SSC CHSL Tier 1 2021 English Comprehension Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The passage discusses tree plantation as a method to maximize greenery and establish new forest cover. Afforestation is the process of planting trees on land that has not recently been forested, which directly aligns with the goal of increasing tree cover and promoting environmental health. Therefore, afforestation is the most contextually appropriate word to describe what tree plantation aims to promote.

Explanation

The word endeavour refers to an activity, effort, or enterprise directed towards a specific goal, especially one that is new, large, or honorable. In this context, planting trees is described as a purposeful, active effort that requires dedication and yields rewarding and fruitful results, making endeavour the most appropriate and grammatically fitting noun for the blank.

Explanation

The context of the sentence refers to the benefits of tree plantation for the planet and the environment. The adverb ecologically means in a way that relates to the relation of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings, which perfectly aligns with the phrase beneficial for this planet.

Explanation

Trees act as natural air filters by absorbing harmful gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide, while also trapping particulate matter on their leaves and bark. This biological process directly reduces the density and amount of harmful substances present in a given volume of air, which is scientifically referred to as pollutant concentration. Reducing pollutant concentration directly contributes to creating a cleaner, healthier, and more environmentally friendly atmosphere.

Explanation

Sentence D sets the context by introducing the general topic of solar system theories and describing the earliest belief held by ancient people that the earth was static. Sentence C transitions from this historical belief to the year 1514, introducing Nicholas Copernicus and his new model. Sentence B directly follows Sentence C by explaining the specific details of Copernicus' view, where the sun is stationary and the earth orbits it. Sentence A completes the chronological flow by describing how Kepler and Galileo supported this Copernican theory nearly a century after it was proposed.

Explanation

The phrase every day indicates a habitual action or daily routine. In English, habitual actions and regular routines are expressed using the simple present tense. Since the subject They is plural, it requires the base form of the verb eat to maintain correct subject-verb agreement.

Explanation

The word famous means widely known, recognized, or celebrated by many people. The word obscure means not well-known, hidden, or undistinguished. Because these two words represent opposite concepts of public recognition and visibility, obscure is the most appropriate antonym.

Explanation

The word comprehensive means complete, wide-ranging, or all-inclusive. In the context of policy frameworks and organizational administration, a dispute resolution mechanism needs to be thorough, effective, and detailed to address all possible conflicts. Pairing comprehensive with a dispute resolution mechanism aligns with other progressive, well-rounded growth measures mentioned in the sentence, such as a decentralised organizational structure, liberal policies, and state-of-the-art infrastructure, to facilitate phenomenal growth in domain name registration services.

Explanation

In the sentence Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, all words are spelled correctly. The word zodiac is correctly spelled with z-o-d-i-a-c, referring to the circular belt of the heavens. The proper noun Aries is also correctly spelled and capitalized as the first astrological sign, while the other words first, sign, and the are spelled perfectly with no orthographic errors.

Explanation

Altruism refers to the unselfish concern for the happiness and well-being of other people. Coined by the French philosopher Auguste Comte, the term is derived from the Latin word alter, meaning other. It represents actions, behaviors, or practices that are performed purely for the benefit of others, even at a personal cost or risk, without expecting any reward or recognition in return.

Explanation

The active sentence uses the "be going to + verb" (am going to ask) structure. To convert this construction into the passive voice, the pattern "subject + be going to + be + past participle (V3)" is followed. The plural object "all the employees" becomes the new subject, requiring the plural auxiliary verb "are", which gives "are going to be asked" as the correct passive verb form.

Explanation

Verbs of physical posture or position, such as sit, stand, or lie, are followed by a present participle (the -ing form of the verb) to describe an action that is occurring simultaneously. In this sentence, the present participle holding is used to describe the activity Salander was engaged in while she sat.

Explanation

To win a competition, a participant must possess a higher level of creativity than their competitors. Therefore, the comparative degree "more creative" is the most appropriate substitution, as it implicitly compares the individual's level of creativity to that of the other contestants.

Explanation

The word perpetual refers to something that is never ending, changing, or occurring repeatedly so as to seem endless. Derived from the Latin word perpetuus, which translates to continuous or uninterrupted, it is used to describe states, conditions, or physical phenomena that remain constant and continue without interruption for an indefinite period of time.

Explanation

The word is misspelled as Charishma. The correct spelling is Charisma, which refers to a compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others. The letter h after the s is redundant and incorrect.

Explanation

The phrasal verb "hold out" means to resist, survive, or continue to defend oneself against an enemy or difficult situation. In the context of the sentence, "held out" correctly describes the soldiers defending their position and resisting opposing forces for a duration of several weeks.

