SSC CHSL Tier 1 2022 English Comprehension Questions with Solutions

Explanation

Magnanimity refers to the quality of being generous, kind, and forgiving, particularly towards rivals or those less powerful. Altruism shares this core meaning, as it denotes selfless concern for the well-being of others and acts of benevolence or generosity without expecting anything in return. Both terms represent noble, selfless, and charitable behavior towards others, making them synonymous in this context.

Explanation

The idiom body and soul means involving all of one's energy, effort, and commitment. It signifies dedicating oneself completely, both physically and mentally, to a particular cause, activity, or belief, thereby representing doing something wholly and entirely.

Explanation

The active sentence is an interrogative in the simple past tense, featuring the subject Ravi, the verb gave, and two objects: you (indirect object) and the information (direct object). To convert a simple past interrogative sentence into the passive voice, the structure is Was/Were + Subject (which was the object in active voice) + third form of verb (past participle) + by + Agent. Since the information is a singular noun, it takes the auxiliary verb was, resulting in the correct passive form: Was the information given to you by Ravi?

Explanation

A quandary refers to a state of perplexity, uncertainty, or a difficult situation where making a decision is challenging. An impasse represents a situation where no progress is possible, often due to a deadlock or a dilemma. Both words denote a state of being stuck in a difficult predicament with no clear or easy way out, making them synonymous in describing a state of deadlock or unresolved difficulty.

Explanation

The sentence is written with correct spelling for every word, where remind, someone, knew, and once are all spelled accurately according to standard English orthography.

Explanation

A kleptomaniac is an individual who suffers from kleptomania, a mental health condition characterized by a persistent and irresistible neurotic impulse to steal items, typically those of little value and not needed for personal use or financial gain.

Explanation

The word frustrate means to prevent a plan, action, or progress from succeeding, effectively thwarting or obstructing it. In contrast, foster means to encourage, promote, or actively support the growth and development of something. Therefore, foster is the direct opposite in meaning to frustrate.

Explanation

The word apologetic is defined as showing regret or expressing remorse for a wrong committed. The word contrite similarly means feeling or expressing deep and painful regret for one's sins, errors, or shortcomings. Both terms are synonyms as they describe a state of remorsefulness or penitence.

Explanation

The verb rise is an intransitive verb, meaning it does not take a direct object. In this sentence, hopes acts as a direct object. Therefore, the transitive verb raise, whose past participle is raised, must be used instead because it means to elevate or increase something and requires an object. The correct phrasing is have raised hopes.

Explanation

The verb touch fits the sentence both literally and idiomatically. In a literal sense, feet touch the ground when walking or standing. Idiomatically, the expression feet do not touch the ground is used to describe feeling extremely happy, excited, or being incredibly busy.

Explanation

The term divest means to reduce or withdraw investment, or to sell off business assets and interests. In the context of multinational or expatriate business operations, it is standard usage to divest from a country, meaning to liquidate or pull out corporate investments. This fits the grammatical structure of the sentence perfectly with the preposition from following the blank.

Explanation

The correct sequence is QSPR because it forms a grammatically and contextually coherent sentence. Part Q ends with the definite article "the", which must logically connect to the proper noun "Philippines" at the beginning of part S, completing the geographical reference. Part S ends with the adjective "modified", which directly modifies the noun "versions" at the start of part P. Lastly, the coordinating conjunction "and" at the end of part P connects the adjective "charitable" to "missionary activities" in part R, completing the list of factors that influenced the growth of basic welfare services.

Explanation

Astronomy is the branch of science that deals with the study of celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole. It involves observing and analyzing heavenly bodies such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae, and galaxies to understand their origins, evolution, and physical properties.

Explanation

The sentence structure flows logically from the opening phrase Climate change is. It is naturally completed by a noun phrase that defines it, which is found in Q (a broad topic that includes periodic alterations in Earth's).

