SSC CHSL Tier 1 2023 English Comprehension Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The word timid means showing a lack of courage or confidence, or being easily frightened. Nervous is a highly appropriate synonym as it describes a state of being easily agitated, anxious, or apprehensive, which directly aligns with the hesitant and fearful nature of being timid.

Explanation

The word convoluted means extremely complex, intricate, and difficult to follow. This is the direct antonym of simplified, which means made simple, straightforward, and easy to understand or navigate. Substituting convoluted into the sentence perfectly conveys that the route is already as complex and winding as it can possibly be.

Explanation

A dialect is a variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular geographic region or a specific social group. It features distinctive vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation that set it apart from other varieties of the same language, while remaining mutually intelligible with them.

Explanation

The sentence compares two people, Varun and his brother, which requires the comparative degree of the adjective. For multi-syllable adjectives like handsome, the comparative form is created by placing more before the adjective, making it more handsome. Additionally, the comparative degree is followed by the conjunction than to introduce the second element of the comparison. Therefore, more handsome than is the grammatically correct phrase.

Explanation

The sentence requires the present perfect tense to describe an action that began in the past and continues to the present, indicated by the time marker "since independence". The present perfect tense is formed using the auxiliary verb "has" or "have" followed by the past participle of the main verb. Because the subject "The GDP of the country" is singular, it takes the singular auxiliary verb "has". The past participle of the verb "grow" is "grown", making "has grown rapidly" the grammatically correct phrase.

Explanation

Correct Answer: B

The original sentence is in the simple past passive voice, where the recipient of the action (the letter) is the subject and the performer of the action (the author) is introduced by the preposition "by".

To convert this sentence into the active voice, the performer of the action, "the author", becomes the subject of the sentence. The passive verb form "was written" changes to the active simple past verb "wrote", taking "the letter" as its direct object. Similarly, the second passive action "and mailed to the publisher" is converted to the active form "and mailed it to the publisher", where the pronoun "it" is introduced to represent the direct object "the letter" and maintain natural flow. This structure perfectly aligns with the active voice format: Subject + Verb + Object.

Explanation

A proposal is a formal plan, suggestion, or offer put forward for consideration, discussion, or adoption. Similarly, a scheme refers to a systematic plan, design, or program of action formulated to achieve a specific objective. Both words represent a structured blueprint or project presented for approval, making them closely related synonyms in various professional and administrative contexts.

Explanation

A euphemism is a mild, indirect, or vague term or phrase used in place of one considered harsh, blunt, offensive, or unpleasant. It is commonly employed to soften the impact of difficult, sensitive, or controversial topics, making the communication more palatable or polite to the audience.

Explanation

The participle "being" is used to form an absolute phrase, "a notable exception being China", which modifies the preceding clause. In this grammatical structure, "being" functions as the present participle of the verb to connect the noun phrase "a notable exception" with its identifier "China" to concisely introduce an exception without starting a new independent clause.

Explanation

The passage discusses a modern international summit on Buddhism aimed at addressing present-day global challenges. The word contemporary means belonging to or occurring in the present, making it the most appropriate fit to describe the current global issues being discussed at the conclave.

Explanation

The subject of the sentence, "The delegates", is a plural noun. To maintain proper subject-verb agreement in the simple present tense, a plural verb is required. The verb "include" is the plural form that correctly agrees with the plural subject "The delegates".

Explanation

The subject of the clause is "invitations", which is a plural noun. To construct the passive voice in the simple past tense for a plural subject, the auxiliary verb "were" must be used with the past participle "sent". This completes the sentence structure as "invitations were sent".

Explanation

The modal verb might is used to express a possibility, especially in reported speech where the reporting verb "mentioned" is in the past tense. In this context, "might" correctly indicates the possibility of the Dalai Lama's absence from the summit due to health issues, which aligns with the statement in the opening paragraph that he is "unlikely to attend."

Explanation

The word dynamic describes a person or thing that is full of energy, vitality, and active force. It represents continuous activity, change, and enthusiasm. Energetic directly shares this meaning, as it refers to possessing or displaying great activity, vigor, and drive, making it the most accurate synonym.

Explanation

An archive refers to a collection of historical documents, records, and other materials that provide valuable information about the past. In the context of the sentence, the museum's archive serves as a repository where such historical records, including ancient manuscripts, are preserved and stored.

Explanation

The word guile refers to crafty, cunning, or deceitful behavior used to trick or mislead others. The direct opposite of this quality is truthfulness, sincerity, and integrity, which is represented by honesty.

Explanation

The word hoard is a verb that means to accumulate and store away food, money, or other valued objects for future use. In the context of the sentence, ants gather and store food during the summer so they have enough sustenance preserved for the winter months, making hoard the correct word choice for this blank.

