Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: A plural subject needs a plural verb, and a past time marker needs a past tense.

1. 'All of the cities' is plural, so 'is' is wrong.
2. 'yesterday' shows finished past action, so 'is being affected' is also wrong.
3. Fix: replace 'is being affected' with 'were affected'.
4. A, B and D are fine: 'Half of the rooms are', 'Eleven people were', 'Some of the shows are'.

Trick: With 'all/some/half of + noun', the verb follows the noun after 'of' – plural noun, plural verb.

Answer: (C) All of the cities in New York is being affected by the rain yesterday.

Concept: Each option hides a common SSC error; find the one with none.

1. A: 'senior to me' – Latin comparatives (senior, junior, prior) take 'to', not 'than'.
2. B: 'prevented from going' – prevent + from + V-ing.
3. C: 'look forward to meeting' – here 'to' is a preposition, so V-ing follows.
4. D: with 'as well as', the verb agrees with the first subject 'The teacher' → 'was' is correct.

Trick: Subject joined by 'as well as / along with / together with' – ignore the second part; the verb follows the first noun.

Answer: (D) The teacher, as well as his students, was late.

Concept: 'For fear of' is a fixed phrase meaning 'because one is afraid of (something happening)'.

1. The informer did not want to testify because he feared revenge.
2. So the blank takes for fear of.
3. The phrase 'in fear of' describes being scared of a person/thing, not a reason for avoiding an act.

Yaad rakhein: Similar fixed phrases: 'for the sake of', 'for want of' (due to lack of), 'in spite of'.

Answer: (D) for

Concept: When the second clause happens despite the first, use a contrast conjunction.

1. Heavy snow was forecast, yet the function went ahead – a clear contrast.
2. 'Even though' expresses contrast → correct.
3. 'Because/Since' show reason (illogical here); 'Unless' shows condition.

Trick: Expected result did NOT happen → think 'although / even though / despite'.

Answer: (A) Even though

Concept: When '-ous' is added to 'humour', the 'u' before 'r' is dropped.

1. humour + ous → humorous (H-U-M-O-R-O-U-S).
2. There is no 'i' before '-ous'; options A, B, C insert or misplace letters.

Trick: Same pattern: glamour → glamorous, vigour → vigorous, rigour → rigorous.

Answer: (D) Humorous

Concept: 'Made of' = material still recognisable; 'made from' = material changed completely.

1. Paper is produced by pulping wood – wood is no longer visible as wood.
2. So 'made from wood' is correct.
3. 'made up of' means 'consisting of parts' (a team made up of 11 players).

Trick: Can you still see the raw material? Yes → of (wooden chair); No → from (paper, wine from grapes).

Answer: (C) made from wood

Concept: A homonym has the same form but a different meaning.

1. In the given sentence, 'duck' = the bird (noun).
2. A, B, D also use 'duck' as the bird – same meaning.
3. C: 'duck' = to bend down quickly (verb) – different meaning → homonym.

Trick: Eliminate every option that keeps the original meaning; the odd one is the homonym.

Answer: (C) He had to duck to avoid the low-hanging branch.

Concept: Match both parts of the definition: deep respect + admiration.

1. Reverent = feeling or showing deep respect and admiration (often with awe).
2. Courteous/Polite = merely well-mannered.
3. Deferential = yielding to someone's opinion out of respect – no 'admiration' idea.

Yaad rakhein: Related: reverence (noun), revere (verb) – 'People revere Gandhi.'

Answer: (C) Reverent

Concept: Deleterious means causing harm.

1. Deleterious = harmful, damaging.
2. B, C, D (harmful, damaging, injurious) are its synonyms.
3. Opposite = beneficial (helpful, good for).

Trick: Three options share one meaning → they are synonyms; the odd one out is the antonym.

Answer: (A) Beneficial

Concept: Reverse the backshift: remove 'that', add quotes, change 'that morning' to 'this morning'.

1. 'operates' is a general fact, so it stays in present: 'The machine operates automatically'.
2. 'had malfunctioned' (past perfect) goes back to simple past 'malfunctioned'.
3. 'that morning' → 'this morning'.
4. Only C has all three changes.

Trick: Check the time word first: indirect 'that' → direct 'this'. This removes A at once.

Answer: (C) She said, 'The machine operates automatically, but malfunctioned this morning."

Concept: Annotate (add notes to a text) has a double 'n'.

