SSC CGL Tier 1 2015 English Comprehension Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The verb inaugurate is the most appropriate and formal term used to describe the act of opening an event, building, or institution with a ceremony. In the context of an exhibition, it precisely conveys the official nature of the commencement. The original sentence is grammatically correct and uses the correct register for the situation described, meaning no stylistic or structural changes are necessary to enhance its meaning or impact.

Explanation

In English grammar, the verb avoid belongs to a specific group of verbs that must be followed by a gerund (the -ing form of a verb) rather than an infinitive (the to + verb form). When avoid is used as the main verb, any subsequent action functioning as its object must take the gerund form to be grammatically correct. Consequently, the construction speaking is required to properly complete the predicate of the sentence.

Explanation

The term sewage is a mass or uncountable noun used to describe waste matter and water from homes and factories. Uncountable nouns are typically used in the singular form and do not take a plural suffix. In the given sentence, the definite article the is required because it refers to the specific pollutant generated by a particular source mentioned in the sentence, which is the growth of large cities. Consequently, the sewage is the grammatically correct form to use as the specific object of the sentence.

Explanation

In standard idiomatic English, the verb have is preferred over take when referring to the consumption of food or drinks. While take is commonly used for medicine or specific items, have is the more natural choice for meals. The present perfect construction have just had correctly indicates an action that has been completed in the very recent past, which aligns with the use of the adverb just. Using had instead of taken makes the sentence more consistent with modern linguistic usage for describing the act of eating.

Explanation

In English grammar, when a noun is used to show ownership or association, the possessive case must be used. This is typically formed by adding an apostrophe and the letter s to the end of the singular noun. The phrase Henry's home correctly applies this rule to indicate that the residence belongs to or is associated with the person named Henry, making the sentence grammatically sound and clear.

Explanation

In formal English grammar, it is generally preferred to avoid splitting the infinitive. A split infinitive occurs when an adverb is placed between the particle to and the base form of the verb. In the original phrase to quickly clean, the adverb quickly separates the two parts of the infinitive. Placing the adverb after the object of the verb, as in clean their rooms quickly, maintains the grammatical integrity of the infinitive phrase to clean while clearly modifying the action. This structure follows traditional stylistic rules often tested in competitive examinations.

Explanation

The sentence uses the modal verb needn't in a negative statement, which requires a positive question tag using the same modal verb. Therefore, the correct tag is need I.

Explanation

The word incomprehensible refers to something that is impossible or extremely difficult to understand, grasp, or mentally process. It is derived from the Latin prefix in-, meaning not, combined with comprehendere, which means to seize or understand. It specifically describes ideas, speech, or situations that lack clarity or are too complex for the human mind to interpret effectively.

Explanation

A seminar is a formal meeting or assembly of people for the purpose of discussing a specific subject or problem. It is characterized by an environment where participants confer with one another to exchange ideas, share knowledge, and explore topics through guided conversation. Unlike a one-way presentation, a seminar is explicitly arranged to facilitate dialogue and collective deliberation, making it the standard term for a session defined by the act of conferring and discussing among a group.

Explanation

An elegy is a poem or song of serious reflection, typically written as a lament for someone who has died. It is characterized by its mournful, melancholy, or plaintive tone, serving as a formal expression of grief and tribute to the deceased. While it focuses on loss and mortality, it often concludes with a sense of consolation or peace. Examples include Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard or Walt Whitman's O Captain! My Captain!, which utilize this specific literary form to channel sorrow into artistic expression.

Explanation

A hallucination is a sensory perception that occurs in the absence of any external stimulus and lacks objective reality. It is a vivid and clear perception that has the full force and impact of a real perception, even though the perceived object or event does not exist in the physical environment. In psychiatric and psychological terms, it represents a state where the brain generates internal images or sounds that the individual experiences as coming from the outside world, making it the precise definition of an image or perception without an objective basis.

Explanation

Geriatrics is the branch of medical science specifically dedicated to the study of health and disease in the elderly. The term is derived from the Greek words geron, meaning old man, and iatros, meaning healer. This medical specialty focuses on the unique healthcare needs of older adults, including the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of illnesses and disabilities that occur during the aging process. It encompasses clinical, social, and psychological aspects of care to improve the quality of life for the aged population.

Explanation

A changeling is a term traditionally used in European folklore to describe a child or creature believed to have been secretly substituted by fairies for a human infant. In a broader linguistic context, it refers to any child who has been exchanged or switched for another during infancy, typically without the knowledge of the parents or guardians.

