous → righteous.
2. rightious, riteous, richeous are wrong spellings based on sound.

Trick: Start from ‘right’ and add ‘-eous’.

Answer: (D) righteous

Concept: Relic = a part of a holy person’s body or belongings kept and revered after death.

1. souvenir, memento = objects kept to remember a place/event.
2. trophy = a prize for victory.
3. Holy person’s remains for reverence → relic.

Yaad rakhein: Relic – sacred remains (e.g. relics of the Buddha).

Answer: (B) relic

Concept: Kick up a row = to make a noisy protest; to cause a disturbance. (row here rhymes with ‘cow’ = quarrel.)

1. Example: The customers kicked up a row over the delay.
2. It has nothing to do with lines (rows) or queues, nor literal kicking.

Trick: Row (/raʊ/) = quarrel; kick up a row/fuss = create a disturbance.

Answer: (A) cause a disturbance

Concept: Defile = to make dirty or impure; to dishonour or degrade.

1. Opposite = to raise in honour/purity → elevate.
2. degrade, debase are synonyms; evade = escape/avoid.

Yaad rakhein: Defile ↔ purify, sanctify, elevate.

Answer: (B) elevate

Concept: Take (something) to heart = to be deeply affected/upset by it. After not to, the base form take is needed.

1. decided not to take to heart the loss – idiom and infinitive both correct.
2. take heart of is not an idiom (take heart = feel encouraged); takes after ‘to’ is wrong; be taking heart changes the meaning.
3. So no substitution is required.

Yaad rakhein: take to heart = be deeply hurt; take heart = gain courage.

Answer: (B) No substitution required

Concept: Correlative pairs are fixed: neither … nor, either … or. Also the two parts should be parallel (a good singer … a good stage artist).

1. neither … or ✗ → neither … nor ✓.
2. the good should be a good to match ‘a good singer’.
3. Correct: Miss Marple is neither a good singer nor a good stage artist.

Trick: Neither always pairs with nor; either always pairs with or.

Answer: (D) or the good

Concept: The correct spelling is negligible (very small, not worth considering). The option neglegible is misspelt.

1. neglig + ible → negligible (‘i’ after ‘negl’).
2. committee (double m, t, e), jeopardy, ingenuity are correct.

Trick: Think of ‘negligence’ – same ‘negli-’ start.

Answer: (C) neglegible

Concept: The correct spelling is bouquet (a bunch of flowers), a French word pronounced ‘boo-kay’.

1. French ‘-quet’ is pronounced ‘kay’: bou + quet.
2. bouckey, bowquet, bookay are sound-based wrong spellings.

Yaad rakhein: French endings: bouquet, croquet, banquet, parquet.

Answer: (C) bouquet

Concept: The verb accuse takes the preposition of, and a verb after a preposition takes the -ing form: accused of doing something.

1. accused to tamper ✗ → accused of tampering ✓.
2. accusing to tamper and accused to tampered are ungrammatical.
3. Better: The police were accused of tampering with the evidence. (‘police’ is plural, though that part is not underlined.)

Yaad rakhein: accuse of, charge with, blame for.

Answer: (A) accused of tampering

Concept: Patrol = to go around an area regularly to watch or guard it.

1. campaign = organised series of actions for a goal; cruise = a pleasure voyage; explore = travel to discover.
2. Going round to keep watch → patrol (e.g. police patrol).

Yaad rakhein: Patrol = guard by going around; patrolling party, night patrol.

Answer: (C) patrol

Concept: Expel = to force out, throw out.

1. Opposite = to take in → absorb.
2. remove, erupt (burst out), leave are close to expel in sense.

Trick: ex- = out → expel (drive out) ↔ absorb/admit (take in).

Answer: (B) absorb

Concept: Find the sentence about the British attitude: ‘the multidimensional role that the forest weed played … was of no account, as it did not figure in forest revenues.’

1. The British valued forests only for revenue.
2. Bamboo’s many local uses did not add to that revenue, so they ignored it – until the 1920s when paper-making promised ‘increased forest revenue’.
3. Options A, C, D are not stated in the passage.

Trick: For ‘because’ questions, look for ‘as / since / because’ near the key phrase in the passage.

Answer: (B) it did not increase the forest revenue

Concept: The passage calls bamboo ‘the forest weed’ – the British saw it as a useless plant that even ‘interfered with the growing of teak’.

1. The sentence before talks about bamboo’s uses in rural life; the next says ‘Bamboo also interfered …’ – both refer to bamboo.
2. Teak was what the British wanted; Sal and pine come later in another context.

Yaad rakhein: Weed = an unwanted plant – here, the British view of bamboo.

Answer: (B) Bamboo

Concept: The passage lists the paper-making steps: ‘mincing bamboo into millimetre shreds, cooking it in chemicals, pulping and flattening it’.

1. Mincing, pulping, flattening – all mentioned.
2. Weaving is linked with basket weavers, not with paper production.

Trick: For ‘NOT’ questions, tick each option against the passage line; the odd one out is the answer.

Answer: (C) Weaving

Concept: Modest here means simple, low-cost and not showy. The passage describes bamboo in ‘low-cost’ furniture and ‘countless little ways’ that ‘we do not easily notice’.

1. Low-cost → inexpensive; ‘not easily noticed’ → not highly acclaimed.
2. Option B is the British view, not the reason for the word ‘modest’; A and C are not the meaning of ‘modest’.

Yaad rakhein: Modest = humble, unpretentious, inexpensive.

Answer: (D) it is inexpensive and not highly acclaimed

Concept: The passage says: ‘Even after Independence, supplying bamboo at extremely low prices to Indian paper mills became a ‘patriotic’ duty of the government.’

1. This matches option C directly.
2. Replacing Sal by pine was a World Bank proposal (1970s), not a patriotic duty; A and D are not mentioned as duties.

Trick: Scan for the quoted word (‘patriotic’) and read that sentence.

Answer: (C) Supplying bamboo at low prices to paper mills