SSC CHSL Tier 1 2023 English Comprehension Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The sentence begins with Part A, which introduces the compound subject noun phrase, "The prosperity and business acumen". This subject is naturally modified by the prepositional phrase in Part C, "Of the great industrial and commercial houses in". The preposition "in" at the end of Part C links directly to the proper nouns in Part B, "Mumbai and Kolkata". Part B then introduces the plural verb "indicate", which agrees with the compound subject, followed by the conjunction "that" and the phrase "in the commercial sector". Finally, Part D completes the clause introduced by "that" with the subject and predicate "India has a considerable potential for modernisation". This sequence creates a grammatically precise and logically coherent sentence.

Explanation

The word abrogate means to officially abolish, repeal, or do away with a law, right, or formal agreement. Its direct antonym is establish, which means to set up, institute, or found something on a firm or permanent basis.

Explanation

The main clause of the sentence uses the past tense verb "learned", which establishes that the entire event occurred in the past. To maintain tense consistency, the subordinate clause describing the background action that was ongoing at that past time must also be in a past tense. The past continuous tense "he was studying" correctly indicates an ongoing past action during which another past event took place.

Explanation

This sentence is a third conditional sentence, which is used to describe a hypothetical situation in the past and its imaginary past result. The standard grammatical structure for a third conditional sentence is:

If + Past Perfect (had + past participle), would + have + past participle.

In the condition clause, the past perfect tense "had moved" is used. Therefore, the main clause must follow the structure "would have" followed by the past participle of the main verb "have", which is "had", resulting in "would have had". This correctly expresses the hypothetical past consequence of an event that did not happen.

Explanation

The passage describes Nainital as a scenic tourist destination, highlighting its picturesque elements like the lake, skating, and evening lights. The adjective beautiful is the most fitting word to describe the lake in this context, establishing the overall appreciative tone of the description. This choice is further supported by the concluding sentence, which refers to Nainital as a city of beauty, maintaining thematic consistency throughout the text.

Explanation

The verb enjoy is the most suitable fit for the blank because it directly collocates with recreational activities, such as boating, to express taking pleasure in an experience. Tourists engage in boating for leisure and amusement, which makes enjoy the most natural word to describe their participation in this activity.

Explanation

The sentence describes the visual effect of electric lights on the surface of the lake water at night. When light from the lamps hits the water, it bounces off the surface to create a visible image. This physical phenomenon of light bouncing off a surface is known as reflection. Therefore, the term reflection accurately describes the shimmering, dancing visual effect of the electric lights on the moving ripples of the lake.

Explanation

The word excellent fits grammatically after the article an because it starts with a vowel sound, and it aligns perfectly with the positive, appreciative tone of the passage. The author describes the beauty of Nainital, the enjoyment of boating, and the pleasant evenings, making excellent the most logical and appropriate description for such an appealing and beautiful tourist destination.

Explanation

The passage describes the scenic landscapes of Nainital, highlighting its lake, boating, and the beautiful reflection of electric lights in the water. The term natural beauty is a standard and widely used collocation in English to describe the inherent, scenic, and picturesque qualities of landscapes, mountains, and water bodies. Thus, natural is the most appropriate word to describe the beauty of the hill station Nainital in this context.

Explanation

The idiom "hit the sack" is a common informal expression which means to go to bed or go to sleep. This phrase historically refers to sleeping on mattresses that were made of sacks stuffed with straw, hay, or feathers. In the context of the sentence, returning home around midnight implies that the boys were tired and went straight to bed to sleep.

Explanation

A pessimist is defined as a person who habitually anticipates or dwells on the worst possible outcomes, circumstances, or obstacles. The term originates from the Latin word "pessimus", meaning "worst", reflecting a cognitive bias or personality trait characterized by a general lack of hope or confidence in the future.

Explanation

A cacographer is a person who is bad at spelling or has poor handwriting. The term is derived from the Greek roots kakos, meaning bad or unpleasant, and graphos, meaning writing or spelling.

Explanation

The word diminutive is an adjective used to describe something that is extremely or unusually small. Miniature shares this exact meaning, referring to something that is much smaller than normal or represented on a greatly reduced scale.

Explanation

The word brazen means bold and without shame. In the context of the sentence, it describes favouritism that is carried out openly and without any embarrassment or hesitation, making unashamed the precise synonym.

Explanation

The pronoun in the underlined phrase refers back to the plural noun languages. Since languages is plural, the singular possessive pronoun its is grammatically incorrect and must be replaced with the plural possessive pronoun their to ensure proper pronoun-antecedent agreement.

Explanation

The word defunct refers to something that is no longer existing, operating, or functioning, particularly an organization, system, or practice that has ceased its activities. The term obsolete is a highly appropriate synonym as it describes something that is no longer in use, has gone out of existence, or is no longer operational, directly aligning with the meaning of a defunct organization.

Explanation

The idiomatic phrase used to describe completing an action faster than has ever been done before is in record time. The preposition in is the standard English usage when combined with record time to denote the duration within which the event was completed.

Explanation

The given sentence is in the passive voice in the simple past tense, which is structured as object + was/were + past participle verb + by + subject. To convert this sentence into the active voice, the grammatical object of the passive sentence is changed into the subject of the active sentence, meaning him becomes He. The passive verb form was killed is changed to the simple past active verb killed. Finally, the subject of the passive sentence, His wife, becomes the direct object of the active sentence. This conversion results in the active construction He killed his wife.

Explanation

The word kin refers to one's family, relations, or clan, representing a group of people sharing a common ancestry or blood relationship.