Explanation

The indefinite article "a" is used before words that begin with a consonant sound, while "an" is used before words that begin with a vowel sound. Since the noun "owl" starts with a vowel sound, it must be preceded by "an" instead of "a". Therefore, the correct phrase is "An owl was".

Explanation

An anthropologist is a scientist who studies humans, human behavior, societies, and the physical, social, and cultural development of mankind, which directly includes the study of human evolution. This field of study, known as anthropology, combines the Greek words anthropos meaning human and logos meaning study, to investigate the origins, development, and customs of the human species.

Explanation

The word redeem means to fulfill, compensate, make amends, or keep a promise or rule. In contrast, violate means to break, disregard, or fail to comply with a rule, agreement, or principle. Therefore, violated is the direct antonym of redeem in the context of adhering to or breaking rules.

Explanation

The word portable is used to describe an object that is lightweight, compact, and designed to be easily carried or moved from one place to another.

Explanation

The term Utopia refers to an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its citizens. It represents an ideal place or state of things where laws, government, and social conditions are perfect. The word was coined by Sir Thomas More in 1516 for his book of the same name, describing a fictional island with a perfect social, legal, and political system.

Explanation

Correct Answer: B

The segment containing the error is "They were laid". The verb "laid" is the past tense and past participle of the transitive verb "lay", which means to put or place something down and requires a direct object. In this context, the sentence refers to subjects reclining or resting in the sun, which requires the intransitive verb "lie" (past tense "lay", past participle "lain"). Therefore, the sentence should use the past tense "They lay" or the past continuous "They were lying" instead of "They were laid".

Explanation

The correct spelling of the word is exhilarate, which means to make someone feel very happy, animated, or elated. The word is derived from the Latin verb exhilarare, meaning to make cheerful, which comes from the prefix ex (meaning thoroughly) combined with hilaris (meaning cheerful). The standard spelling maintains the silent h after the x and uses the suffix ate.

Explanation

The given sentence is in the passive voice, using the simple past tense form was + past participle (was supported). To convert it into the active voice, the agent of the action (my family) becomes the subject of the sentence, and the subject (I) becomes the object (me). The verb phrase is changed to the simple past active form (supported), with the adverb (never) placed before the main verb, resulting in "My family never supported me."

Explanation

The segment contains a spelling error in the word acknowledgments. In British English, which is the standard for standard Indian English examinations, the correct spelling is acknowledgements, where the letter e is retained after the g.

Explanation

The word mean, when used as an adjective, refers to someone or something that is low-minded, ignoble, base, or lacking in dignity, generosity, and moral stature. The word noble serves as its direct antonym, representing high moral character, generosity, magnanimity, and greatness of mind or spirit.

Explanation

The idiom "on the cards" is used to describe something that is very likely to happen, expected, or planned for the future. In the context of the sentence, saying Nitish's promotion is "due" means it is expected or scheduled to happen soon, which matches the meaning of "on the cards".

Explanation

The jumbled parts are arranged to form a coherent compound sentence where two parallel ideas are connected by the coordinating conjunction and. Part C introduces the main subject and verb, the royal style is the agent, which is immediately completed by the prepositional phrase in part A, in social evolution by imitation. Part D then introduces the second parallel clause, and cultural patterns are similarly transmitted by the dominant caste, which is logically followed by part B, by reason of its higher standard of living, providing the cause or explanation for this transmission. This sequence creates a grammatically correct and logically sound sentence structure.

Explanation

To convert the active voice sentence into the passive voice, the object of the active sentence, "the meeting", becomes the subject of the passive sentence. The simple past tense verb "disturbed" is changed to its passive form "was disturbed". The subject of the active sentence, "an agitated gathering of workers in the company", becomes the agent and is introduced by the preposition "by" at the end of the sentence. This results in the grammatically correct passive sentence: "The meeting was disturbed by an agitated gathering of workers in the company."

Explanation

The idiom "costs an arm and a leg" is a common English expression used to describe something that is extremely expensive or overpriced, implying that the cost is so high that one would have to sacrifice something as valuable as their own limbs to afford it.

Explanation

The word reign refers to the period during which a person holds a position of dominant power, authority, or leading influence. In a corporate context, a CEO's tenure or period of leadership is metaphorically described as their reign, which perfectly fits the sentence describing the praise received for her innovative leadership.

Explanation

Correct Answer: D

The word concept means an abstract idea or a general notion. In the context of the sentence, globalisation is described as an idea or phenomenon that is not modern but has existed since ancient times through historical trade routes. Therefore, concept is the most appropriate term to indicate that the idea of global interconnectedness has historical origins.

