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

Concept: The correct spelling is vengeance (revenge for an injury or wrong).

1. It begins with v, not ‘w’ – so ‘wengeance’ and ‘wengence’ are wrong.
2. After ‘veng’ comes -eance (the ‘e’ keeps the ‘g’ soft): veng-e-ance.
3. ‘vengance’ drops this ‘e’, so it is wrong.

Yaad rakhein: veng + e + ance – same soft-g ‘e’ as in ‘pigeon’, ‘surgeon’.

Answer: (D) vengeance

Concept: With a perfect continuous tense, a point of time takes ‘since’, a period of time takes ‘for’.

1. ‘hours’ is a period (duration), not a starting point.
2. So ‘since hours’ must be for hours: “She has been working tirelessly for hours.”
3. ‘She has been working’ (present perfect continuous) and ‘tirelessly’ are correct.

Yaad rakhein: since + point (since Monday, since 2010); for + period (for hours, for two years).

Answer: (A) since hours

Concept: Verbs of perception such as hear, see, smell are stative verbs and are normally not used in the continuous (-ing) form.

1. ‘to be hearing’ uses ‘hear’ in a continuous form – incorrect.
2. Correct: “I was sorry to hear of his misfortune.”
3. ‘be sorry to hear of’ is the standard expression of sympathy; the other parts are fine.

Yaad rakhein: Stative verbs (hear, see, know, love, believe) – avoid ‘-ing’: ‘sorry to hear’, not ‘sorry to be hearing’.

Answer: (C) be hearing

Concept: Pocket an insult = to accept an insult silently without protesting or reacting.

1. To ‘pocket’ something figuratively means to put up with it and keep it to oneself.
2. So the meaning is bear an insult quietly.
3. ‘resent an affront’ and ‘plan a revenge’ are the opposite reaction; ‘express true feelings’ is unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: Pocket an insult = insult ko chupchaap ‘jeb mein rakh lena’, i.e. swallow it.

Answer: (B) bear an insult quietly

Concept: The correct spelling is momentary (lasting for a very short time).

1. It comes from moment (single ‘m’ in the middle) + -ary.
2. ‘mommentary’ doubles the ‘m’; ‘momentery’ and ‘momentory’ use the wrong suffix vowel.
3. So mo-ment-ary is right.

Yaad rakhein: moment + ary = momentary (like ‘document → documentary’).

Answer: (B) momentary

Concept: Rain is an uncountable noun, so it takes ‘little’ (not ‘few’/‘many’); a future prediction uses ‘will’.

1. ‘The forecast predicts that there will be little rain’ – ‘will’ suits a prediction and ‘little rain’ means hardly any rain.
2. ‘many rain’ and ‘few rain’ use countable quantifiers with an uncountable noun – wrong.
3. ‘must be a little rain’ wrongly expresses compulsion/certainty, not a forecast.

Yaad rakhein: little/much + uncountable (rain, water); few/many + countable (drops, days).

Answer: (B) No substitution required

Concept: Muster = to gather or assemble (troops, people, courage).

1. Its opposite is to scatter or send apart – disperse.
2. ‘mobilize’, ‘convene’ and ‘assemble’ all mean bringing together – they are synonyms, not antonyms.

Yaad rakhein: Muster (ikattha karna) ↔ Disperse (bikherna).

Answer: (B) disperse

Concept: Sumptuous = splendid, lavish and expensive-looking (e.g. a sumptuous feast).

1. Opulent = rich, luxurious, lavish – same meaning.
2. ‘stingy’ (miserly), ‘meager’ (scanty) and ‘bereft’ (deprived) are all opposite in sense.

Yaad rakhein: Sumptuous = Opulent = Lavish = Luxurious.

Answer: (B) opulent

Concept: ‘Success’ here is uncountable and the verb ‘depends’ is singular, so we need a quantifier for uncountable nouns.

1. Much of our success depends on our own efforts – ‘much of’ + uncountable + singular verb.
2. ‘Few’ and ‘Many’ are used with plural countable nouns and take plural verbs.
3. ‘Less’ is not used as a pronoun subject with ‘of our…’ in this sense.

Yaad rakhein: Much of + uncountable (much of the work, much of our success).

Answer: (C) Much

Concept: The fixed expression is go on a pilgrimage; ‘pilgrim’ is the person, ‘pilgrimage’ is the journey.

