SSC CHSL Tier 1 2021 English Comprehension Questions with Solutions

Explanation

A fanatic is a person who is characterized by excessive, single-minded zeal and obsessive enthusiasm, often demonstrating an uncompromising and prejudiced attitude toward different opinions or beliefs. Tolerant, which means showing a willingness to accept and allow the existence of diverse opinions, beliefs, or behaviors that one may not agree with, acts as the direct and most appropriate opposite of being fanatic.

Explanation

The idiom cast aside means to discard, dismiss, or reject someone or something because they are no longer wanted, useful, or needed.

Explanation

Sentence B introduces the main topic by describing the popularity of uploading photos to social networking sites in today's society. Sentence A naturally follows by providing concrete examples of the content people upload, such as images of cuisine, cosmetic routines, shopping, and dance. Sentence C transitions to the impact of this behavior, explaining that the rising influence of social media makes people want to constantly look their best. Sentence D provides the final logical conclusion, starting with the connector "Therefore", to explain how this desire to look good has made individuals highly conscious of their self-image and driven them to prioritize personal care.

Explanation

The context of the passage highlights that conserving water is a duty or obligation shared by both the government and individual citizens. The term responsibility refers to a duty or commitment to take care of something, which aligns perfectly with the idea that everyone has a role to play in safeguarding water as a precious natural resource.

Explanation

The context of the passage discusses how common citizens can play an active role alongside the government in conserving water. In English, the phrase to make a contribution is a standard collocation that means to do something to help achieve a goal or make a difference. Therefore, contribution is the most appropriate word to indicate the active role and positive impact that ordinary individuals can have in the field of water conservation.

Explanation

The passage discusses the conservation of water as a precious natural resource. The adverb judiciously means using something with good judgment, wisdom, and care. Since water is a scarce and vital resource, it needs to be managed and consumed wisely and prudently to prevent waste. This aligns perfectly with the context of being conscious of our usage to avoid wastage.

Explanation

The passage focuses on the importance of conserving water and highlights the role that individual citizens can play in preserving this precious natural resource. When individuals become conscious of the fact that water is essential for life and must be used mindfully, they naturally become more careful with its usage. This awareness directly helps to prevent the unnecessary loss, misuse, or inefficient use of water, which is represented by the term wastage.

Explanation

The passage emphasizes the importance of water conservation and reducing waste. Cleaning cars or houses requires a significant volume of water, and using treated, high-quality potable water for these chores represents a major waste of resources that should otherwise be conserved for consumption. Avoiding the use of drinking water for such activities is a practical step citizens can take to conserve water.

Explanation

The active voice sentence "She has written many books" is in the present perfect tense, which follows the structure: Subject + has/have + past participle (V3) + Object.

To convert a present perfect sentence into the passive voice, the grammatical structure is: Object + has/have + been + past participle (V3) + by + Subject.

Since the object "many books" is plural, it is paired with the auxiliary verb "have" followed by "been" and the past participle "written", making the correct passive construction "Many books have been written by her."

Explanation

Satiate means to fully satisfy a need, desire, or appetite, often to the point of excess. Therefore, satisfy is the most appropriate synonym as it directly conveys the meaning of fulfilling a requirement or desire to completion.

Explanation

Sentence B introduces the main subject of the paragraph, Anne Frank and her family, and describes how they went into hiding in 1942 during the Nazi occupation of Holland. Sentence A naturally follows by specifying where they hid (the Secret Annex) and how long they stayed there (for the next two years). Sentence D flows logically from this by describing the hardships ("hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties") they faced while cut off from the outside world in their confined quarters. Sentence C concludes the paragraph by explaining that Anne Frank recorded her vivid impressions of "these experiences during this period" in her diary, referring directly to the struggles mentioned in the preceding sentences.

Explanation

The idiom tick all the boxes means to satisfy all the conditions, criteria, or requirements for a particular situation or purpose. It is commonly used when someone or something meets all the expected standards, thereby fulfilling the required norms.

Explanation

The idiom once in a blue moon is used to describe an event that occurs very rarely or almost never. The phrase is derived from the astronomical phenomenon of a second full moon appearing in a single calendar month, which is an uncommon event happening roughly once every two to three years. In everyday language, it serves as a figurative expression for extreme infrequency.

Explanation

The subject of the sentence, The General, is a singular noun in the third person. According to the rules of subject-verb agreement, a singular subject must always be paired with a singular verb. The auxiliary verb have is plural, which creates a grammatical mismatch. To correct the error, the singular auxiliary verb has must be used instead, making the correct phrasing The General has ordered.

Explanation

The correct spelling of the word is ignition, which refers to the action of setting something on fire or the electrical process that starts an engine. The spelling ignision is incorrect as it uses the suffix -sion instead of -tion.

Explanation

The idiom child's play is used to describe a task, activity, or problem that is very easy, simple, or effortless to perform or solve. This expression originates from the idea that games played by children require very little skill, training, or intellectual exertion, making them easy for anyone to complete without difficulty.

