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

Concept: 'Very much perplexed' means extremely confused and not knowing what to do.

1. At one's wit's end = so worried/confused that one cannot think what to do – exact fit.
2. At any rate = anyway; At loggerheads = in strong disagreement; At his disposal = available for his use.

Trick: Wit = intelligence; wit's end = thinking power exhausted.

Answer: (B) At his wit’s end

Concept: Skating on thin ice = doing something risky that could lead to trouble, like skating on ice that may crack.

1. Going for a movie just before final exams is risky for the result.
2. So it means being in a risky situation.
3. Hard work, enjoying the moment and hill stations do not convey danger.

Trick: Thin ice may break → danger/risk.

Answer: (B) being in a risky situation

Concept: Useful, comfortable features or services provided by a society, hotel or company are called amenities.

1. Amenities = conveniences such as parking, gym, pool, lift.
2. Facilitate is a verb (to make easy); Equipment = tools; System = organised method.

Trick: Hotel/society ads list 'amenities' – conveniences offered.

Answer: (D) Amenities

Concept: Profound = very deep, showing great insight or feeling.

1. Its opposite is shallow = lacking depth of thought or feeling.
2. Deep is a synonym; Inventive = creative; Occult = mysterious/supernatural.

Yaad rakhein: Profound ↔ shallow (deep vs. not deep).

Answer: (C) Shallow

Concept: Ruthlessly = without pity or mercy, cruelly.

1. Inhumanly = cruelly, without human kindness – closest meaning.
2. Unexpectedly = suddenly; Weirdly = strangely; Politely is nearly the opposite.

Trick: Ruth = pity; ruth-less = pitiless = inhuman.

Answer: (B) Inhumanly

Concept: The highlighted word is exert; to exert oneself = to make a great physical or mental effort.

1. Opposite of working hard/straining is to relax (rest, ease off).
2. Crouch = bend low; Emerge = come out; Stress = strain (close to exert, not opposite).

Trick: Exert = effort ↔ relax = rest.

Answer: (C) relax

Concept: In clauses of condition/time/relative clauses referring to the future, English uses the simple present, not 'will'.

1. Main clause: '...will take away the cash prize' – future.
2. The relative clause should be simple present: who scores the highest point.
3. 'can/could score' change the meaning to ability; 'settles scores' is meaningless here.

Trick: Future in main clause → simple present in the dependent clause (no double 'will').

Answer: (B) who scores the highest point

Concept: A journey that covers many places all over the globe is a trip around the world.

1. 'Around the world' = travelling to places across the whole world – fixed phrase.
2. 'to the world' is wrong because we are already in the world.
3. 'in/by/within the world' do not express a round journey.

Yaad rakhein: Trip/tour/travel around the world.

Answer: (D) around the world

Concept: Yeoman's service = very good, loyal and useful work, especially in a time of need.

1. Yeomen were loyal, hardworking farmers/soldiers in old England.
2. So the idiom means excellent work done.
3. It does not mean thankless, cruel or fraudulent service.

Trick: Yeoman = loyal hard worker → excellent service.

Answer: (A) Excellent work done

Concept: Fair and square = honestly, according to the rules, without cheating.

1. A 'fair and square deal' = an honest and straightforward deal.
2. Exclusive and unreal, violent and immoral, forward and backward do not fit the meaning.

Trick: Fair = just, square = straight → honest and straightforward.

Answer: (B) honest and straightforward

Concept: Refuse itself means 'not agree to accept'; adding 'to agree to it' makes the expression redundant and awkward.

1. The company offered money; he did not accept it.
2. Correct: ...but he refused it / he refused to accept it.
3. 'When he resigned', 'the company offered him', 'a huge sum of money but' are correct.

Trick: Refuse + the offered thing (refused it/the offer) – not 'refused to agree to it'.

Answer: (C) he refused to agree to it.

Concept: Both clauses describe the same present situation, so the tenses must agree.

1. 'Since his son has not yet completed...' is present perfect – the son is still under eighteen now.
2. So the father's reluctance is also present: he is reluctant, not 'he was reluctant'.
3. 'to fulfil his son's demand' and 'of getting a motorbike' are correct.

Trick: 'Not yet' + present perfect → the result clause stays in the present.

Answer: (D) he was reluctant

Concept: Freezing = extremely cold.

1. The opposite is extremely hot and humid – tropical (as in the hot tropics).
2. Summery = warm but milder; Brisk = cool and fresh; Gnawing = persistently troubling.

Trick: Freezing (polar cold) ↔ tropical (equatorial heat).

Answer: (D) tropical

Concept: A plan of times and activities is a schedule, spelt with 'sch'.

1. 'shedule' misses the 'c' → misspelt.
2. Followed, ultimately and adverse are correct.

Yaad rakhein: Schedule like school.

Answer: (D) shedule

Concept: A person who rides horses in races as a profession is a jockey.

1. Stuntman = performs dangerous acts in films.
2. Southpaw = a left-handed person (esp. a boxer).
3. Batsman = player who bats in cricket.

Trick: Horse race → jockey; horse trainer → equestrian/trainer.

Answer: (A) Jockey

Concept: 'Neither' must pair with 'nor'; here two contrasting qualities are joined, so but is needed.

1. Meaning: the sentence is awkward, yet still grammatically accurate – a contrast.
2. Correct: An awkward but grammatically accurate sentence...
3. 'either' needs 'or'; 'beyond' and 'unless' make no sense here.

Trick: Contrast between two adjectives → 'but' (awkward but accurate).

Answer: (A) awkward but grammatically

Concept: Unique, famous monuments take the definite article the.

1. There is only one Statue of Liberty, so 'a Statue of Liberty' is wrong.
2. Correct: Can we go visit the Statue of Liberty...?
3. 'the United States' already correctly has 'the'.

Trick: One-of-a-kind monuments: the Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower.

Answer: (D) visit a Statue of Liberty

Concept: Candour = the quality of being open, frank and honest.

1. A good critic must judge frankly – so candour = honesty.
2. Will = determination; Resolution = firm decision; Power = strength/authority.

Trick: Candid = frank → candour = honesty.

Answer: (C) honesty

Concept: Something that light cannot pass through, so one cannot see through it, is opaque.

1. Opaque = not transparent – exact match.
2. Transparent is the opposite; Dirty and Black describe condition/colour, not see-through quality.

Trick: Transparent (see through) ↔ translucent (partly) ↔ opaque (not at all).

Answer: (A) Opaque

Concept: Wrongdoing or minor crime, especially by young people, is delinquency.

1. Correct: d-e-l-i-n-q-u-e-n-c-y (an 'n' after 'deli').
2. 'deliquency' drops the 'n' → spelling error in segment (C).
3. Precarious, juvenile, dismissed and jury are correct.

Trick: Delinquent → delinquency (keep the 'n').

Answer: (C) deliquency against him