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

Concept: ‘In case’ is a conjunction meaning ‘if it happens that’; it introduces a possible future situation.

1. The sentence asks someone to inform us if a certain thing happens: Let us know in case you change your mind.
2. ‘however’ and ‘although’ show contrast – no contrast here.
3. ‘suppose’ starts a hypothesis/question, not a condition attached to a request.

Trick: Request + possible event → ‘in case / if’.

Answer: (D) in case

Concept: The idiom ‘a dry run’ means a practice or trial performance before the real event.

1. Example: We did a dry run of the ceremony a day before.
2. It has nothing to do with harvest, running slowly or dry ground – those are literal readings.

Yaad rakhein: Dry run = rehearsal / trial run.

Answer: (A) a rehearsal

Concept: A completed action at a definite past time (‘last night’) takes the Simple Past tense.

1. ‘last night’ is a fixed past time marker → I saw them.
2. ‘have seen’ (Present Perfect) cannot be used with a definite past time.
3. ‘see’ is a stative verb, so continuous forms ‘was seeing / am seeing’ are wrong here.

Trick: yesterday / last night / ago → Simple Past (V2).

Answer: (B) saw

Concept: FOUNDATION means the lowest supporting part on which something rests; its synonym is ‘base’.

1. ‘base’ = bottom support – same meaning.
2. ‘top’ is the opposite; ‘building’ and ‘structure’ are what stand on the foundation.

Yaad rakhein: Foundation = base, basis, groundwork.

Answer: (C) base

Concept: ‘Agony’ means extreme physical or mental pain/suffering.

1. Example: He was in agony after the injury.
2. ‘ecstasy’ and ‘rapture’ mean extreme joy – the opposite.
3. ‘acute’ is an adjective (severe/sharp), not a noun for suffering.

Yaad rakhein: Agony = extreme pain; ecstasy = extreme joy.

Answer: (D) agony

Concept: Check each word letter by letter against its standard spelling.

1. capacity, pupil, teacher – all correct.
2. ‘ablity’ misses the letter ‘i’ after ‘b’; correct spelling: ability.

Trick: Words ending in ‘-ility’: ab-il-ity, poss-ib-ility, abil-ity.

Answer: (C) ablity (correct: ability)

Concept: ‘Little by little’ means slowly, in small amounts or stages – i.e. gradually.

1. Example: Little by little, his health improved.
2. ‘a few’ and ‘not much’ refer to quantity; ‘only once’ refers to frequency – none shows step-by-step change.

Yaad rakhein: Little by little = bit by bit = step by step = gradually.

Answer: (D) gradually

Concept: For an unreal/imaginary present condition we use the subjunctive ‘were’ for all subjects; with inversion it becomes ‘Were I …’ (= If I were …).

1. Main clause ‘I would share’ shows an imaginary present (Type 2 conditional).
2. ‘Had I’ wrongly uses ‘had’ as main verb; ‘Had I been’ would need ‘would have shared’ (Type 3).
3. ‘I am’ makes no condition. So: Were I a rich person, I would share my wealth.

Trick: If I were … would + V1 → inversion: Were I …

Answer: (D) Were I

Concept: The two clauses contrast each other, so a concession conjunction (‘although’) followed by a clause is needed.

1. Not loving him and still having to marry him is a contrast, not a cause → ‘Because/Since’ are illogical.
2. ‘Despite’ is a preposition; it takes a noun/gerund, not a full clause (‘despite not loving him’).
3. Correct: Although she didn’t love him, she had to marry him.

Trick: Although + clause; Despite + noun/V-ing.

Answer: (D) Although

Concept: Check each word against its standard spelling.

1. umbrella, occurring (double r), sediment – all correct.
2. ‘exprimant’ is wrong; correct spelling: experiment (ex-per-i-ment).

Trick: Split into syllables: ex-PER-i-MENT.

Answer: (D) exprimant (correct: experiment)

Concept: The verb ‘agree’ takes ‘with’ for a person or an idea/opinion, ‘to’ for a proposal/terms, and ‘on’ for a topic.

1. Ideas = opinions → agree with your ideas.
2. ‘agree for’ and ‘agree by’ are incorrect; ‘agree to’ is used for a plan or proposal one accepts.

Yaad rakhein: agree with (person/opinion), agree to (proposal), agree on (topic).

Answer: (D) with

Concept: Habitual actions (with ‘usually’, ‘always’, ‘whenever’) take the Simple Present, not the Present Continuous.

1. ‘When he goes on a business trip’ describes a regular habit.
2. So the main clause must be: he usually takes his wife.
3. ‘is usually taking’ is the error.

Trick: usually / often / every time → Simple Present.

Answer: (B) he is usually taking his wife

Concept: A ‘casino’ is a building where people play gambling games for money.

1. Church – place of worship; university – place of higher study; gymnasium – place for physical exercise.
2. Only ‘casino’ fits ‘games played for money’.

Yaad rakhein: Casino = gambling house.

Answer: (B) casino

Concept: ‘Outdo’ means to do better than someone else; to surpass or be more successful than them.

1. Example: She outdid all her classmates in the exam.
2. ‘win’ and ‘succeed’ do not compare with another person; ‘beat’ means defeat in a contest, while the definition asks for doing better generally.

Trick: Prefix ‘out-’ = more than: outdo, outrun, outshine.

Answer: (C) outdo

Concept: An action in progress at a past moment, interrupted or set against another past action, takes the Past Continuous.

1. ‘When I left my house this morning’ – a past point of time.
2. At that time the rain was in progress → it was raining is correct.
3. ‘is raining / rains’ are present tense; ‘rained’ loses the sense of continuing action.

Trick: When + Simple Past, … Past Continuous (background action).

Answer: (D) No substitution required

Concept: ‘Live on’ a planet/island is the fixed usage; ‘on which’ = relative pronoun with preposition.

1. We live on the earth (surface), so: the planet on which we live.
2. ‘for, by, from which we live’ give no sense of location.

Trick: Turn it round: we live ___ the planet → on.

Answer: (B) on

Concept: ‘Miles per hour’ is a unit of speed, so the blank needs ‘speed’.

1. at a speed of 70,000 miles per hour – standard collocation.
2. force, distance and mass are not measured in miles per hour.

Trick: per hour / per second → speed.

Answer: (C) speed

Concept: After a comma, a relative pronoun referring to the whole previous idea (the spinning) is ‘which’ (non-defining clause).

1. ‘it spins on its axis, which causes it to be flattened’ – ‘which’ = the fact that it spins.
2. ‘that’ cannot follow a comma in a non-defining clause; ‘who’ is for persons; ‘where’ is for place.

Trick: comma + relative pronoun for a thing/idea → which.

Answer: (A) which

Concept: An imaginary condition is expressed with ‘were to + V1’ for all subjects (subjunctive), followed by ‘would’ in the main clause.

1. ‘you would be 13 miles nearer’ shows a hypothetical situation.
2. So: if you were to stand at the North Pole.
3. ‘was’ is not used with ‘you’; ‘are/have’ do not form the hypothetical.

Trick: If + subject + were to + V1, … would + V1.

Answer: (C) were

Concept: A comparative form (‘nearer’) is always followed by ‘than’.

1. 13 miles nearer the centre of the earth than if you stood on the Equator.
2. Because the earth is flattened at the poles, the polar radius is shorter than the equatorial radius (see figure).
3. ‘from, where, when’ cannot complete a comparison.

Trick: -er / more … → than.

Answer: (A) than