Explanation

A martyr is defined as an individual who voluntarily suffers death or endures great suffering as a penalty for refusing to renounce a religion or a particular belief. The term originates from the Greek word martys, meaning witness, signifying someone who bears witness to their faith through their sacrifice. In historical and religious contexts, a martyr is honored for their steadfast commitment and willingness to face persecution or execution rather than abandon their spiritual convictions. This term specifically identifies a person who undergoes extreme hardship or sacrifice as a testament to the strength and sincerity of their religious or moral faith.

Explanation

The word deplorable is derived from the verb deplore, which means to feel or express strong disapproval of something. According to standard English spelling rules, when the suffix -able is added to a root word ending in a silent e, the e is typically dropped if the suffix begins with a vowel. Since the letter r in deplore does not require the e to maintain a specific sound, the silent e is removed before attaching the suffix, resulting in the correct spelling deplorable. This adjective is used to describe situations or conduct that are shockingly bad or deserving of strong condemnation.

Explanation

Surreptitious is the correct spelling, referring to something kept secret or done by stealth, especially because it would not be approved of. The word is derived from the Latin surrepticius, which combines sub- (meaning secretly) and rapere (meaning to seize). It follows a specific morphological structure in English that uses the double r and the adjective suffix -itious, similar to the construction found in words like fictitious or repetitious. This suffix is used to form adjectives indicating a state or quality, and the sequence i-t-i-o-u-s is the standard representation of this phonetic ending in formal English vocabulary.

Explanation

The passage highlights that the mortality rate from heart disease has been delayed or pushed into the future due to specific interventions. The author explains that through a combination of diet, exercise, and medicine, risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol are now being effectively managed. Because these medical and lifestyle interventions allow people to control the physiological triggers of heart disease, it has become less of an immediate leading killer compared to previous decades, subsequently causing cancer to emerge as a more prominent cause of death among the elderly.

Explanation

The passage explicitly states that when it comes to diseases of the elderly, there can be no decisive victory. While researchers have made progress in reducing the death toll from childhood cancers and managing cancers in people during their prime, the text emphasizes that cancer is a condition deeply ingrained in the nature of multicellular life, making it a far harder problem to solve. Therefore, claiming that researchers have achieved their greatest victory by containing the disease among the elderly is factually incorrect according to the provided text.

Explanation

The phrase "the toll of heart disease has been pushed into the future" refers to the postponement of mortality through medical and lifestyle interventions. The passage explains that diet, exercise, and medications used to control blood pressure and cholesterol have transformed heart disease from an immediate terminal threat into a manageable condition. By effectively managing these risk factors, healthcare providers can delay the fatal impact of the disease, allowing individuals to survive much longer than they would have in previous decades. This shift means that the period between the onset of heart-related issues and the resulting death is extended, thereby reducing the likelihood of an immediate fatality and moving the actual "toll" or death to a later stage of the individual's life.

Explanation

The adjective difficult serves as a more formal and precise synonym for hard when characterizing scientific or medical challenges. In the context of professional or analytical writing, more difficult is the standard comparative form used to describe the complexity and the significant hurdles involved in research. By replacing harder with more difficult, the sentence achieves a more academic tone that aligns with the sophisticated nature of the discussion regarding multicellular life and pathology. This choice effectively conveys the increased level of effort and intricacy required to combat cancer compared to the relatively straightforward methods used to manage heart disease or infectious plagues.

Explanation

The passage characterizes cancer as a significantly more challenging medical issue because it is fundamentally ingrained in the biology of multicellular life. Unlike infectious diseases or conditions like heart disease, which the author suggests had precise causes that could be directly confronted or managed through specific interventions like diet and medicine, cancer represents a broader biological complexity. By stating that previous major killers were easier obstacles because they had identifiable causes, the author implies that cancer lack of a singular, easily targeted cause and its deep-seated nature within life itself make it the more difficult problem to solve decisively.

Explanation

The term lavish signifies a style of spending that is profuse, generous, or abundant, often to the point of being excessive. Hospitality refers to the generous and friendly treatment of visitors and guests. In the context of the passage, a successful businessman is expected to display his wealth by spending large sums of money on entertaining others. Failure to do so results in him being perceived as mean or stingy. Therefore, the phrase describes the expectation that such an individual should be extravagant and unsparing when providing entertainment and comforts to his guests to uphold his professional and social reputation.

