SSC CHSL Tier 1 2021 English Comprehension Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The blank is best filled by the word fire because the sentence relies on a variation of the common English idiom spread like wildfire, which means to circulate or disperse extremely rapidly and uncontrollably. When describing how quickly news, rumors, or gossip travels through a community, it is standard to compare the speed of its dissemination to the swift and unpredictable spread of a fire.

Explanation

The idiom "man of letters" is used to describe a person, traditionally a man, who is highly educated, scholarly, and deeply versed in literature and writing. It refers to an intellectual or a literary scholar who possesses extensive knowledge of books, creative writing, and academic pursuits.

Explanation

Ignominy refers to public shame, disgrace, or dishonor resulting from shameful conduct. Glory represents high honor, praise, or distinction won by notable achievements. Since ignominy denotes a state of deep disgrace and glory denotes a state of great honor and admiration, they are direct antonyms.

Explanation

The idiom "jump the gun" originates from track and field sports, where a runner begins running before the starter's gun has officially fired. In everyday language, it refers to acting prematurely, starting something too early, or behaving hastily before the appropriate or designated time.

Explanation

When active sentences contain verbs of proposing, reporting, or believing with an indefinite subject like "They" followed by an infinitive phrase, the passive voice is standardly formed using the dummy pronoun "it" as the subject. The main active verb "propose" is converted to the present passive form "is proposed", while the following infinitive clause "to build a dam for irrigation purposes" is retained exactly as it is. This yields the correct passive structure "It is proposed to build a dam for irrigation purposes."

Explanation

The word bestial refers to behavior that is like an animal or beast, particularly in being savage, cruel, depraved, or lacking intelligence and reason. The word brutish directly matches this meaning, as it describes someone or something that is savage, violent, cruel, or animal-like in nature. Both words share the central concept of being brute-like and devoid of human sensitivity or refinement.

Explanation

The segment contains a grammatical error because the objective pronoun "them" is incorrectly used as the subject of the verb "noticed". In English grammar, the subject of a clause must be in the subjective (nominative) case. Since this clause refers back to the plural noun "students" as the performers of the action of noticing, the subjective pronoun "they" must be used instead of "them". The correct phrasing is "as soon as they noticed".

Explanation

The context of the passage describes positive developments in infrastructure during the 1700s and 1800s that facilitated the movement of goods and people. The term improvement fits this context perfectly, as upgrading or enhancing the quality of roads directly leads to making transportation easier and more efficient.

Explanation

The word transportation is the most appropriate choice because it refers to the movement of both goods and people from one location to another. In the context of the historical development of roads in the 1700s and 1800s, the primary benefit of improved road infrastructure was facilitating the systematic transit and conveyance of both passengers and commercial items over distances.

Explanation

The verb invested is grammatically and contextually correct because of the preposition in that follows their wealth and the overall financial context of the sentence. The standard idiomatic expression is to invest wealth or money in something, which means to put money into assets, infrastructure, or commercial undertakings like building bridges and tunnels with the expectation of achieving a profit, return, or long-term benefit.

Explanation

The blank requires an intensive pronoun that refers back to the plural noun vaccines. The plural pronoun themselves correctly agrees in number with vaccines, emphasizing that the focus of concern shifted to the inherent risks of the vaccines themselves.

Explanation

The passage describes John Metcalfe, a historical figure who was a pioneer road builder despite being completely blind since childhood. An individual who achieves such engineering feats under these circumstances is extraordinary and worthy of attention. The word remarkable means worthy of attention, striking, or extraordinary, making it the most appropriate adjective to describe a blind road builder whose accomplishments were highly unusual and impressive.

Explanation

The context of the passage is about road construction and maintaining quality standards. John Metcalfe, as an expert road builder, had specific engineering standards and specifications for the roads he constructed. Feeling the surface of the road allowed him to verify that the quality of the construction work met these specific standards and requirements.

Explanation

The idiom "chip off the old block" refers to someone who closely resembles or behaves like one of their parents, whether in physical appearance, character, or behavior. The origin of the phrase lies in the idea that a small chip carved or broken off a large block of wood or stone will share the exact same qualities, material, and texture as the parent block from which it came.

Explanation

The denotation of a word refers to its literal, primary dictionary definition. The word fragile is defined as delicate, easily broken, damaged, or vulnerable. The word frail is a direct synonym that literally denotes a state of being delicate, weak, or easily shattered. In the context of the sentence, a fragile economy represents a weak or vulnerable economic system, which directly matches the denotative meaning of frail.

Explanation

The idiom bite the bullet means to force oneself to face a difficult, painful, or unpleasant situation with courage, especially when it is unavoidable. Historically, the phrase is believed to have originated from the military practice where wounded soldiers would bite on a lead bullet to cope with the intense pain of surgeries performed without anesthesia. In a modern professional context, it refers to making a tough or unpleasant decision that is necessary to resolve a situation.