1. Correct spelling: A-N-N-O-T-A-T-E.
2. Option C writes 'anotate' with one 'n' → misspelled.
3. A, B, D spell it correctly.

Trick: Think 'an + note + ate' – 'add a note' – double n.

Answer: (C) She forgot to anotate the key sections before submitting the paper.

Concept: In active voice, 'make' is followed by a bare infinitive (no 'to').

1. No doer is given, so use the general subject 'They'.
2. 'were made to write' (passive) → 'made … write' (active).
3. So the active form keeps 'make' with a bare 'write' → A.
4. C wrongly keeps 'to'.

Trick: make/let/have + object + V1 (no 'to') in active; 'to' appears only in passive.

Answer: (A) They made the participants write a detailed summary of the complex text.

Concept: Past reporting verb: present perfect → past perfect; pronouns follow the speaker.

1. 'have completed' → 'had completed'.
2. 'I/my' refer to the speaker 'He' → 'he/his'.
3. Correct: 'He said that he had completed his task.'
4. Among the options, B carries the required tense 'had completed'; A, D keep 'has/have' and C keeps 'I'.

Trick: First eliminate by tense (has → had), then by pronoun.

Answer: (B) He said that she had completed her task.

Concept: 'Did + subject + V1?' becomes 'Was/Were + object + V3 + by + subject?'

1. Object 'the highly anticipated sequel…' is singular → 'Was'.
2. release → released (V3); 'finally' stays with the verb.
3. So the passive opens with 'Was the … sequel' and uses 'released by' → A.
4. B changes tense; C, D are ungrammatical ('was … been', 'did … be').

Trick: Did → Was/Were; Do/Does → Is/Am/Are. The tense never changes in voice change.

Answer: (A) Was the highly anticipated sequel to his award-winning novel finally released by the renowned novelist?

Concept: Negative question = auxiliary + n't + subject + rest + '?'

1. First verb 'is essential' → 'Isn't it essential…'.
2. Second verb 'plays' (simple present) → 'doesn't it play…'.
3. Full form: 'Isn't it essential …, and doesn't it play a role …?' → B.
4. A, D are statements; C changes meaning with 'shouldn't'.

Trick: A question must end with '?' – only B and C qualify; C adds a new modal, so B.

Answer: (B) Isn't it essential for strong bones and teeth, and doesn't it play a role in muscle contraction and nerve transmission?

Concept: Simple present + singular subject → 'Does + subject + V1?'

1. 'Copper aids' – singular, simple present.
2. So the question starts 'Does copper aid …?'
3. A uses 'Do' (plural); B, D change the tense.

Trick: 'Does' takes the -s away from the main verb: aids → does … aid.

Answer: (C) Does copper aid in the formation of red blood cells?

Concept: Sufficient = enough for the need.

1. A balanced diet gives 'enough' metals.
2. Opposite of 'enough' = not enough = inadequate.
3. Abundant/Excessive mean more than enough; Absent means none at all – not the direct opposite.

Trick: Antonym of a 'just right' word is its 'not enough' word, not the 'too much' word.

Answer: (A) Inadequate

Concept: The passage says essential metals help in right amounts but harm in excess.

1. 'Too much of a good thing' = something good becomes harmful when overdone → fits.
2. 'A bitter pill to swallow' = an unpleasant truth.
3. 'A stitch in time saves nine' = act early; 'Every cloud has a silver lining' = hope in bad times.

Trick: Look for the idiom that carries 'excess' or 'moderation' – only D does.

Answer: (D) Too much of a good thing

Concept: Direct-fact question: locate 'iron' in the passage.

1. The passage calls iron a basic building block of hemoglobin.
2. Hemoglobin in red blood cells carries oxygen.
3. So iron helps form hemoglobin, which transports oxygen → A.
4. Bones/teeth relate to calcium; muscle relaxation relates to magnesium.

Yaad rakhein: Iron deficiency causes anaemia; calcium – bones & teeth; iodine – thyroid.

Answer: (A) It helps in the formation of hemoglobin which transports oxygen

Concept: Arrange the steps in the natural order of building.

1. P: finds a hollow and places big branches – the start.
2. Q: weaves smaller branches to make walls on those supports.
3. R: covers the structure with grass and leaves for insulation.
4. S: the shelter is complete and protects her → P, Q, R, S.

Trick: Process passages: start → frame → covering → result. 'major supports' in Q points back to P's branches.

Answer: (C) P, Q, R, S