Explanation

The verb alter means to make changes to something, particularly to modify clothing for a better fit. In this context, because the person has gained weight, their clothes need to be modified or adjusted in size, making this the correct word to complete the sentence.

Explanation

Sanguinity refers to a state of being optimistic, cheerful, and confident about the future, particularly in difficult situations. It is derived from the word sanguine, which historically related to a warm, hopeful temperament, making optimism its direct synonym.

Explanation

The word scent is a noun that refers to a distinctive, typically pleasant smell, especially one associated with a perfume. In the context of the sentence, it correctly describes the wonderful fragrance of the French perfume.

Explanation

The coordinating conjunction and is used to connect two grammatically equal clauses or actions that occur in a logical sequence. In this sentence, the subject performs two consecutive actions: first, she went to her work corner in the living room, and second, she looked at the notes pinned on the wall. Using and correctly links these parallel actions performed by the same subject.

Explanation

To convert the passive sentence "The new bride is going to be admired by everyone in the family" into the active voice, the agent "everyone in the family" (expressed as "Everybody in the family") becomes the subject of the active sentence. The passive verb phrase "is going to be admired" is converted to its active equivalent "is going to admire" to maintain the present continuous aspect and future intention. Finally, the original subject "the new bride" becomes the direct object of the active verb. This results in the grammatically correct active voice structure: "Everybody in the family is going to admire the new bride."

Explanation

The term extravagant refers to a person who spends money or uses resources in a wasteful, excessive, or lavish manner, especially on luxury items. This directly describes someone who frequently wastes money on luxurious objects like cars and digital devices.

Explanation

The idiom "safe pair of hands" refers to a person who is reliable, competent, and can be trusted to handle a task or responsibility efficiently and without making mistakes. It originates from sports, such as football or cricket, where a goalkeeper or fielder who reliably catches the ball is described as having a safe pair of hands.

Explanation

The term cosmopolitan refers to a person, place, or outlook that is familiar with and at ease in many different countries and cultures. It describes a global perspective that is shaped by diverse influences, ideas, and people from all over the world.

Explanation

To convert a passive voice sentence in the simple past tense (was/were + past participle) into the active voice, the agent performing the action (the airport security) becomes the subject of the sentence, and the verb is changed to its simple past tense form (refused). The original subject (admittance) and indirect object (him) transition to become the objects of the active verb, resulting in the structure: Subject + simple past verb + indirect object + direct object.

Explanation

The dependent clause while she is in my hometown uses the present tense verb is, indicating that the action refers to a current or future situation. To maintain tense consistency within the sentence, the present modal can is appropriate. Additionally, the phrasal verb get around means to travel from place to place, which perfectly fits the context of using a car to travel within a town. The structure could have use is also grammatically incorrect, as the modal perfect helper have requires the past participle used. Thus, the present modal can combined with the correct phrasal verb get around provides the grammatically correct and meaningful substitution.

Explanation

The word privileges is spelled as P-R-I-V-I-L-E-G-E-S. A common spelling error is to insert the letter d before the letter g, writing it incorrectly as priviledges. The word is derived from the Latin privilegium, which combines privus meaning private and lex meaning law, and thus it contains no letter d in its spelling.

Explanation

The active voice sentence is in the simple past tense, as indicated by the verb presented. To convert a simple past tense sentence into the passive voice, the structure used is subject + was/were + past participle of the verb + by + agent. Since the direct object eminent people is plural, it takes the plural auxiliary verb were followed by the past participle presented.

Explanation

The correct spelling of the word is "successful". It is formed by adding the suffix "-ful", meaning full of or characterized by, to the noun "success", which is spelled with a double 'c' and a double 's'. Following the standard spelling rule for suffixation, when "-ful" is appended to a word, it is spelled with a single 'l'. This makes "successful" the grammatically and orthographically correct choice for the sentence.

Explanation

The paragraph follows a chronological and logical sequence beginning with sentence C, which introduces Mr. Dursley experiencing strange events during the day. Sentence D naturally follows by transition to the evening of the same day (indicated by "That night") when Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid meet outside the Dursley home. Sentence A continues the interaction during this meeting, where Dumbledore explains the tragic fate of the Potters and the survival of baby Harry. Sentence B concludes the sequence with the final action of the night, where Dumbledore places baby Harry on the Dursleys' doorstep.

Explanation

The verb stacked is the past participle of stack, which means to arrange things in a neat pile on top of one another. In this context, papers kept on a desk are typically arranged in piles or stacks, making stacked the most appropriate and idiomatic fit.

Explanation

Correct Answer: A

The word expended means to spend, use up, or consume a resource such as money, time, or energy. In the context of the sentence, spending most of the savings on a tour corresponds to using them up completely or draining them, which is the definition of exhausted. Therefore, exhausted is the most appropriate synonym as it denotes consuming a resource entirely.

