SSC CHSL Tier 1 2012 English Comprehension Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The word incessant means continuing without interruption, non-stop, or constant. The opposite of this is intermittent, which refers to something that occurs at irregular intervals, stopping and starting repeatedly rather than being continuous.

Explanation

The word eternal is defined as lasting or existing forever, without end or beginning. The opposite of an endless duration is a limited period of time. The word temporary means lasting, existing, or serving for a limited time only, making it the direct antonym of eternal.

Explanation

The word comedy refers to a genre of literature, drama, or film that is amusing, lighthearted, and concludes with a happy ending. Its direct antonym is tragedy, which denotes a serious and somber literary or dramatic work that deals with sorrowful events, human suffering, and typically ends in a disastrous or unhappy resolution for the main characters.

Explanation

Bliss is defined as a state of supreme, perfect, or complete happiness and great joy. It is used to describe a feeling of immense delight, ecstasy, and serene contentment, making happiness the term that best expresses its meaning.

Explanation

The word candid is used to describe someone who is truthful, straightforward, sincere, and open in their speech or expression. It implies a free, unreserved, and honest delivery of thoughts without any disguise or pretense. The word frank is a direct synonym that similarly describes a person or statement that is open, honest, and direct in speech or writing.

Explanation

The word meagre refers to something that is deficient or lacking in quantity, quality, or substance. The word inadequate similarly describes something that is insufficient, deficient, or not enough in quantity or quality to meet a required need. Therefore, inadequate is the best synonym that expresses the exact meaning of meagre.

Explanation

The idiom "take exception" means to object strongly to something, to disagree with it, or to find it offensive. In the given sentence, the speaker felt offended or strongly disagreed with the remarks made, leading them to raise an objection and walk out of the meeting.

Explanation

The idiom "turn a deaf ear" means to intentionally ignore, disregard, or refuse to listen to what someone is saying, especially when it involves advice, requests, or warnings. In this context, turning a deaf ear to parental advice means deliberately choosing to pay no attention to it and refusing to comply with or obey their guidance.

Explanation

The idiom "live from hand to mouth" means to spend all the money one earns on basic survival needs, such as food and shelter, without having anything left over for savings or future planning. In the context of high inflation, this hand-to-mouth existence indicates a state of severe financial struggle, deprivation, and hardship, which equates to living miserably.

Explanation

The idiom "hard and fast" means fixed, rigid, unalterable, or strictly defined. Originally derived from maritime terminology describing a ship that has run aground and is firmly stuck on land, the phrase in figurative usage refers to rules, standards, or guidelines that cannot be modified, compromised, or bypassed. In the context of college admissions, having "no hard and fast" rules implies that the regulations are flexible and not fixed.

Explanation

The idiomatic expression hold your tongue means to refrain from speaking or to remain silent. It is typically used as a directive or advice to keep quiet in order to avoid saying something inappropriate, revealing confidential information, or causing trouble that one might later regret.

Explanation

The adverb of time last night indicates a specific, completed point in the past. In English grammar, when a definite past time is mentioned, the simple past tense must be used instead of the present perfect tense. The verb left is the simple past form of leave, making it the grammatically correct choice to associate with the past time marker last night.

Explanation

The phrase "know right from wrong" is a well-established, standard English idiom that means to possess the moral judgment necessary to distinguish between what is morally acceptable and what is not. Because the quoted phrase is grammatically correct and used in its proper idiomatic form within the sentence, it requires no changes.

Explanation

The sentence structure "one of those who + verb" requires a plural verb because the relative pronoun "who" refers back to the plural antecedent "those". Since "those" is plural, the verb that follows must also be in its plural form. In this sentence, "believe" is the correct plural verb that agrees with "those". Therefore, the original phrasing is grammatically correct and requires no improvement.

Explanation

The subject of the sentence is the singular noun phrase "This box", with "of chocolates" acting as a prepositional phrase modifying it. In English grammar, the verb must agree in number with the grammatical subject rather than the nearest plural noun. A singular subject requires a singular verb. The third-person singular present tense form of the verb is "belongs", which correctly establishes subject-verb agreement.

Explanation

The idiom "at the eleventh hour" is a well-established English phrase meaning at the very last moment. The preposition "at" is grammatically correct and is always used with this specific idiom. Because the sentence is grammatically and idiomatically correct, it requires no changes.

Explanation

The pronoun "one" is used as an indefinite pronoun to refer to people in general. To show possession, the singular possessive form "one's" is used, which is formed by adding an apostrophe followed by the letter "s". In the given sentence, the phrase indicates that books are the best friends belonging to a person. Therefore, the apostrophe is grammatically necessary to indicate possession.