Explanation

The idiomatic expression cannot help doing something is used to state that someone is unable to stop themselves from doing or feeling something. In this grammatical structure, the phrase cannot help must be followed directly by a gerund, which is the verb ending in -ing. Therefore, cannot help getting angry is the correct and natural phrasing to convey that she is unable to avoid becoming angry in this situation.

Explanation

The given sentence is in the passive voice using the simple past tense, structured as: Object + was/were + past participle (V3) + by + Subject.

To convert this into the active voice, the subject and object swap positions, and the verb phrase is converted to the simple past tense active form (V2). Thus, the agent "the children" becomes the subject, "were eaten" is changed to the simple past verb "ate", and "the sweet mangoes" becomes the direct object.

Explanation

The word savoury describes food that is salty or spicy rather than sweet. Therefore, salty is an appropriate synonym in this context as it directly conveys the seasoned, non-sweet flavor profile of the dish.

Explanation

The given sentence is in the passive voice of the simple past tense, which follows the pattern: Subject + was/were + past participle (V₃) + by + Agent.

To convert this sentence into the active voice, the structure of the simple past tense is used: Subject + past tense verb (V₂) + Object.

During this conversion, the agent of the action "the boy" becomes the subject of the active sentence, the passive verb phrase "was helped" is replaced by its simple past tense active form "helped", and the passive subject "the old woman" becomes the direct object. The subordinate clause "while crossing the road" remains unchanged. This directly yields the sentence: "The boy helped the old woman while crossing the road."

Explanation

Lexicography refers to the scholarly discipline and practice of compiling, writing, and editing dictionaries. The term originates from the Greek words lexikon, meaning dictionary, and graphia, meaning writing, making it the precise term for the activity of creating dictionaries.

Explanation

A polyglot is a person who is able to speak, write, or understand several languages fluently. The term is derived from the Greek words polys, meaning many, and glotta, meaning tongue or language, making it the precise term for someone well versed in multiple languages.

Explanation

The segment contains a grammatical error because the adjective careful is incorrectly used to modify the past participle crafted, which functions as an adjective here. To modify an adjective, an adverb must be used. Therefore, the adjective careful should be replaced with the adverb carefully to make the phrase grammatically correct as the carefully crafted personality.

Explanation

The segment contains the incorrectly spelt word triviale, which should be spelled as trivial. The correct spelling is trivial, which means of little value or importance.

Explanation

In the context of a person's temperament, the word modest refers to being humble, unassuming, and reserved. The word shy describes someone who is quiet and reserved in social interactions, making it the most appropriate synonym for modest when characterizing a person's nature.

Explanation

This sentence follows the structure of a first conditional sentence, which is used to express a likely or possible future situation and its result. In standard English grammar, a first conditional sentence uses the simple present tense in the conditional clause (the "if" clause) and the simple future tense ("will" + base verb) in the main clause. Therefore, the present continuous verb phrase "are going" is substituted with the simple present verb "go" to maintain grammatical consistency with the future tense "will follow" in the main clause.

Explanation

The word stupendous is used to describe something that is extremely impressive, amazing, or astonishing in magnitude, size, or degree. The word stunning likewise refers to something that is exceptionally impressive, striking, or beautiful, causing great admiration or astonishment. Both words convey a sense of overwhelming wonder and excellence, making them highly appropriate synonyms.

Explanation

The word Allimony is incorrectly spelt. The correct spelling of the word is Alimony, which is written with a single l. It refers to a court-ordered financial allowance or provision made by one spouse to the other after legal separation or divorce.

Explanation

The word create means to bring something into existence. In the context of the sentence, living organisms bring new life or offspring of their own kind into existence through the biological process of reproduction, making create the most grammatically and contextually appropriate verb to complete the blank.

Explanation

The context of the passage discusses the reproduction of plants and the fate of the many seeds they produce. Since environmental conditions, predators, and disease prevent many seeds from growing, only a small fraction of the total seeds produced actually manage to withstand these challenges. Therefore, only a few of these seeds survive to germinate and grow into new plants.

Explanation

In the context of seed germination, the word right is the most appropriate fit because it describes the correct, appropriate, or optimal amount of essential resources like air, water, soil, and sunlight required for a seed to successfully grow into a plant. Seeds require specific environmental conditions to break dormancy, and having the right amount of these elements ensures proper development.

Explanation

The preposition inside is used to indicate that something is located within the physical boundaries or interior of a container, object, or space. Since seeds are situated within the body of a fruit, inside is the grammatically correct and semantically natural choice to describe this spatial relationship.

Explanation

The phrasal verb dry up means to lose moisture and become completely dry. In the lifecycle of many plants, when a fruit dries up, it loses its water content and withers, leaving behind mature and dry seeds inside. These dried seeds can then be easily harvested, stored, and used to grow new plants of the exact same kind under favorable environmental conditions.