Explanation

The context of the sentence describes ancient traders travelling vast distances to acquire highly valued commodities to sell in their homelands. In economics and historical trade, goods that justified such long, difficult, and expensive journeys were those that could not be easily found locally. The word rare perfectly fits this context, pairing with expensive to describe high-value, scarce luxury items like spices, silk, and precious stones that were in high demand but low supply in the traders' home countries.

Explanation

During the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, the development of steamships, railways, and the telegraph revolutionized the way goods and information were moved. The word advances correctly describes these technological breakthroughs and improvements in transportation and communication, which significantly reduced transit times and costs, thereby easing and accelerating trade across international borders.

Explanation

The context describes a historical shift after World War I where countries began imposing import taxes to protect their domestic industries, moving away from open trade. This rise in protectionism caused the momentum of integration and trade expansion to come to a halt. The word stalled precisely means to stop progressing or to be brought to a standstill, which perfectly fits the disruption of globalisation during this period.

Explanation

The passage describes nations launching import taxes to more closely guard their industries in the aftermath of the conflict. Protectionism is an economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs and import taxes to shield domestic industries from foreign competition. This matches the context of the sentence perfectly.

Explanation

The word sumptuous means splendid, expensive-looking, lavish, or costly. Its direct antonym is inexpensive, which refers to something that is cheap, low in price, or not costing a lot of money.

Explanation

The word expected is the grammatically correct and correctly spelt word that fits the context of the sentence. In this context, expected means regarded as likely to happen or anticipated to arrive. The sentence indicates that the chief guest is anticipated to arrive at the venue within thirty minutes, making expected the appropriate choice.

Explanation

In football terminology, the phrasal verb "bring down" means to tackle or trip an opponent, causing them to fall to the ground. The preposition "in" is used to denote being inside the boundaries of a specific space, such as the penalty area. Combining these gives "was brought down in the", which correctly describes a player being fouled and tripped to the ground inside the penalty box.

Explanation

The adjective capable is idiomatically paired with the preposition of, typically followed by a gerund or a noun phrase. Therefore, in the given sentence, the incorrect preposition on must be replaced with of to form the correct phrase capable of participating.

Explanation

The active sentence is in the simple past tense, as indicated by the verb cancelled. To convert a simple past active sentence into the passive voice, the structure used is: Subject (original object) + was/were + past participle (V₃) + prepositional phrase/agent. Here, the singular object the meeting becomes the subject, followed by the auxiliary verb was, the past participle cancelled, and the prepositional phrase due to bad weather, resulting in the passive form: The meeting was cancelled due to bad weather.

Explanation

The given passive voice sentence is in the simple future tense, which follows the structure: Object + will + be + past participle (V3) + by + Subject. To convert this into active voice, the structure changes to: Subject + will + base form of the verb (V1) + Object. Applying this rule, "the mason" becomes the subject, "will be finished" changes to "will finish", and "the work" becomes the direct object, resulting in the correct active voice construction.

Explanation

A sieve is a utensil with a mesh or perforated bottom used to separate liquids from solids, allowing substances to easily slip through and escape. Metaphorically, having a memory like a sieve implies that information, thoughts, and memories slip through a person's mind just as easily, indicating that they are highly forgetful and possess a very poor memory.

Explanation

The sentence describes a present appearance or state, as indicated by the present perfect tense in the subordinate clause "as if he has not slept". The verb "look" is a stative verb when used to describe a person's appearance, making the simple present tense form "looks" the most appropriate and grammatically correct choice to maintain tense consistency. Replacing the underlined phrase results in the grammatically correct and natural sentence: "He looks as if he has not slept."

Explanation

The correct spelling is terminology, which refers to the system of specialized terms and vocabulary used in a particular field, science, or social activity. It is formed by combining the Latin word terminus, which means a term or expression, with the Greek suffix -logia, which denotes a branch of study or knowledge.

Explanation

The term bibliophile is derived from the Greek words biblion, meaning book, and philos, meaning loving. It is used to describe an individual who has a great love for books and actively collects them, often appreciating them for their content, binding, format, or historical value.

Explanation

The idiom "give the benefit of the doubt" means to accept that someone is telling the truth or behaving honestly, even when their explanation cannot be fully proven or when one is not entirely convinced. In the given sentence, the interviewer decided to accept the candidate's excuse about the traffic jam despite being skeptical or unconvinced, which directly matches the definition of giving someone the benefit of the doubt.

Explanation

The word perpetual means everlasting, never-ending, or continuing without interruption for an indefinitely long time. In the context of deep caves like Ajanta that receive no natural light, the darkness is constant and unchanging. Therefore, permanent, which means lasting or remaining unchanged indefinitely, is the most accurate synonym.

Explanation

The word comply means to act in accordance with a wish, command, rule, or request, essentially meaning to agree, acquiesce, or obey. Its most appropriate antonym is deny, which means to refuse to accept, agree to, or grant something, representing the opposite action of conforming or agreeing.