Explanation

The passage highlights a paradox in how financial behavior is perceived based on an individual's social status. It specifically notes that while a successful businessman is expected to be lavish to maintain his reputation, his current wealth is the direct result of being careful with money in his earlier stages. By stating that he would never have achieved his present wealth if he had not been careful with his money in the first place, the author establishes that thriftiness is a functional prerequisite for financial achievement and success. This reinforces the idea that being thrifty is a strategic behavior that enables capital accumulation and upward mobility.

Explanation

The author uses the phrase joyless little piles to describe how the housewife organizes her housekeeping money. This specific choice of words indicates that the process of extreme budgeting and saving is not a source of pride or happiness for her, but rather a somber and restrictive necessity. The requirement to be so meticulously careful with money just to face daily expenses like the milkman with equanimity suggests that her life is dominated by the heavy weight of financial constraint. This constant pressure to prioritize bill-paying over any personal desire or spontaneous expenditure characterizes her daily existence as a joyless burden.

Explanation

The passage highlights that for the lower-income group, such as the clerk and his wife, the highest virtue is the punctual payment of bills. The wife is described as meticulously dividing her housekeeping money into specific piles to ensure every expense is covered. Equanimity refers to mental calmness and composure. She possesses this composure when facing the milkman because her disciplined budgeting ensures that his dues are always paid regularly and she is never in debt to him. Her lack of guilt and financial readiness allow her to meet him without any distress or anxiety.

Explanation

The passage explicitly states that a successful businessman is expected to display his success through an expensive life, a smart car, and lavish hospitality. If he fails to do so, his reputation in business may suffer, indicating that maintaining this image is a requirement of his position.

Explanation

The error in this sentence is related to the idiomatic use of prepositions. The verb disqualified is standardly followed by the preposition from rather than the infinitive to. Additionally, when a verb follows the preposition from, it must be in the gerund form ending in -ing. Therefore, the phrase to appear at the examination should be corrected to from appearing at the examination to maintain grammatical accuracy. This rule of fixed prepositions is a common feature in English where specific verbs require specific prepositional complements to convey the intended meaning correctly.

Explanation

The sentence follows the rule of sequence of tenses, where the main clause and the subordinate clause must be consistent in time. The main verb stopped is in the simple past tense, indicating that the entire action took place in the past. Therefore, the verb in the temporal clause introduced by as soon as must also be in the past tense. The present tense verb rings is incorrect and must be replaced by the past tense form rang to ensure grammatical consistency throughout the sentence.

Explanation

The sentence is grammatically sound and free from errors. The subject The old curtains is correctly paired with the plural past tense verb were torn. The second clause and they flapped maintains logical consistency by using the pronoun they to refer back to the curtains and using the simple past tense flapped to match the timeframe of the first clause. The prepositional phrase in the light breeze correctly describes the circumstances of the action. Since the sentence adheres to standard rules of subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, and prepositional usage, it is correct as written.

Explanation

The word 'who' should be replaced with 'whom' because it functions as the object of the verb 'consider' in the subordinate clause. In formal grammar, 'who' is used for the subjective case and 'whom' for the objective case.

Explanation

When a sentence begins with an intensifying phrase such as So + adjective or So + adverb to provide emphasis, it must follow the rule of subject-verb inversion. In this structure, the verb or auxiliary verb must be placed before the subject. Therefore, the phrase So hoarse he was is grammatically incorrect and should be written as So hoarse was he to properly connect with the subsequent result clause introduced by that.

Explanation

The conjunction unless means if not and correctly establishes the condition that if it does not rain, the crop will fail. Until refers to a point in time and is logically incorrect here because crop failure is typically a permanent result of a condition rather than a temporary state that ceases when it rains.

Explanation

The phrasal verb stand down means to withdraw from a contest, competition, or position, often because the circumstances are difficult or in favor of someone else. In the context of this sentence, the phrase stiff competition implies a high level of difficulty or intense pressure, making stand down the appropriate choice to describe her decision to withdraw or step aside from the event.

Explanation

This sentence is a second conditional construction, which is used to express hypothetical or imaginary situations in the present or future. The structure of a second conditional sentence consists of an if-clause in the past subjunctive mood and a main clause using the modal would followed by the base form of the verb. Since the if-clause uses were selected, the corresponding result clause must use would make to maintain grammatical consistency and correctly convey the hypothetical nature of the statement.

Explanation

The prepositional phrase to the best of one's ability is a standard idiomatic expression in English. It is used to indicate that an action is performed using the maximum amount of effort, skill, or resources available to a person. In this context, the preposition to establishes the limit or extent of the effort exerted by the subject in relation to his total capacity.