The possessive noun Earth's at the end of Q must modify a noun, which is climate at the start of P (climate caused by natural forces in combination).

The phrase in combination at the end of P connects with the preposition with at the start of R (with the effects of various human activities like burning of).

Finally, the preposition of at the end of R is followed by its object in S (fossil fuels and changes in land cover and biodiversity), which completes the sentence. This creates the coherent sequence QPRS.

Explanation

When converting direct speech into indirect speech, the tense of the reported speech does not change if it expresses a universal truth, a proverb, or an established fact, even if the reporting verb is in the past tense. The statement "Man proposes and God disposes" is a well-known proverb. Therefore, the present tense is retained, and the conjunction "that" is used to connect the reporting verb to the reported statement.

Explanation

The word misogamist is derived from the Greek prefix miso- meaning hatred, and gamos meaning marriage. Consequently, a misogamist is a person who harbors a strong hatred, dislike, or aversion to the institution of marriage.

Explanation

The sentence expresses a universal truth or general statement, which requires the use of the simple present tense. Since the subject "an idea" is singular, it must agree with the singular verb "lives". The phrasal verb "live on" means to continue to exist or survive, making "lives on" the grammatically correct choice to complete the sentence.

Explanation

The idiom "slap on the wrist" refers to a very mild or lenient punishment given to someone who has committed an offense, especially when a much more severe penalty was expected or deserved. It metaphorically represents a gentle warning rather than a harsh consequence.

Explanation

The sentence is grammatically correct in all its parts. The subject pronoun "it" is followed by the past tense verb "awarded", which is correctly modified by the adverbs "just" and "recently" to indicate a very recent action. The noun phrase "a million-dollar contract" correctly uses the hyphenated compound adjective "million-dollar" to modify the singular noun "contract", preceded by the appropriate indefinite article "a". The relative clause "that reeks of corruption" correctly uses "that" as a relative pronoun referring to the inanimate noun "contract", with the singular verb "reeks" agreeing with its singular antecedent. Therefore, the sentence contains no grammatical errors.

Explanation

The context of the passage clearly indicates that the property being discussed is colour. The sentence following the blank provides examples of fruits and vegetables transitioning from green to red, which are specific changes in colour. Additionally, the subsequent sentence begins with the phrase "Colour is just one way", which directly confirms that colour is the attribute being referenced.

Explanation

The context of the passage focuses on identifying when fruits and vegetables have fully matured and are fit for consumption or collection. The adjective ready correctly completes the phrase ready to be harvested or eaten, which means prepared or fully ripe for these specific actions.

Explanation

The sentence describes a factory process where strawberries are put into plastic containers before being distributed to grocery stores. The verb "packs" means to place food or goods into containers, boxes, or packages for transport, storage, or sale, which perfectly fits the context of preparing agricultural produce for retail.

Explanation

The phrasal verb shipped off means to send or transport goods to a destination. In the context of the passage, strawberries are packed into plastic containers at a factory to be sent or transported to various grocery stores across the country, making shipped off the grammatically and contextually correct choice.

Explanation

The context of the passage describes a machine in a packaging factory designed to filter out green, unripe strawberries so that only the ripe, red ones are sent to grocery stores. In this scenario, the machine needs to discard or dismiss the unripe strawberries that do not meet the quality standard. The word rejects fits this context perfectly, as it means to dismiss or discard something that is inadequate or unsatisfactory.

Explanation

When converting direct speech into indirect speech, if the reporting verb is in the past tense (said), the verb in the reported speech changes from the present tense to the past tense. Here, the simple present verb "am" changes to the simple past "was". Additionally, the first-person pronoun "I" changes to the third-person pronoun "she" to align with the subject Aditi, and the conjunction "that" is introduced to connect the clauses.

Explanation

Correct Answer: B

When converting direct speech into indirect speech, the reporting verb said, when addressing an implied listener, is changed to told me, and the conjunction that is used to introduce the reported clause. The second-person pronoun you changes to the first-person pronoun I to agree with the implied object me. The modal verb should, which expresses advice or recommendation, remains unchanged in indirect speech, and the base form of the verb take is retained.

