SSC CGL Mock – Tier II Paper I Mock Test 07 – Section II · Part A · English Language & Comprehension
SSC CGL Mock – Tier II Paper I Mock Test 07 – 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 [Little the manager realised]
Explanation:
A negative adverb ('Little') at the start needs inversion → 'Little did the manager realise'.
Spot the errorSo beautiful was the sunset / that we stood / watching it in silence.
Correct Answer: D [No error]
Explanation:
'So + adjective' at the start correctly inverts the verb ('was the sunset').
Spot the errorWere I / in your position, / I will accept the offer.
Correct Answer: C [I will accept the offer.]
Explanation:
'Were I …' is an unreal condition → 'I would accept the offer'.
Spot the errorNo one / but the two sisters / knows the secret.
Correct Answer: D [No error]
Explanation:
The subject is 'No one' (singular); 'but the two sisters' only names the exception → 'knows' is right.
Spot the errorEach of the three proposals / has their / own merits.
Correct Answer: B [has their]
Explanation:
'Each' (of things) is singular → 'has its own merits'.
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: B [He is not only]
Explanation:
'not only' must stand just before the first of the matching parts → 'He is not only a good singer but also a fine dancer'.
Sentence improvementThe bicycle which handle is broken belongs to my cousin.
Correct Answer: A [whose handle is broken]
Explanation:
Possession needs 'whose', which is used for things as well as people; 'who's' = who is.
Sentence improvementWere he to arrive late, we would start without him.
Correct Answer: D [No improvement]
Explanation:
An inverted condition with 'Were … to' is correct with 'would'.
Sentence improvementShe would rather to stay at home than go out.
Correct Answer: C [would rather stay]
Explanation:
'would rather' takes the bare infinitive → 'would rather stay'.
Directions (Q 70–73): Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank.
Correct Answer: C [derivative]
Explanation:
Merely repeating older ideas → 'derivative'.
CollocationThe old palace, once grand, had fallen into _______.
Correct Answer: B [disrepair]
Explanation:
A building in bad condition has 'fallen into disrepair'.
VocabularyThe new manager was praised for her _______; she judged every case on its merits.
Correct Answer: A [impartiality]
Explanation:
Judging every case on its merits, without favour → 'impartiality'.
VocabularyHis _______ remarks at the funeral offended the grieving family.
Correct Answer: D [flippant]
Explanation:
Remarks that offend at a funeral are not serious enough → 'flippant'.
Directions (Q 74): Select the option that expresses the given sentence in passive voice.
Correct Answer: A [It is time for the shop to be closed.]
Explanation:
Active infinitive 'to close' → passive infinitive 'to be closed', with 'for + the shop'.
Directions (Q 75): Select the option that expresses the given sentence in indirect speech.
Correct Answer: B [She said that she wished she had more time to read.]
Explanation:
Reporting verb in the past: wish → wished; the unreal past 'had' after 'wish' stays; I → she.
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. Public debate today often seems louder than ever.
R. Genuine debate requires listening to the strongest form of the opposing view.
S. Only then can disagreement lead to better ideas rather than deeper divisions.
T. Yet volume is not the same as understanding.
Correct Answer: D [QTPRS]
Explanation:
Observation → 'Yet' → what goes wrong → what is needed → 'Only then'.
Directions (Q 77–78): Select the most appropriate SYNONYM of the given word.
Correct Answer: C [bland]
Explanation:
insipid = lacking flavour or interest, bland.
SynonymMAGNANIMOUS
Correct Answer: D [generous]
Explanation:
magnanimous = generous and forgiving, especially to a rival.
Directions (Q 79–80): Select the most appropriate ANTONYM of the given word.
Correct Answer: B [popular]
Explanation:
esoteric = understood by only a few; opposite = popular (widely known and understood).
AntonymQUIESCENT
Correct Answer: C [active]
Explanation:
quiescent = inactive, at rest; opposite = active.
Directions (Q 81–82): Select the most appropriate meaning of the idiom or phrase printed in bold.
Correct Answer: A [to face a difficult situation directly and boldly]
Explanation:
'take the bull by the horns' = confront a problem boldly.
Idiom in contextAll his plans for a quick profit came to naught when the market fell.
Correct Answer: A [failed completely]
Explanation:
'come to naught' = come to nothing, fail.
Directions (Q 83–84): Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words.
Correct Answer: D [tangible]
Explanation:
tangible = perceptible by touch; tenable = able to be defended.
One-word substitutionA person who believes that war and violence are never justified
Correct Answer: B [pacifist]
Explanation:
pacifist = one opposed to war and violence.
Directions (Q 85): Four words in the sentence are underlined. Select the word that is INCORRECTLY spelt.
Correct Answer: A [onomatopeia]
Explanation:
The correct spelling is 'onomatopoeia' (-poe-ia).
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 conductor raised his baton, but the orchestra did not play. For a long moment the hall was (1) _______ silent. The musicians had agreed, in protest against the closure of the music school that had trained most of them, to hold a minute of silence before the concert. Some in the audience shifted uneasily; others, (2) _______ the reason, rose to their feet. When the music finally began, it was played with a (3) _______ that the critics later struggled to describe. The protest did not (4) _______ the decision overnight. It did, however, start a conversation that the city could no longer (5) _______.
Correct Answer: C [utterly]
Explanation:
An adverb modifies the adjective 'silent' → 'utterly'.
ClozeBlank (2): Some in the audience shifted uneasily; others, (2) _______ the reason, rose to their feet.
Correct Answer: A [sensing]
Explanation:
A participle phrase describing the others → 'sensing the reason'.
ClozeBlank (3): When the music finally began, it was played with a (3) _______ that the critics later struggled to describe.
Correct Answer: D [fervour]
Explanation:
After 'a' and before 'that', a noun is needed → 'fervour' (passion).
