SSC CGL Mock – Tier II Paper I Mock Test 06 – Section II · Part A · English Language & Comprehension
SSC CGL Mock – Tier II Paper I Mock Test 06 – 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: A [He has lived]
Explanation:
An action completed before another past action takes the past perfect → 'He had lived'.
Spot the errorShe drives / more carefully than / her brother does.
Correct Answer: D [No error]
Explanation:
Comparative adverb 'more carefully than' is correct, and 'does' stands for 'drives'.
Spot the errorI am / too glad / to see you here.
Correct Answer: B [too glad]
Explanation:
'too' means 'more than is good' and gives a negative sense → 'very glad'.
Spot the errorThe jewellery / she wore / were very expensive.
Correct Answer: C [were very expensive.]
Explanation:
'jewellery' is uncountable → 'was very expensive'.
Spot the errorHe asked me / what was my name / and where I lived.
Correct Answer: B [what was my name]
Explanation:
A reported question keeps statement word order → 'what my name was'.
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: A [no use crying]
Explanation:
Fixed pattern: 'It is no use + -ing'.
Sentence improvementShe has married to a doctor.
Correct Answer: C [is married to]
Explanation:
The state is 'be married to' someone → 'She is married to a doctor'.
Sentence improvementThe patient had already died when the ambulance arrived.
Correct Answer: D [No improvement]
Explanation:
The earlier of two past actions takes the past perfect 'had died'.
Sentence improvementThe cost of living has increased considerably this year.
Correct Answer: D [No improvement]
Explanation:
The subject 'The cost' is singular → 'has increased'.
Directions (Q 70–73): Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank.
Correct Answer: A [dismal]
Explanation:
No goal met → a complete and depressing failure: 'dismal'.
StructureIt was not until midnight _______ the guests left.
Correct Answer: B [that]
Explanation:
Cleft pattern: 'It was not until … that …'.
Phrasal verbThe two parties agreed to _______ their differences and work together.
Correct Answer: A [set aside]
Explanation:
'set aside' = put to one side, disregard.
ConditionalIf the river _______ its banks, the low-lying areas will be flooded.
Correct Answer: C [overflows]
Explanation:
First conditional: if + simple present, will + verb.
Directions (Q 74): Select the option that expresses the given sentence in passive voice.
Correct Answer: D [The project will have been completed by the authorities by next year.]
Explanation:
Future perfect → will have been + V3.
Directions (Q 75): Select the option that expresses the given sentence in indirect speech.
Correct Answer: D [He said that he might go to Delhi the following week.]
Explanation:
may → might; next week → the following week; 'told' needs an object.
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. Instead of throwing it away, she filled the crack with a thin line of gold-coloured paint.
R. The repaired pot looked more striking than the perfect ones beside it.
S. The potter held up a pot that had cracked in the kiln.
T. Flaws, she told him, could tell a story that perfection never could.
Correct Answer: B [SQRPT]
Explanation:
Cracked pot → 'Instead of throwing it away' → 'The repaired pot' → the customer → 'she told him'.
Directions (Q 77–78): Select the most appropriate SYNONYM of the given word.
Correct Answer: C [practical]
Explanation:
pragmatic = dealing with things sensibly, practical.
SynonymSTEADFAST
Correct Answer: A [unwavering]
Explanation:
steadfast = firm and unwavering in purpose.
Directions (Q 79–80): Select the most appropriate ANTONYM of the given word.
Correct Answer: C [meagre]
Explanation:
lavish = rich and plentiful; opposite = meagre.
AntonymREPRIMAND
Correct Answer: A [commend]
Explanation:
reprimand = scold formally; opposite = commend.
Directions (Q 81–82): Select the most appropriate meaning of the given idiom or phrase.
Correct Answer: B [to have an advantage or control]
Explanation:
'have the upper hand' = be in a stronger position.
Idiomto bite off more than one can chew
Correct Answer: D [to take on more than one can manage]
Explanation:
'bite off more than one can chew' = attempt something too big for one's ability.
Directions (Q 83–84): Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words.
Correct Answer: A [hypochondriac]
Explanation:
hypochondriac = one who constantly and needlessly worries about health.
One-word substitutionThe study of the origin and history of words
Correct Answer: D [etymology]
Explanation:
etymology = word origins; entomology = insects.
Directions (Q 85): Select the correctly spelt word to fill in the blank.
Correct Answer: C [miniature]
Explanation:
min-i-a-ture: 'mini' + 'a' + 'ture'.
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.
Not every scientific discovery is made in a laboratory. Across the world, ordinary people now (1) _______ to research by counting birds in their gardens, photographing insects, or noting the days on which trees first flower. Individually, such observations may seem (2) _______. Pooled together, however, they give scientists a picture of change over large areas that no single team could (3) _______ on its own. The volunteers gain too: they learn to observe (4) _______ and often develop a lasting interest in the natural world. In this way, citizen science (5) _______ the gap between experts and the public.
Correct Answer: B [contribute]
Explanation:
'contribute to research' = help it.
ClozeBlank (2): Individually, such observations may seem (2) _______.
Correct Answer: C [trivial]
Explanation:
'Individually … however, pooled together' sets small value against great value → 'trivial'.
ClozeBlank (3): Pooled together, however, they give scientists a picture of change over large areas that no single team could (3) _______ on its own.
