SSC CGL Mock – Tier II Paper I Mock Test 03 – Section II · Part A · English Language & Comprehension
SSC CGL Mock – Tier II Paper I Mock Test 03 – Section II · Part A · English Language & Comprehension – 45 questions, subject: Full Mock Tests. Every question has the correct answer with a one-line explanation; tap "Show Answer". Free practice for TNPSC, UPSC, SSC, Bank and RRB exams – Shanmugam IAS Academy, Coimbatore.
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Directions (Q 61–65): Each sentence below is divided into three segments. Select the segment that contains a grammatical error. If there is no error, select 'No error'.
Correct Answer: B [to pay]
Explanation:
'insist' is followed by 'on' + -ing → 'insisted on paying'.
Spot the errorAmong the two candidates, / Meera is / the better speaker.
Correct Answer: A [Among the two candidates,]
Explanation:
For two people use 'between' → 'Between the two candidates'.
Spot the errorHe is / an university professor / in Delhi.
Correct Answer: B [an university professor]
Explanation:
'university' begins with a 'yoo' (consonant) sound → 'a university professor'.
Spot the errorThe company / has launched / it's new phone this week.
Correct Answer: C [it's new phone this week.]
Explanation:
'it's' means 'it is'; the possessive is 'its' → 'its new phone'.
Spot the errorThe guests had / hardly sat down / than the soup was served.
Correct Answer: C [than the soup was served.]
Explanation:
'hardly' pairs with 'when', not 'than' → 'when the soup was served'.
Directions (Q 66–69): Select the most appropriate option to improve the underlined part of the sentence. If no improvement is needed, select 'No improvement'.
Correct Answer: D [No improvement]
Explanation:
'turn' here is a linking verb, so an adjective ('sour') follows it.
Sentence improvementLet us wait until he does not come.
Correct Answer: C [wait until he comes]
Explanation:
'until' already means 'up to the time when', so no 'not'; a time clause takes the simple present → 'wait until he comes'.
Sentence improvementInspite of his illness, he attended the meeting.
Correct Answer: B [In spite of]
Explanation:
'in spite of' is written as three words; 'despite' takes no 'of'.
Sentence improvementShe is capable to handle the project alone.
Correct Answer: A [capable of handling]
Explanation:
'capable' is followed by 'of' + -ing → 'capable of handling'.
Directions (Q 70–73): Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank.
Correct Answer: D [submitted]
Explanation:
Passive after a modal: must be + past participle.
Phrasal verbThe manager was _______ by the sudden resignation of his deputy.
Correct Answer: A [taken aback]
Explanation:
'taken aback' = surprised and shocked.
PrepositionThe new law will come _______ force next month.
Correct Answer: D [into]
Explanation:
Fixed phrase: 'come into force' = begin to apply.
UsageHe is _______ person to trust with a secret; he tells everyone everything.
Correct Answer: A [the last]
Explanation:
'the last person to …' = the least suitable person.
Directions (Q 74): Select the option that expresses the given sentence in passive voice.
Correct Answer: B [The windows are being cleaned.]
Explanation:
Present continuous → are + being + V3; the indefinite agent 'somebody' is dropped.
Directions (Q 75): Select the option that expresses the given sentence in indirect speech.
Correct Answer: C [She asked me if I would lend her my umbrella.]
Explanation:
will → would; you → I, me → her, your → my; no 'that' before 'if'.
Directions (Q 76): The sentences of a paragraph are given below in jumbled order. Select the option that arranges them in a logical sequence.
Q. One summer, a group of schoolchildren decided to clean it.
R. But when the children returned every weekend, the elders began to join them.
S. The village pond had become a dumping ground for plastic.
T. At first, the adults laughed at their efforts.
Correct Answer: C [SQTRP]
Explanation:
Problem → decision to clean 'it' → 'At first' → 'But when' → 'By the monsoon'.
Directions (Q 77–78): Select the most appropriate SYNONYM of the given word.
Correct Answer: A [discourage]
Explanation:
deter = discourage someone from doing something.
SynonymRESILIENT
Correct Answer: B [quick to recover]
Explanation:
resilient = able to recover quickly from difficulty.
Directions (Q 79–80): Select the most appropriate ANTONYM of the given word.
Correct Answer: D [exterior]
Explanation:
interior = the inside; opposite = exterior.
AntonymOBEY
Correct Answer: D [defy]
Explanation:
obey = do as told; opposite = defy.
Directions (Q 81–82): Select the most appropriate meaning of the given idiom or phrase.
Correct Answer: A [to have just enough money to avoid going hungry]
Explanation:
'keep the wolf from the door' = earn enough to survive.
Idiomto add fuel to the fire
Correct Answer: C [to make a bad situation worse]
Explanation:
'add fuel to the fire' = make an angry situation worse.
Directions (Q 83–84): Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words.
Correct Answer: B [invisible]
Explanation:
invisible = cannot be seen; inaudible = cannot be heard.
One-word substitutionA person who designs buildings
Correct Answer: D [architect]
Explanation:
architect = one who designs buildings; a mason builds with stone or brick.
Directions (Q 85): Select the correctly spelt word to fill in the blank.
Correct Answer: B [silhouette]
Explanation:
sil-hou-ette: 'h' after 'sil' and '-ette' at the end.
Directions (Q 86–90): In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each numbered blank.
The old tram rattled through the narrow streets for the last time on a grey winter evening. It was slow and noisy, (1) _______ people had grown fond of it over the years. Many of them (2) _______ the route to bid it farewell. An elderly conductor, who had worked on the line for most of his life, rang the bell at every stop. Children waved paper flags, and a few passengers were (3) _______ in tears. When the tram finally reached the depot, the crowd broke (4) _______ applause, as if (5) _______ goodbye to an old friend.