Explanation

The word incongruous refers to something that is out of place, unsuitable, or inconsistent with its surroundings or context. The opposite of being out of place or unsuitable is being suitable and proper for the circumstances, which is the definition of appropriate.

Explanation

Correct Answer: A

The error lies in the subject-verb agreement. When a percentage or fraction is followed by a prepositional phrase containing a singular collective noun like population, the verb must agree with the singular noun. Therefore, the plural verb are should be replaced with the singular verb is to make the sentence grammatically correct.

Explanation

The correct order of the sentence parts is SPRQ. Part S introduces the subject and action, ending with the noun gallbladder, which naturally connects to the noun gangrene starting in part P. Part P describes the patients who had recovered from Covid-19 infection and, ending with the coordinating conjunction and. This conjunction links to the verb presented in part R, describing the patients' clinical presentation of severe inflammation of gallbladder without. The preposition without in part R is then followed by the noun phrase gallstones resulting in gangrene of gallbladder requiring urgent surgery in part Q, completing the logical and grammatical flow of the sentence.

Explanation

A philistine is defined as a person who is indifferent or hostile to culture, the arts, and intellectual pursuits, often possessing a smug, materialistic attitude. The term describes someone who lacks appreciation for aesthetic values and prioritizes material gains and practical concerns over artistic and cultural endeavors.

Explanation

The idiom "at daggers drawn with" refers to a state of extreme enmity or hostility between people. It evokes the image of two individuals who have drawn their daggers and are ready to fight, signifying that they are bitterly hostile towards each other.

Explanation

The sentence is grammatically correct and structurally sound. The singular subject "The fiscal deficit" correctly agrees with the singular verb phrase "has to be held". The pronoun "it" properly refers back to "the fiscal deficit" and correctly agrees with the singular verb "represents". Furthermore, the prepositional phrase "claim on" and the possessive forms "government's" and "sector's" are used appropriately in this context.

Explanation

The word genial means friendly, cheerful, and warm in disposition. Similarly, convivial describes a person or atmosphere that is friendly, lively, and jovial, sharing the same core meaning of sociability and warmth.

Explanation

To convert a sentence in the simple past tense from active to passive voice, the grammatical structure changes from Subject + V2 + Object to Subject of passive verb + was/were + past participle (V3) + by + Object of passive verb.

In the active sentence "He built a website from scratch", the subject is "He", the verb is "built" (simple past tense), and the object is "a website".

Converting this sentence, the singular object "a website" becomes the subject and takes the singular past auxiliary verb "was" followed by the past participle "built". The agent "by him" is placed after the verb phrase along with the adverbial phrase "from scratch", resulting in "A website was built from scratch by him."

Explanation

The idiom to burn one's fingers means to suffer unpleasant consequences, such as a financial loss or personal trouble, as a result of acting rashly, carelessly, or meddling in something. It figuratively describes a situation where someone gets hurt or faces a setback due to their own ill-advised or risky actions.

Explanation

The verb host means to organize and facilitate an event or to act as a host for a group of people. In this context, the two government agencies (the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency) act as the organizers who bring together federal pollinator experts for an annual meeting to share scientific findings. Therefore, host is grammatically and contextually the most appropriate fit for the blank.

Explanation

The plural demonstrative determiner these is grammatically correct because it modifies the plural noun phrase important insects, birds, bats and other species. It is used to refer to the specific group of pollinators that are the subject of the scientific meeting and assessment.

Explanation

The term takeaway refers to a key point, lesson, or important piece of information to be learned or remembered from a meeting, event, or discussion. In this context, the sentence describes a major conclusion or finding derived from the annual meeting of pollinator experts regarding the impact of climate change on bees, making takeaway the most grammatically and contextually appropriate fit.