Explanation

When celebrating a significant milestone like a fiftieth birthday, especially for someone holding a dignified and respectable position like a Principal, it is customary to show deep respect, appreciation, and public tribute for their life and service. The term honoured is the most appropriate word to use here because it means to show high respect or to publicly celebrate someone's worth and contributions on a special occasion.

Explanation

The word mutiny is defined as an open rebellion against proper or lawful authority, typically carried out by members of the military, naval forces, or crew of a ship against their officers. It involves a collective refusal to obey orders or an active attempt to overthrow the established command structure.

Explanation

Cavalry historically refers to combat soldiers who are mounted on horseback. The term has its roots in the Latin word caballus, meaning horse, and is used to define the branch of an army that is trained to ride and fight on horses.

Explanation

A spokesman is a person who is chosen to speak on behalf of others, representing their opinions, views, or decisions to the public or in official matters.

Explanation

The term illiterate refers specifically to a person who is unable to read or write. It is derived from the Latin word illiteratus, where the prefix il- means not and litteratus means marked with letters or literate, making it the exact substitution for the given phrase.

Explanation

The correct spelling of the word is embarrass, which means to cause someone to feel confused, self-conscious, or ashamed. Derived from the French word embarrasser, its correct spelling is characterized by having both a double r and a double s.

Explanation

The word release is spelled correctly as r-e-l-e-a-s-e. It is a common English verb and noun meaning to set free from confinement, constraint, or obligation, or to allow something to escape or be issued.

Explanation

The sentence asserts a fundamental biological truth that water is absolutely essential for the survival of all living organisms. Using the negative determiner "no" in the blank creates the logically and grammatically correct statement "Without water no animal can survive", meaning that it is impossible for any animal to exist without water. This statement establishes the context for the passage, which goes on to describe how various desert creatures adapt to survive in environments where water is extremely scarce.

Explanation

In this passage, the term worry is used to denote the primary source of concern, threat, or hazard to survival. In arid desert regions, dehydration or drying up represents the most significant threat to life, making it the greatest worry for organisms inhabiting these areas. This option logically completes the phrase by highlighting the primary struggle for survival in a desert environment.

Explanation

The definite article is used before little when referring to a specific, small quantity of something that is defined by a subsequent relative clause. In this sentence, the relative clause that exists in arid areas specifies exactly which water is being referred to. Therefore, the phrase the little water correctly expresses the meaning of the entire small amount of water that is available in those dry regions.

Explanation

The preposition among is used to express that something is a part of or included in a larger group of three or more things or individuals. In this context, the camel is highlighted as one of nature's masterpieces within the entire class or group of creatures that are specially equipped to survive desert conditions. Using among correctly establishes this relationship of belonging to a specific group.

Explanation

The blank is followed by the preposition "with". The phrasal verb "cope with" means to deal effectively with something difficult or to survive and manage challenging conditions, which fits perfectly in the context of animals dealing with the harshness of desert life.

Explanation

The passage describes the extraordinary ability of camels to travel long distances, such as 800 miles in eight days, without drinking a single drop of water. This level of physical capacity is highly unusual and outstanding, making the adjective remarkable the most suitable choice to describe their endurance.

Explanation

The verb cover is the standard English collocation used when referring to traveling or traversing a specific distance. In the context of the passage, describing the movement of camels over a span of 800 miles in eight days requires a verb that denotes traveling over this expanse, making cover the most appropriate and grammatically correct choice.

Explanation

The context of the passage highlights the extreme endurance of camels and their ability to survive in arid desert environments with almost no water. The sentence describes an extraordinary feat of traveling a vast distance of about 800 miles over eight days. To emphasize this remarkable physical capability, the preposition "without" is the most appropriate fit, indicating that the camels can perform this continuous journey completely devoid of, or lacking, the consumption of even a single drop of water.

Explanation

The sentence refers to the widely held notion regarding how camels store water in their humps. The term belief fits this context because a popular belief refers to a commonly accepted idea or opinion among people, which the passage goes on to clarify by explaining that the water is actually stored in the form of fat.

Explanation

The passage discusses the physiological adaptations of the camel to desert environments. The popular belief that camels store water in their humps is, in a certain sense, correct. While camels do not store liquid water directly in their humps, these structures are composed of fatty tissue. When this fat is metabolized, it releases energy along with metabolic water. Therefore, the popular belief is in a way correct because water is indeed stored in the hump, albeit chemically in the form of fat.