Explanation

The verb ran is an action verb that requires an adverb to describe the manner in which the action was performed. The word happily is an adverb of manner that appropriately modifies the verb ran in this context. Since the sentence does not involve any comparison between two or more actions or individuals, the positive degree of the adverb is the correct grammatical choice to express the state of joy with which he ran to receive his father.

Explanation

The plural subject rumours requires a plural verb to maintain subject-verb agreement. Additionally, the adverb usually indicates a regular, habitual action or a general fact, which necessitates the use of the simple present tense. In the simple present tense, a plural subject takes the base form of the verb, which is spread.

Explanation

The grammatically and orthographically correct word is vengeance, which refers to punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong. Derived from the Old French word vengance, its correct spelling is v-e-n-g-e-a-n-c-e, featuring the soft g sound followed by the suffix -ance.

Explanation

The idiomatic expression to throw a tantrum means to show a sudden, short period of angry, unreasonable behavior. In this sentence, the past tense form threw is used to describe a habitual action that the subject regularly performed in the past.

Explanation

The paragraph follows a clear, logical progression of ideas starting with a general introduction and moving towards a specific conclusion.

Sentence A is the opening sentence because it introduces the protagonist, Tess, and establishes her role as the central character of the novel.

Sentence B immediately follows Sentence A as it transitions from discussing her as a distinctive individual to introducing her as a mythic heroine, which expands on her character depth.

Sentence C provides supporting evidence for the mythic quality mentioned in Sentence B by explaining the historical and spiritual significance of her name, Theresa, linking her to St. Teresa of Avila.

Sentence D serves as the concluding sentence of the paragraph. The use of the transition word thus indicates a logical deduction based on the preceding details, summarizing how Tess's story represents a much larger and deeper experience than that of just a single individual.

This forms the natural and coherent sequence ABCD.

Explanation

The word plundered is the most appropriate synonym for robbed in this context. Plunder means to systematically steal goods from a place or person, typically using force during a time of war or raid. In a historical context involving military invasions and looting, a ruler forcibly taking wealth, treasures, and resources from a city is described as plundering it.

Explanation

The verb believe is a stative verb that represents a state of mind or opinion rather than a continuous physical action. Stative verbs are generally not used in the progressive or continuous tenses. Therefore, the continuous form is believing is grammatically incorrect and should be replaced with the simple present tense believes.

Explanation

The idiom "costs an arm and a leg" is a widely used phrase that means something is extremely expensive or priced very highly. Replacing the phrase "too expensive" with this idiom perfectly maintains the original meaning of the sentence, indicating that the music system requires an exceptionally large amount of money to purchase.

Explanation

The given sentence is in the passive voice in the present perfect tense, which follows the structure: Subject + has/have + been + past participle (V₃) + by + Agent.

To convert this sentence into the active voice, the agent of the action, "a rare species of spiders", becomes the subject of the sentence. The passive verb form "has been bitten" is changed to the active present perfect verb form "has bitten" because the subject "a rare species" is singular. Finally, the passive subject "Parker" becomes the direct object. This yields the structure: Subject (A rare species of spiders) + Verb (has bitten) + Object (Parker).

Explanation

The segment "Investing on real estate" contains a grammatical error because the verb "invest" takes the preposition "in" rather than "on" when referring to allocating money, effort, or time into an asset or venture with the expectation of a future return. The correct phrase should be "Investing in real estate".

Explanation

The singular subject "The minor project" requires the singular verb "is". The phrase "moving into" is the correct idiomatic expression to describe transitioning or progressing into a new phase or period of time, such as entering its third year. The addition of "around" in the original sentence is grammatically incorrect and redundant.

Explanation

The word negligent means failing to take proper care or being careless and indifferent to one's duties. The opposite of being negligent is being observant, mindful, and taking great care, which is the definition of attentive. An attentive person pays close attention and is highly alert to their responsibilities, making it the most appropriate antonym.

Explanation

The phrase at this time next week indicates a specific point in the future when an action will be in progress. This requires the use of the future continuous tense, which is structured as shall/will + be + present participle (verb-ing). Substituting the underlined segment with shall be writing correctly establishes this tense to denote an ongoing action at a specific future moment.

Explanation

In the original exam question, the word aggregate was misspelled as agregate in options A, B, and C. Therefore, option D is the only sentence that contains no spelling errors, with aggregate correctly spelled with a double g.

Explanation

The word resolute refers to someone who is admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering in their decisions or character. Strong, in a psychological or moral context, signifies having great willpower, firmness of purpose, and an unshakeable resolve, making it the most appropriate synonym.

Explanation

Delinquency is defined as a failure, omission, or neglect of duty. It originates from the Latin word delinquere, which means to fail in duty or to commit an offense, and is commonly used to describe the failure to perform a required legal or moral obligation.

Explanation

The preposition on is used to form the standard idiomatic expression on schedule, which means occurring at the planned, expected, or appointed time. In this context, it indicates that the Faerie Market took place exactly when it was originally planned to occur.

Explanation

The correct preposition to indicate location relative to a side of a dividing structure is on. In English grammar, the standard idiomatic expression is on the other side. Therefore, on is the correct word to fill in the blank.