Explanation

The idiom "let down" means to disappoint someone by failing to support them, failing to do what was expected, or failing to keep a promise. When someone lets another person down, they fail to meet their commitments or expectations, causing disappointment.

Explanation

The sentence defines trust by describing what it entails. To trust someone or something means to exhibit or demonstrate confidence, faith, and hope in them. The gerund showing fits grammatically and contextually to denote the act of manifesting or expressing these feelings of reliance and assurance.

Explanation

Trust is built on truthfulness, integrity, and transparency. Being honest is the most fundamental prerequisite for earning the trust of others, as honesty establishes reliability and credibility in any interaction. The sentence conveys that to gain the trust of someone, one simply needs to practice truthfulness, making honest the most logically and contextually appropriate fit for the blank.

Explanation

The sentence utilizes a well-known idiomatic expression regarding the nature of trust: "Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair." In English collocations, trust is commonly said to be broken when someone's confidence is violated. Therefore, the verb "break" is the grammatically and contextually correct choice to contrast with "build" and "repair".

Explanation

The sentence compares trust to a mirror, which is something that can shatter or fracture. When a physical mirror is broken, it can be glued or fixed back together, but the cracks will remain visible in the reflection. Therefore, the word broken contextually fits the blank to complete this common metaphor about the nature of damaged trust.

Explanation

In the context of the sentence, "friendship" and "relationship" refer to interpersonal connections and emotional ties between people. The word "bonds" is the most appropriate term here as it signifies these close connections, links, or unions established between individuals. Thus, using "bonds" completes the sentence by stating that all such human connections are built upon the foundation of trust.

Explanation

The context of the sentence refers to articles gathered from the Internet. The word downloaded is the most appropriate term because it means to copy data or documents from a larger network or server, such as the Internet, to a local computer or device so that they can be read or printed. This fits naturally with the concept of collecting articles from the Internet to keep as physical papers.

Explanation

The pronoun in blank 5 refers back to the plural noun phrase the papers in the preceding clause She took the papers. Since this pronoun functions as the direct object of the transitive verb dropped, the plural objective pronoun them is grammatically correct to ensure proper agreement in number and case.

Explanation

The word penchant means a strong inclination, liking, or habitual taste for something. Its antonym must represent a strong feeling of dislike or aversion. The word hatred refers to an intense dislike or ill will, which is the direct opposite of having a penchant for something.

Explanation

In this context, the noun scene refers to the place where an incident, in this case a crime, occurs. The phrase scene of the crime is a standard English idiom used to describe the specific location where an illegal act was committed.

Explanation

In the context of geography and landforms such as islands, the word vacant means unoccupied, empty, or having no people living there. The term uninhabited precisely means without inhabitants or not lived in by humans, making it the most accurate synonym to describe islands that are empty of population and available for exploration.

Explanation

The word is spelt incorrectly. Depending on the intended meaning, the correct spelling is either facilitation, which means the act of making a process or task easier, or felicitation, which means an expression of good wishes or congratulations.

Explanation

The subject-verb agreement rule in English requires that the first-person singular pronoun I takes the plural or base form of the verb in the simple present tense. Therefore, the verb goes is incorrect and should be replaced with go to make the sentence grammatically accurate.

Explanation

The term anonymous is used to describe a person, author, or creator whose name is not known, identified, or made public. It originates from Greek roots meaning without a name.

Explanation

The phrase "in order to" is used to express the purpose of an action and is followed by the base form of a verb. In this sentence, the purpose of taking the close-up shot was to display the emotions. Using "in order to display the emotions" provides a grammatically correct infinitive phrase of purpose that fits the sentence perfectly.

Explanation

When two singular subjects are joined by the conjunction "and", they form a compound plural subject. In this sentence, "Fatima and Sana" represents a plural subject, which requires the plural auxiliary verb "have" rather than the singular verb "has" to maintain proper subject-verb agreement in the present perfect tense. Therefore, the plural auxiliary verb "have" correctly corresponds with the plural subject to form the active present perfect construction "have both taken".

Explanation

In the given context, the word intimate describes a warm, close, and friendly nature that helps a person easily bond with others and make friends. The antonym of intimate in this sense is unfriendly, which describes a person who is cold, distant, or hostile, making it difficult for them to form close relationships.

Explanation

The segment "is your" contains a grammatical error because "your" is a possessive determiner (or possessive adjective) and must always be followed by a noun. To show ownership without repeating the noun "car", a possessive pronoun is required. Therefore, "your" should be replaced with the possessive pronoun "yours" to make the sentence grammatically correct.