Explanation

The present perfect tense "has become" is used to describe an action or state that started in the past and has a direct connection to, or effect on, the present. In this context, climate change began developing into a stressor in the past and continues to be a major, ongoing stressor for bees at the time of the meeting, making "has become" the grammatically correct and logically fitting choice for the blank.

Explanation

The context of the sentence discusses the unknown future impacts of climate change on bees that scientists cannot yet foresee or anticipate, but must still prepare for. The word "predict" fits logically in this context, as it means to state or estimate that a specified event will happen in the future, which directly contrasts with and complements the necessity to "prepare for" these upcoming challenges.

Explanation

The word slick refers to a surface that is smooth, wet, or oily, which makes it difficult to stand on, walk on, or hold without sliding. This directly corresponds to the definition of slippery, which describes a surface that has a low coefficient of friction and causes sliding or slipping. Thus, slippery is a direct synonym for slick.

Explanation

Conscription refers to the compulsory enlistment of people in a national service, most commonly for military service. It is a system of mandatory military draft used by governments to ensure a sufficient number of personnel are available for national defense.

Explanation

The sentence "Lights flickered in the bush behind him" contains no spelling errors. Every word, including the plural noun "lights", the past-tense verb "flickered", and the singular noun "bush", is spelled correctly according to standard English lexicography.

Explanation

The active sentence is in the past continuous tense, which follows the structure: Subject + was/were + verb-ing + Object.

To convert a past continuous sentence into the passive voice, the standard grammatical formula is: New Subject (the object of the active sentence) + was/were + being + past participle of the main verb.

In the active sentence, the object is "its meaning", which refers to "the meaning of the culture", and the active verb is "was losing". Applying the passive voice rule, the past continuous verb "was losing" is transformed into "was being lost", where "lost" is the past participle of the verb "lose". This yields the correct passive construction: "The meaning of the culture was being lost."

Explanation

The sentence begins with the main subject and clause in S, which introduces the corals: "corals are predators and they extend their tentacles".

This is followed by R, which describes when they perform this action and what they capture: "at night and capture tiny organisms like zooplankton, small".

The adjective "small" at the end of R directly modifies the noun phrase at the beginning of P: "fish, or other potential food item that happen".

Finally, the verb "happen" in P connects to the infinitive verb phrase in Q: "to be floating by with stinging cells called nematocysts".

This logical and grammatical flow establishes the sequence as SRPQ.

Explanation

The phrase avenge your honour is a common English collocation that means to vindicate or seek retribution for an offense or injury to one's dignity or reputation. In the context of the sentence, the speaker is advising her sister not to rely on a man to defend or vindicate her honour, emphasizing self-reliance instead of waiting indefinitely for someone else to take action on her behalf.

Explanation

A nephrologist is a medical doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating diseases and conditions of the kidneys. The term is derived from the Greek word nephros, which translates to kidney, and the suffix logist, which refers to one who studies a specific field. Nephrologists manage conditions such as chronic kidney disease, kidney infections, kidney stones, and renal failure.

Explanation

The word laggard refers to a person who makes slow progress, falls behind others, or is sluggish in action. Similarly, dawdling means wasting time, moving slowly, or lagging behind, which makes it the correct synonym.

Explanation

The idiom "zero tolerance" refers to a strict and uncompromising policy that refuses to accept or permit any violation of a specified rule, law, or standard. Under such a policy, even the smallest infraction is met with immediate and mandatory punishment, leaving no room for leniency, discretion, or mitigating circumstances.

Explanation

The active voice sentence is in the past continuous tense, which has the structure: Subject + was/were + verb-ing + Object.

To convert a sentence in the past continuous tense into the passive voice, the structural formula is: Object + was/were + being + past participle (V3) + by + Subject.

Applying this formula, "the stag" becomes the new subject, "was trailing" is converted to "was being trailed", and "the tigress" becomes the agent introduced by "by". This results in "The stag was being trailed by the tigress."