Correct Answer: D [assemble]
Explanation:
After the modal 'could' use the base form → 'could assemble'.
ClozeBlank (4): The volunteers gain too: they learn to observe (4) _______ and often develop a lasting interest in the natural world.
Correct Answer: A [closely]
Explanation:
An adverb describes how they observe → 'closely'.
ClozeBlank (5): In this way, citizen science (5) _______ the gap between experts and the public.
Correct Answer: B [bridges]
Explanation:
Bringing experts and the public together → 'bridges the gap'.
Directions (Q 91–95): Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
For as long as anyone could remember, the children of the village had crossed the stream on their way to school by stepping from stone to stone. In the dry months it was a game; in the monsoon it was a danger. Every year, petitions were sent to the district office asking for a bridge, and every year they were politely acknowledged and quietly forgotten.
Murugan, a retired mason, grew tired of waiting. He began by collecting old bricks from demolished houses and persuaded the village blacksmith to make iron rods from scrap. Young men who had laughed at him at first began to help on Sundays. Women brought food and water to the workers. Nobody kept accounts; everyone simply did what they could.
The little bridge was finished just before the rains. It was neither straight nor elegant, and an engineer who later visited is said to have smiled at its crooked railings. But it stood firm through three monsoons, until the government finally built a concrete bridge beside it. The villagers asked that the old bridge not be demolished. It still stands, unused, a reminder of what they had once done together.
Correct Answer: A [during the monsoon]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'in the monsoon it was a danger'.
RC – detailWhat happened to the villagers' petitions?
Correct Answer: B [They were politely acknowledged and then forgotten.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'politely acknowledged and quietly forgotten'.
RC – detailHow was the little bridge built?
Correct Answer: C [with old bricks, scrap iron and voluntary help from the villagers]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'collecting old bricks from demolished houses'.
RC – inferenceThe sentence 'Nobody kept accounts' suggests that
Correct Answer: D [the villagers gave freely without counting who contributed what]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'Nobody kept accounts; everyone simply did what they could'.
RC – inferenceWhy did the villagers want the old bridge preserved?
Correct Answer: C [It reminded them of what they had achieved together.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'a reminder of what they had once done together'.
Directions (Q 96–100): Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
For many office workers, the daily commute once seemed an unavoidable part of working life. In recent years, however, more employers have allowed staff to work from home on some days, and the arrangement has sparked a lively debate.
Supporters point to obvious gains. Employees save the time and money spent on travel, and many say they can concentrate better without the interruptions of a busy office. Fewer cars on the road also mean less congestion and pollution.
Critics, however, worry about what is lost. Young employees, they argue, learn a great deal simply by overhearing how experienced colleagues handle problems, and such learning is hard to reproduce on a video call. Others find that when the office is at home, the working day never quite ends.
Many organisations have therefore settled on a mixed approach, with some days in the office and some at home. Whether this compromise lasts will depend less on technology than on trust between managers and the people they manage.
Correct Answer: B [Employees save the time and money spent on travel.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'Employees save the time and money spent on travel'.
RC – detailWhat concern do critics raise about young employees?
Correct Answer: A [They may miss what they learn by overhearing experienced colleagues.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'learn a great deal simply by overhearing how experienced colleagues handle problems'.
RC – inferenceThe phrase 'the working day never quite ends' suggests that
Correct Answer: D [work tends to spill over into personal time]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'when the office is at home, the working day never quite ends'.
RC – detailWhat approach have many organisations settled on?
Correct Answer: B [a mix of days in the office and days at home]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'some days in the office and some at home'.
RC – main ideaAccording to the author, what will decide whether the compromise lasts?
Correct Answer: D [trust between managers and the people they manage]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'depend less on technology than on trust between managers and the people they manage'.
Directions (Q 101–105): Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
In classrooms and offices alike, the keyboard has steadily replaced the pen. Many adults now write by hand only to sign their names or scribble a shopping list, and some wonder whether children need to learn handwriting at all.
Teachers who defend it offer several arguments. Forming letters by hand, they say, helps young children recognise and remember them. Taking notes by hand forces students to summarise rather than copy word for word, which may help them understand what they hear. And a handwritten letter carries a personal warmth that a typed message rarely matches.
Others reply that time in school is limited, and that typing is the skill students will actually use. What matters, they argue, is clear thinking and good writing, whatever the tool.
The debate need not be settled in favour of one side. Most children will need both skills, and the real question is how to balance them. A pen and a keyboard, after all, are only instruments; the thoughts they record are what count.
Correct Answer: A [only to sign their names or write a shopping list]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'write by hand only to sign their names or scribble a shopping list'.
RC – detailWhy, according to its defenders, may taking notes by hand help students understand?
Correct Answer: C [It forces them to summarise rather than copy word for word.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'forces students to summarise rather than copy word for word'.
RC – detailWhat is the main argument of those who favour typing?
Correct Answer: B [School time is limited, and typing is the skill students will actually use.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'time in school is limited, and that typing is the skill students will actually use'.
RC – main ideaWhat is the author's own position?
Correct Answer: D [Children need both skills, and the real question is how to balance them.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'Most children will need both skills'.
RC – vocabularyAs used in the passage, to 'scribble' a shopping list means to