Explanation

In administrative and formal contexts, the word expedite is the most appropriate choice to describe the action of accelerating a process or making it happen more quickly. It specifically refers to facilitating the progress of an official procedure or task, fitting the professional relationship between a Chief Minister and her officers. While other terms might share a similar general meaning, expedite carries the necessary nuance of efficiency and official action required for the procurement process mentioned in the sentence.

Explanation

Bumptious is an adjective used to describe someone who is self-assertive or proud to an irritating degree. It implies an offensive level of self-importance and arrogance. Conceited directly matches this meaning as it refers to an individual who possesses an excessively high opinion of their own worth, qualities, or abilities. Both terms characterize a person who is overly full of themselves and displays a lack of humility in their interactions with others.

Explanation

Ostracize originates from the Ancient Greek practice of ostrakismos, where citizens were banished from a city-state for a period of ten years by popular vote. In contemporary English, it refers to the act of excluding, shunning, or banishing an individual from a social group or society. Expel is the most accurate synonym as it denotes the act of officially forcing someone to leave an organization, institution, or group, thereby depriving them of participation or membership. Both terms describe the systematic removal or exclusion of a person from a collective body.

Explanation

The word bane originates from the Old English word bana, which historically referred to a slayer or a cause of death. In modern usage, it describes a source of persistent annoyance, great distress, or ruin. It identifies a cause of misery or a destructive influence that regularly plagues a person or thing. Consequently, it is synonymous with a curse, as both terms signify something that brings about harm, misfortune, or ruinous consequences.

Explanation

Arrogant describes a person who has an exaggerated sense of their own importance or abilities, often manifesting as pride, haughtiness, or a sense of superiority over others. The word humble is the direct antonym, as it refers to having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's own importance. While an arrogant individual displays vanity and ego, a humble person is characterized by modesty and a lack of pretension.

Explanation

The word impoverished describes a state of being reduced to poverty, lacking sufficient money, or being deprived of essential resources and strength. In contrast, affluent refers to a condition of having an abundance of wealth, property, or material goods. Since one term denotes extreme financial lack and the other denotes great prosperity and riches, they serve as direct opposites in meaning regarding socioeconomic status and resource availability.

Explanation

The word affirmed means to state as a fact or to strongly assert the truth and validity of something. Its direct antonym is denied, which means to declare that a statement or allegation is untrue or to refuse to admit the existence or truth of something. While affirming involves confirming a proposition, denying involves rejecting it as false.

Explanation

The idiom gets on my nerves is used to describe someone or something that irritates or bothers a person. It suggests a state of being persistently provoked or troubled by another person's actions or behavior. In the given sentence, although Anand is generally considered a nice person, the speaker finds that his conduct occasionally causes frustration or irritation, which is the exact meaning conveyed by the phrase.

Explanation

The idiom catch time by the forelock means to act promptly and seize an opportunity while it is still available. This expression originates from ancient personifications of Time or Opportunity, such as the Greek deity Kairos, who was depicted with a long lock of hair on his forehead but was bald at the back of his head. This imagery suggests that one must grab the figure from the front as he approaches; once he has passed, there is no hair to grasp from behind. In a practical sense, it encourages taking immediate action to capitalize on favorable circumstances before the chance is lost forever.

Explanation

The idiom "a shot in the arm" originates from the literal practice of receiving a medical injection or stimulant that provides an immediate boost to a person's physical health or energy levels. Figuratively, it refers to any event or action that revitalizes a situation or provides a sudden burst of encouragement and morale. In the context of the sentence, receiving an award acts as a powerful psychological stimulant that validates the individual's hard work and motivates them to continue their efforts with renewed vigor and confidence.

Explanation

The idiom horse sense refers to sound, practical judgment and native intelligence that is not derived from specialized training or formal education. It is synonymous with basic common sense. The term emerged in the early 19th century, drawing a comparison to the perceived innate intelligence and practical instincts of horses. Having horse sense implies a person has the ability to make logical and prudent decisions based on straightforward observation and everyday experience. It represents a down-to-earth wisdom that is often valued over complex or theoretical advice in real-world situations.

Explanation

The idiom man of letters refers to a person who is deeply involved in literature, scholarly writing, or intellectual pursuits. It signifies an individual who is extensively read and is often an author of significant literary works. Jawaharlal Nehru fits this description as he was a prolific writer and scholar, having penned influential books such as The Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History, and An Autobiography, all of which established his reputation as a refined intellectual and a literary figure.