Correct Answer: A [but]
Explanation:
Slow and noisy, yet loved → contrast: 'but'.
ClozeBlank (2): Many of them (2) _______ the route to bid it farewell.
Correct Answer: C [lined]
Explanation:
A completed past action → simple past 'lined the route'.
ClozeBlank (3): Children waved paper flags, and a few passengers were (3) _______ in tears.
Correct Answer: B [openly]
Explanation:
An adverb describes how they were in tears → 'openly'.
ClozeBlank (4): When the tram finally reached the depot, the crowd broke (4) _______ applause, as if …
Correct Answer: C [into]
Explanation:
Fixed phrase: 'break into applause'.
ClozeBlank (5): … applause, as if (5) _______ goodbye to an old friend.
Correct Answer: D [saying]
Explanation:
'as if' + participle → 'as if saying goodbye'.
Directions (Q 91–95): Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Sita had never travelled alone before. When her train stopped at a small station in the middle of the night and did not move for an hour, she began to worry. The other passengers in her compartment were asleep, and the platform outside was dark except for a single lamp.
An old woman selling tea came up to the window. Seeing Sita's anxious face, she explained that a goods train had broken down further along the line and that such delays were common on this route. She refused to take money for the tea, saying that her own granddaughter was studying in a distant city and she hoped someone would be kind to her too.
The train started again just before dawn. Sita arrived late for her interview, but the panel, who had heard about the delay, allowed her to take it in the afternoon. She got the job. Many years later, whenever she saw a nervous young traveller at a station, she would remember the tea seller and the cup of tea she had not been allowed to pay for.
Correct Answer: A [Her train had stopped at a small station at night and had not moved for an hour.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'stopped at a small station in the middle of the night and did not move for an hour'.
RC – detailWhat, according to the tea seller, had caused the delay?
Correct Answer: B [A goods train had broken down further along the line.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'a goods train had broken down further along the line'.
RC – inferenceWhy did the tea seller refuse payment?
Correct Answer: D [She hoped someone would be kind to her own granddaughter, who lived far away.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'she hoped someone would be kind to her too'.
RC – detailWhat happened about Sita's interview?
Correct Answer: C [She was allowed to take it in the afternoon.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'allowed her to take it in the afternoon'.
RC – main ideaThe passage mainly shows that
Correct Answer: A [a small kindness can be remembered for a lifetime]
Explanation:
Years later, Sita still remembered 'the tea seller and the cup of tea she had not been allowed to pay for' – a small kindness remembered for a lifetime.
Directions (Q 96–100): Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Many Indian cities face a strange paradox. During the monsoon, streets flood and rainwater rushes into drains; a few months later, the same neighbourhoods queue for water tankers. The rain that falls in abundance is allowed to run away, while groundwater, pumped out year after year, sinks deeper and deeper.
Rainwater harvesting offers a way out of this cycle. Water from rooftops can be led through pipes into storage tanks for direct use, or into recharge pits that let it soak back into the ground. The technology is neither new nor complicated; traditional step-wells and village tanks were built on the same principle.
The main obstacles are not technical but human. Residents may install a system and then forget to clean the filters, so that the pits clog with silt. Housing societies sometimes treat the work as a formality required for approval rather than a long-term responsibility. Where people understand that every litre caught on their roof is a litre less to be bought from a tanker, however, the systems tend to be well maintained.
Correct Answer: A [Neighbourhoods that flood in the monsoon run short of water a few months later.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'a few months later, the same neighbourhoods queue for water tankers'.
RC – detailWhat are recharge pits used for?
Correct Answer: D [to let rainwater soak back into the ground]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'recharge pits that let it soak back into the ground'.
RC – detailAccording to the passage, rainwater harvesting technology is
Correct Answer: C [neither new nor complicated]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'The technology is neither new nor complicated'.
RC – main ideaWhat, according to the passage, is the main obstacle to rainwater harvesting?
Correct Answer: B [human neglect, such as failing to clean the filters]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'The main obstacles are not technical but human'.
RC – detailWhen are harvesting systems likely to be well maintained?
Correct Answer: B [when people see that water caught on the roof saves them buying water from a tanker]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'every litre caught on their roof is a litre less to be bought from a tanker'.
Directions (Q 101–105): Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
The spread of cheap smartphones and data has put a vast library of lessons within reach of anyone with a connection. A farmer can watch a video on drip irrigation, a homemaker can learn accounting, and a student in a small town can attend lectures that were once available only in large cities.
Yet access alone does not guarantee learning. Many people sign up for online courses with enthusiasm and abandon them within weeks. Without classmates, deadlines or a teacher who notices their absence, it is easy to drift away. Learning, it turns out, is as much a social activity as an individual one.
The most successful programmes seem to recognise this. They combine short online lessons with occasional meetings in person, form small groups whose members encourage one another, and give learners frequent chances to test what they have learned. Technology, in other words, works best when it supports human connection rather than replacing it.
Correct Answer: C [Lessons once available only in large cities can now be reached by anyone with a connection.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'lectures that were once available only in large cities'.
RC – detailAccording to the passage, why do many learners abandon online courses?
Correct Answer: D [They lack classmates, deadlines or a teacher who notices their absence.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'Without classmates, deadlines or a teacher who notices their absence'.
RC – vocabularyAs used in the passage, 'to drift away' means to
Correct Answer: A [lose interest gradually and stop taking part]
Explanation:
Learners slowly lose touch with the course and stop – 'drift away'.
RC – NOT mentionedWhich of the following is NOT described as a feature of the most successful programmes?
Correct Answer: C [long video lectures]
Explanation:
The successful programmes use SHORT online lessons; long lectures are not mentioned.
RC – main ideaWhat is the author's main argument?