ClozeBlank (4): The protest did not (4) _______ the decision overnight.
Correct Answer: C [reverse]
Explanation:
'did not' + base form of the verb → 'reverse'.
ClozeBlank (5): It did, however, start a conversation that the city could no longer (5) _______.
Correct Answer: B [ignore]
Explanation:
'could no longer' + base form → 'ignore'.
Directions (Q 91–95): Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
When old Mr Rao died, his three sons gathered in the family house to divide what he had left. There was the house itself, a small field and a wooden chest that their father had kept locked for as long as they could remember. The eldest son was sure it held gold; the second expected land documents; the youngest, who had spent the most time with their father in his last years, said nothing.
When the chest was finally opened, it contained neither gold nor deeds. It was full of notebooks in which their father had recorded, day by day, the small events of their childhood: the eldest son's first steps, the fever that had nearly taken the second, the youngest's habit of hiding under the bed during thunderstorms. There were entries about debts quietly repaid, about meals he had skipped so that the boys could eat, and about a job he had refused because it would have taken him far from home.
The brothers read late into the night. By morning, the quarrel over the field seemed absurd. They agreed to leave the house as it was and to meet there every year. The eldest, who had wanted gold, was the one who insisted that the notebooks never be divided.
Correct Answer: C [gold]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'The eldest son was sure it held gold'.
RC – detailWhat had the father recorded in the notebooks?
Correct Answer: D [the small events of his sons' childhood and his own quiet sacrifices]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'recorded, day by day, the small events of their childhood'.
RC – detailWhich sacrifice of the father is mentioned in the passage?
Correct Answer: B [He refused a job that would have taken him far from home.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'a job he had refused because it would have taken him far from home'.
RC – inferenceWhy did the quarrel over the field seem 'absurd' by morning?
Correct Answer: A [The notebooks had shown the brothers what truly mattered in their family.]
Explanation:
After reading of their father's love and sacrifices all night, fighting over land seemed foolish.
RC – inferenceWhat is ironic about the ending of the passage?
Correct Answer: A [The son who had hoped for gold was the one who valued the notebooks most.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'The eldest, who had wanted gold, was the one who insisted that the notebooks never be divided'.
Directions (Q 96–100): Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
When we open a news or video app, what we see is rarely a neutral selection. Behind the screen, software studies our past clicks and decides what is most likely to keep us watching. The aim is not so much to inform us as to hold our attention, because attention is what such services sell to advertisers.
This arrangement has subtle effects. If we linger over stories that make us angry, we are shown more of them; if we favour one point of view, opposing views gradually disappear from our screens. Over time, each of us may come to inhabit a slightly different version of reality, tailored to our habits and confirming our assumptions. Critics call this the 'filter bubble'.
The remedy is not to abandon technology, which also brings genuine benefits, but to use it with awareness. Readers can deliberately seek out sources they disagree with, adjust the settings that govern their feeds, and pause before reacting to content designed to provoke. Societies, for their part, are debating how much openness should be demanded from those who design these systems. In the meantime, the most effective filter remains a curious and sceptical mind.
Correct Answer: D [to hold the user's attention]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'The aim is not so much to inform us as to hold our attention'.
RC – detailWhat happens, according to the passage, if a user favours one point of view?
Correct Answer: C [Opposing views gradually disappear from the user's screen.]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'opposing views gradually disappear from our screens'.
RC – detailThe term 'filter bubble' refers to
Correct Answer: B [a personalised version of reality that confirms one's assumptions]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'a slightly different version of reality, tailored to our habits and confirming our assumptions'.
RC – NOT mentionedWhich of the following is NOT suggested as a remedy for readers?
Correct Answer: A [deleting every news app]
Explanation:
The author rejects abandoning technology; the other three steps are recommended.
RC – toneThe author's attitude towards technology is best described as
Correct Answer: D [balanced: it is useful but must be used with awareness]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'which also brings genuine benefits, but to use it with awareness'.
Directions (Q 101–105): Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
The rider who brings a meal to your door in a few minutes is part of a growing workforce that has no fixed employer. Delivery and ride-hailing platforms describe such workers as independent partners who are free to choose their own hours. For many young people, especially those without formal qualifications, this flexibility offers a welcome way to earn.
The same flexibility, however, carries risks. Earnings depend on the number of orders, which can fall without warning, and the costs of fuel and vehicle repairs usually fall on the worker. Because riders are not treated as employees, they may lack the safety nets, such as paid leave or health insurance, that salaried workers take for granted. The pressure to deliver quickly can also tempt them to take risks on the road.
Governments and platforms are now grappling with an awkward question: how can the freedom that attracts workers be preserved while giving them a measure of security? Some proposals involve setting aside a small part of every transaction for a welfare fund; others suggest a minimum payment for each hour of active work. None is perfect, but the debate reflects a growing recognition that convenience for customers should not come at the cost of fairness for those who provide it.
Correct Answer: C [as independent partners who are free to choose their own hours]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'independent partners who are free to choose their own hours'.
RC – NOT mentionedWhich risk faced by delivery riders is NOT mentioned?
Correct Answer: B [being forced to work fixed night shifts]
Explanation:
Falling orders, fuel and repair costs and missing safety nets are mentioned; fixed night shifts are not – the work is flexible.
RC – vocabularyAs used in the passage, 'grappling with' a question means
Correct Answer: A [struggling to deal with it]
Explanation:
An 'awkward question' with no perfect answer is being struggled with.
RC – detailWhich proposal is mentioned in the passage?
Correct Answer: C [setting aside a part of every transaction for a welfare fund]
Explanation:
The passage says: 'setting aside a small part of every transaction for a welfare fund'.
RC – main ideaWhat is the author's central concern?