Explanation

The context of the passage indicates that the two boys wanted to visit the Faerie Market but were forbidden from doing so. Being restricted from an activity they strongly desired to participate in would naturally cause them annoyance or frustration. The noun irritation refers to the state of feeling annoyed, impatient, or angry, making it the most suitable fit to describe the boys' reaction to this restriction.

Explanation

The verb prowl means to move about restlessly, stealthily, or in search of something, which is a natural behavior and characteristic movement associated with felines. In the passage, the cat is described as moving around the house impatiently just before she wanders off into the dark. Using prowl perfectly captures this restless, searching movement of a cat prior to its departure.

Explanation

The context of the passage describes a young boy who deeply loved his kitten, describing her as the sweetest cat in the world. When the kitten disappeared into the dark and was never seen again, the boy experienced intense grief over the loss of his beloved pet. The word inconsolable, which means being extremely sad and unable to be comforted, perfectly describes the boy's emotional state following the heartbreaking loss of his companion.

Explanation

When two actions happen in the past, one after another, the action that occurred earlier is expressed using the past perfect tense, which takes the form of had followed by the past participle of the verb. The subsequent action is expressed in the simple past tense.

In the given sentence, the train leaving happened first, and the arrival at the platform happened later. Since the later event is in the simple past tense (reached), the earlier event must be in the past perfect tense, which is had already left.

Explanation

Sentence B introduces the main characters, Titus and his host Chremes, establishing the setting and context of the narrative. Sentence C naturally follows because it begins with the phrase This Chremes, linking directly to the end of sentence B, and introduces Chremes' son Gisippus. Sentence A builds on the physical resemblance mentioned in sentence C by detailing how identical the two children appeared. Finally, sentence D transitions from their physical similarity as children to their close emotional bond as they grew into young gentlemen, concluding the logical flow of the paragraph.

Explanation

The word absurd refers to something that is wildly unreasonable, illogical, or completely lacking in common sense. The word sensible describes someone or something that possesses or displays good judgment, practical wisdom, and reason, making it the direct antonym of absurd.

Explanation

The word quintessential refers to something that represents the most perfect, classic, or ultimate example of a quality, class, or type. It signifies the very essence of a concept in its purest form. The word typical is the most appropriate synonym because it likewise denotes having the distinctive, representative qualities of a particular group, class, or kind.

Explanation

The active voice sentence is in the simple present tense with Their behaviour as the subject, vexes as the transitive verb, and us as the object.

To convert a simple present tense sentence from active to passive voice, the active subject and object are interchanged, and the verb is converted using the following structure:

Object + is/am/are + past participle of the verb + by + Subject

The pronoun us changes to the subject pronoun We. Since We is plural, it is followed by the helping verb are and the past participle form vexed. The agent is then introduced using the preposition by followed by their behaviour, yielding the passive form: We are vexed by their behaviour.

Explanation

The idiom "to bite the bullet" means to face a difficult, painful, or unpleasant situation with courage and fortitude, or to force oneself to undergo a challenging ordeal that is unavoidable. The phrase historically originates from the practice of having wounded soldiers bite down on a lead bullet to cope with severe pain during battlefield medical procedures when anesthetics were unavailable, requiring immense bravery and endurance.

Explanation

The word cheerful describes something that is full of happiness, optimism, and bright spirits. Its antonym must convey a contrasting state of sadness, darkness, or depression. The word gloomy directly means dark, depressing, or deeply sad, which makes it the appropriate antonym to fill the blank.

Explanation

The word concealed means kept secret, hidden, or covered from view. Its direct antonym is disclosed, which means made known, revealed, uncovered, or exposed to view.

Explanation

The word giddiness refers to a sensation of whirling and a tendency to fall, commonly known as dizziness or lightheadedness. In a medical context, such as recovering from surgery, this sensation manifests as a lack of physical balance and stability. Unsteadiness is a direct synonym because it describes this state of being unstable, shaky, or lacking steady control of one's body.

Explanation

The past tense of the irregular verb flee is fled. The verb flee means to run away or escape from danger, and its principal forms are flee (present), fled (past), and fled (past participle).

Additionally, the past tense of the irregular verb put remains put. Thus, the phrasal verb put up is correctly used in the past tense. Combining these correct forms yields a grammatically correct sentence.

Explanation

Calligraphy is the visual art of writing and design, characterized by the execution of lettering with a broad-tipped instrument, brush, or pen. The word originates from the Greek words kallos, meaning beauty, and graphein, meaning to write, directly translating to the art of beautiful handwriting.

Explanation

The preposition "in" is the standard and grammatically correct preposition used when referring to things that are depicted within a photograph, drawing, painting, or any visual representation. This is because the contents, objects, or colours are viewed as being contained within the boundaries or frame of the image itself. Therefore, "in the picture" is the correct idiomatic phrase to express what is visible within the artwork or photo.

Explanation

An epitaph refers to a short text or inscription written on a tombstone or monument in memory of a deceased person. It serves as a commemorative tribute, often reflecting on the life, achievements, or legacy of the individual who has passed away.