Explanation

The noun species is followed by the preposition of when indicating the category or class of organisms being referred to. Therefore, the phrase species of insects is the grammatically correct construction to show that the species belong to the category of insects.

Explanation

The passive construction "little is known about" is a standard idiomatic expression in English used to indicate a lack of information, knowledge, or understanding regarding a subject. In the context of the passage, while scientists have identified and named about a million species of insects, our detailed biological and ecological knowledge about many of these species remains extremely limited. Therefore, the word "known" is the grammatically and contextually correct choice to complete the sentence.

Explanation

The phrase "shape and size" is a standard and natural collocation in English used to describe the overall physical dimensions and forms of living organisms. In the context of the passage, which compares the diverse physical appearances of different insect species to their uniform basic anatomical structure, "size" perfectly complements "shape" to highlight these external morphological variations.

Explanation

The sentence uses the subordinating conjunction "although" to establish a contrast between the outer diversity of insects and their common anatomical blueprint. Despite having a wide variety of shapes and sizes, all insect species share a common basic body plan consisting of a head, thorax, and abdomen. Therefore, the word "same" is the grammatically and semantically correct choice to describe this shared skeletal and physical structure.

Explanation

The subject of the sentence is All insects, which is a plural noun. Since the sentence expresses a general scientific fact in the simple present tense, it requires the plural present tense verb have to agree with the plural subject.

Explanation

The verb told is a transitive verb that directly takes an indirect object representing the person being spoken to. It does not require the preposition to. Therefore, the phrase told to is grammatically incorrect and should either be told the students or said to the students.

Explanation

The sentence requires parallel grammatical structure on both sides of the comparison. In the first part, the preposition to in the phrase pay more attention to is followed by the gerund seeing films. To maintain parallelism, the preposition to after the comparative conjunction than must also be followed by a gerund. Therefore, to read books must be replaced with to reading books to match seeing films.

Explanation

The correct idiom is old habits die hard, meaning it is extremely difficult to change long-established behavior or patterns. In this context, hard functions as an adverb meaning with great effort or difficulty. Using hardly is incorrect because hardly means scarcely or almost not, which completely changes and invalidates the intended meaning of the expression. Therefore, hardly must be replaced with hard to make the sentence grammatically and idiomatically correct.

Explanation

The preposition since is used to refer to a specific starting point in time, whereas for is used to denote a duration or period of time. Because four hours represents a duration of time, the preposition for must be used instead of since.

Explanation

The sentence uses a third conditional structure, which refers to a hypothetical situation in the past and its imaginary result. The grammatical rule for the third conditional requires the past perfect tense in the conditional clause (If + past perfect) and the perfect conditional in the main clause (would + have + past participle). Since the conditional clause uses "If he had walked", the main clause "he will get the bus" is incorrect and must be changed to "he would have got the bus" or "he would have caught the bus" to maintain grammatical alignment.

Explanation

When a noun is repeated after a preposition, both nouns must always be used in their singular form. In this sentence, the preposition after is placed between the repeated noun speaker. Therefore, the plural construction speakers after speakers is grammatically incorrect and must be replaced with the singular form speaker after speaker. Similar standard English constructions include day after day, word for word, and door to door.

Explanation

The standard English idiom to describe working to acquire money for food, housing, and other necessities is "to earn a living" or "to earn one's living." In this sentence, the singular subject "He" matches with the simple present tense third-person singular verb "earns" to express a general habit or fact about how he sustains himself.

Explanation

The preposition from is used after made when the original material undergoes a complete physical or chemical transformation to become the finished product. In the process of making bread, wheat is ground into flour, mixed with other ingredients, and baked, completely changing its original form and properties into a new substance. This complete change in state necessitates the use of from.

Explanation

In a simple past tense interrogative sentence starting with the auxiliary verb did, the main verb must always be in its base form (the bare infinitive). Since the auxiliary verb did already carries the past tense aspect of the sentence, the base form of the verb fall is grammatically correct to complete the question.

Explanation

The auxiliary verb do is followed by the subject you and the base form of the main verb want. The infinitive construction to see functions as the direct object of the verb want, which is used in this context to ask about a person's immediate preference or desire to view the collection.

Explanation

The adjective subsequent means happening or coming after something else. In this sentence, it modifies the noun programmes, indicating that all the programmes which followed after the initial setback were successful. Because it modifies a noun, the adjective form is grammatically correct in this position.