Explanation

The correct spelling of the word is comparison. It refers to the act or instance of comparing, which represents an estimate of relative likeness or difference between two or more things. The standard spelling is comparison, which is derived from the Latin comparatio and French comparaison, requiring a single p, a single r, and a single s.

Explanation

The sentence expresses a general condition and its consequence, which represents an ongoing state or universal truth. The second clause uses the present tense modal verb "can" in "there can be no progress". To maintain grammatical tense consistency throughout the sentence, the first clause must also be in the present tense. Therefore, the past tense verb "was" is incorrect and should be replaced with the present tense verb "is" to correctly read "there is corruption".

Explanation

The present perfect tense have asked is used here to indicate a recently completed action that has relevance to the present. The verb ask is followed by a to-infinitive. Since the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action of transferring, the passive infinitive to be followed by the past participle transferred must be used. Combining these grammatical rules results in have asked to be transferred, which is grammatically correct and fits the context of the sentence.

Explanation

A synonym is a word or phrase that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word or phrase in the same language. Originating from the Greek words syn, meaning together, and onoma, meaning name, synonyms allow for variety and precision in writing and speech by providing alternative ways to express the same concept.

Explanation

The preposition to is typically used to indicate a specific destination or the end point of a journey, whereas towards represents movement in the direction of something or someone. In this sentence, the continuous action of approaching the speaker is being described. Using towards correctly conveys this sense of physical approach and direction, making the sentence grammatically accurate and meaningful.

Explanation

The idiom snake in the grass refers to a secret enemy or a deceitful person who pretends to be a friend while secretly working against you. The phrase originates from the idea of a snake hiding in lawns or tall grass, which remains unseen and poses an unexpected threat until it strikes. It is therefore used to describe a treacherous, untrustworthy, or deceitful individual.

Explanation

The word Exgibitionistic is incorrectly spelt. The correct spelling is Exhibitionistic, which is spelled with an h instead of a g. It is derived from the root word exhibition, meaning to show or display, and refers to a tendency to behave in a way that attracts attention to oneself.

Explanation

The idiom "get one's dander up" means to become highly irritated, angry, or to lose one's temper. The term "dander" in this context refers to anger or temper, and the phrase likely originates from the image of an animal raising its fur, hair, or feathers when it feels threatened or enraged.

Explanation

The given sentence is in the active voice of the present perfect tense, which follows the structure: Subject + has/have + not + past participle (V3) of the verb + Object.

To convert this sentence into the passive voice, the object (The computer) becomes the new subject, and the structure transforms to: Subject + has/have + not + been + past participle (V3) of the verb + by + Agent. Applying this rule yields the passive sentence: "The computer has not been used by Ushis for weeks."

Explanation

The segment "will try his luck" contains a grammatical error because the possessive pronoun does not agree in number with its antecedent. The subject "All the young boys and girls" is plural. Therefore, the singular masculine possessive pronoun "his" must be replaced with the plural possessive pronoun "their" to ensure proper pronoun-antecedent agreement.

Explanation

The word haul refers to a quantity of something that has been obtained, especially the amount of fish caught in a single net or during a single fishing effort. In this context, it perfectly represents the number of fishes getting caught by the fishermen.

Explanation

The sentence contextually describes the existential state of humanity, highlighting vulnerabilities and anxieties. The nouns risk and uncertainty convey a sense of insecurity and danger. To maintain thematic consistency and complete the expression of existential dread, the noun death is the most appropriate choice, representing the ultimate, universal fear that is inherently linked with risk and uncertainty in life.

Explanation

The word garisoned is misspelled in the sentence. The correct spelling is garrisoned, which contains a double r. The term refers to troops stationed in a fortress or town to defend it.

Explanation

The paragraph follows a chronological and logical progression of ideas. Sentence B serves as the opening statement, introducing the broad historical context of India's esteemed education system since ancient times. Sentence D immediately supports this claim by providing a specific historical milestone, which is the founding of Nalanda University over 1,000 years ago. Sentence C transitions the narrative from history to the present era by using the word Today to describe the modern scenario of thousands of world-class schools in India. Sentence A concludes the paragraph smoothly using the transition word Thus, drawing a logical conclusion from the history and modern developments to explain the unique educational opportunity available to Indian children.

Explanation

The sentence in option B has no spelling errors, with all words including "chief", "pneumonia", and "microbe" spelled correctly.

Explanation

The word susceptible means being vulnerable, open, or sensitive to a particular influence, effect, or force. Conversely, immune means being protected, exempt, or resistant to something, such as an illness or legal prosecution. Therefore, immune acts as the direct antonym of susceptible in this context.

Explanation

The word renounce means to formally declare one's abandonment of a claim, right, possession, or belief. The word abjure means to solemnly renounce or reject a belief, cause, or claim. Therefore, abjure is the most appropriate synonym for renounce as both terms convey the act of formally giving up or rejecting something, typically with a solemn or formal declaration.