1. ‘goes for a pilgrim’ wrongly uses the person-noun ‘pilgrim’.
2. Correct: “Every year the family goes on a pilgrimage to the temple at Tirupathi.”
3. ‘from the pilgrimage’ and ‘at the pilgrim’ have wrong prepositions/nouns.

Yaad rakhein: Pilgrim = yatri; Pilgrimage = tirth-yatra. Go on a pilgrimage / journey / tour.

Answer: (C) on a pilgrimage

Concept: A reflexive pronoun must agree with its subject. The subject is I, so the reflexive is myself.

1. ‘to steady itself’ refers back to ‘I’, so ‘itself’ is wrong.
2. Correct: “I had to hold on to the wall to steady myself or I could have fallen.”
3. The other segments are grammatical.

Yaad rakhein: I → myself, you → yourself, he → himself, it → itself.

Answer: (B) to steady itself

Concept: Revive = to restore to life, health or strength; to bring back.

1. The opposite is to destroy – ruin.
2. ‘renew’ and ‘arouse’ are close in meaning to revive; ‘console’ means to comfort – unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: Revive (jaan daalna) ↔ Ruin (barbaad karna).

Answer: (C) ruin

Concept: Make one’s mark = to become famous or successful; to gain recognition.

1. E.g. “She made her mark as a scientist” = she became well known.
2. So the meaning is attain recognition.
3. ‘sign a deal’ is the literal sense of ‘mark’ as signature – a trap; ‘leave a clue’, ‘claim a right’ are unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: Make one’s mark = apni pehchaan banana.

Answer: (D) attain recognition

Concept: ‘Furniture’ is an uncountable noun – it always takes a singular verb; and furniture is sold by someone, so the passive is needed.

1. Present simple passive, singular: is sold.
2. ‘are sold’ uses a plural verb – wrong with ‘furniture’.
3. ‘were selling’ and ‘has sold’ are active forms (furniture cannot sell anything).

Yaad rakhein: Furniture, luggage, information, advice – uncountable → singular verb.

Answer: (A) is sold

Concept: Choose the connector by the logic: the sentence states a condition, not a contrast.

1. Meaning: you cannot lead a healthy life if you do not stop smoking.
2. ‘although’ shows contrast and makes the sentence illogical.
3. Correct: “You cannot lead a healthy life unless you stop smoking.” – the error is in ‘although you’.

Yaad rakhein: Unless = if … not. Although = contrast (in spite of the fact).

Answer: (D) although you

Concept: Something new that a person designs and makes for the first time is invented.

1. The passage says Banaji ‘designed a whole slew of instruments’ – he created them.
2. So: has invented over a dozen surgical instruments.
3. ‘discovered’ is for something already existing (e.g. a law of nature); ‘recovered’ = got back; ‘founded’ = established an institution.

Yaad rakhein: Invent = make new; Discover = find what already exists.

Answer: (B) invented

Concept: Before a designation used in apposition with a person’s name, the article the is used.

1. ‘When the senior eye surgeon at Max Eye Care started Lasik…’ – a particular, identified surgeon (Banaji).
2. ‘they’, ‘these’, ‘those’ are plural and cannot go with the singular ‘senior eye surgeon’.

Yaad rakhein: Singular, specific person/post → ‘the’ (the principal, the senior surgeon).

Answer: (D) the

Concept: ‘Surgeons’ is a plural countable noun; the sense is ‘very small number’ (Lasik was new).

1. ‘there were few surgeons doing it worldwide’ – hardly any.
2. ‘little’ is for uncountable nouns; ‘any’ needs a negative/question; ‘more’ needs a comparison (‘than’).

Yaad rakhein: few + plural countable (few surgeons); little + uncountable (little time).

Answer: (C) few

Concept: The instruments needed were ones made for this particular purpose – i.e. specific to Lasik.

1. ‘no specific instruments were available either’ – no instruments designed especially for Lasik.
2. That is why he designed his own (Necessity → invention).
3. ‘limited’, ‘correct’, ‘exact’ do not express ‘meant for this purpose’.

Yaad rakhein: Specific instruments = instruments meant for a particular use.

Answer: (D) specific

Concept: The result clause says his instruments made his surgery ‘more efficient’ – he wants things to be flawless.

1. “As I want things perfect, I designed a whole slew of instruments…”
2. ‘popular’ (liked by many), ‘punitive’ (punishing) and ‘prolific’ (producing a lot) do not fit the desire for efficiency.

Yaad rakhein: Want things perfect = perfectionist attitude → better tools.

Answer: (C) perfect