Explanation

The grammatical structure "as + adjective/adverb + as" is used to compare two people, things, or situations. In this construction, the adjective must always be in its positive degree. The positive degree of the adjective is "clever", while "cleverest" is the superlative degree. Therefore, "as cleverest as" must be replaced with "as clever as" to make the sentence grammatically correct.

Explanation

The word version is the correct spelling of the term, which refers to a particular form of something differing in certain respects from an earlier or other forms. In the context of the sentence, it refers to the preview edition or iteration of the book.

Explanation

Camouflage refers to the act of concealing or disguising the presence of a person, animal, or object, especially by conforming to the surrounding environment to avoid detection. Disguise means to alter the appearance of something to conceal its identity. Both terms share the core meaning of hiding the true nature or appearance of something to make it blend in or go unnoticed.

Explanation

The word conspicuous describes something that is clearly visible, prominent, or attracting attention. The word obvious refers to something that is easily perceived, clear, or self-evident. Both terms convey the idea of being readily seen or understood without effort, making obvious the most appropriate synonym.

Explanation

The active voice sentence is in the simple past tense, featuring the active verb uprooted with the storm as the subject and a large number of trees as the object. In the passive voice, the object becomes the grammatical subject. The collective noun phrase a large number of followed by a plural noun takes a plural verb, which is were in the simple past passive form. The passive construction is completed by the past participle of the main verb and the agent introduced by by, resulting in the structure: A large number of trees + were + uprooted + by the storm yesterday.

Explanation

The sentence defines the term 'Resource' based on the standard geographical definition. It begins with the subject, "everything available in our environment" (S), followed by the relative clause that describes its utility, "which can be used to satisfy our needs" (Q). Then, it introduces the conditional qualifiers, "provided it is technologically accessible, economically feasible" (P), and completes the definition with the final conditions and conclusion, "and culturally acceptable can be termed as 'Resource'" (R). This forms the logically and grammatically coherent sequence SQPR.

Explanation

The word fierce is used to describe something or someone that is aggressive, violent, intense, or ferocious in temperament or behavior. The antonym of fierce is gentle, which describes a disposition or action that is mild, kind, calm, and moderate.

Explanation

The idiom out of the blue means completely unexpectedly, suddenly, or without any warning. In the context of the sentence, her son returning from Europe to meet her after a long gap of 20 years represents a sudden and surprising event, making this idiom the most appropriate fit to complete the meaning of the sentence.

Explanation

The standard spelling of the word in British English is Jewellery, while the American English spelling is Jewelry. Any other variation, such as Jewelery, is incorrect.

Explanation

When comparing two different qualities of the same person or object, the comparative -er form of the adjective is not used. Instead, the structure "more + positive degree adjective" is used. In this sentence, the two qualities of Himanshu being compared are "brave" and "intelligent", making "more brave than intelligent" the grammatically correct phrase.

Explanation

The idiom "part and parcel" is a well-established English phrase meaning an essential, integral, or unavoidable portion of something. In the context of the passage, it describes guests being treated as an inseparable and fundamental part of the family, making "parcel" the correct word to complete this idiomatic expression.

Explanation

The phrasal verb "look after" means to take care of someone or something, ensuring their needs are met. In the passive voice of the sentence, "are always looked after" correctly conveys that the guests are always cared for and attended to by the family members, which directly aligns with the paragraph's theme of treating guests with ultimate hospitality.

Explanation

The term driving force is a well-established idiomatic collocation in English that refers to a person, group, or thing that provides power, motivation, direction, or impetus to a system, organization, or family. In the context of this passage, elders are portrayed as the central guiding figures who motivate, steer, and sustain the family unit, making driving the most appropriate word to combine with force to convey this guiding role.

Explanation

The sentence states that the love and respect for elders is genuine and not artificial. The phrase comes from within is a standard English idiom meaning originating from deep inside one's heart, soul, or inner self. This perfectly contrasts with the word artificial, highlighting that this respect is a natural, internal feeling rather than something superficial or forced.

Explanation

The correct logical sequence to form a grammatically coherent sentence is CADB.

The sentence begins with the subject and verb phrase in C, "the doctor concluded", which establishes the main clause. This is followed by the conjunction and noun phrase in A, "further that further treatment", which introduces the subordinate clause. The auxiliary verb phrase in D, "would be", follows the noun phrase to indicate the state of the treatment, and the adjective in B, "useless", completes the predicate of the subordinate clause. When assembled in this order, the sentence reads: "the doctor concluded further that further treatment would be useless."

Explanation

The word antiquated means old-fashioned, belonging to an earlier period, or no longer suitable or useful for modern needs. The word outdated is its direct synonym, as it refers to something that is obsolete, out of date, or no longer relevant in the present context.

Explanation

The correct spelling of the word is prudent, which is an adjective that means acting with or showing care and thought for the future. In the given context, waiting before selling the property is described as a wise and sensible decision, which is the precise definition of being prudent.

Explanation

The adverbial phrase "no sooner" is grammatically paired with the conjunction "than" to show that one action happens immediately after another. In this sentence, the action of finishing the final exam is immediately followed by the friends' invitation, making "than my friends invited" the grammatically correct choice to complete the correlative conjunction structure "no sooner... than".

Explanation

The adjective poor must be preceded by the definite article the to function as a plural collective noun representing the entire class of poor people. This maintains grammatical parallelism with the phrase the rich at the beginning of the sentence. Without the article, the usage is grammatically incorrect, and the sentence must be written as: The rich should help the poor.

Explanation

The given sentence is in the passive voice of the simple present tense, indicated by the structure is + past participle (is rung). To convert this into the active voice, the agent of the action (the peon) becomes the subject, and the receiver of the action (the bell) becomes the direct object. The verb is changed to its simple present tense form (rings) to agree with the singular subject (the peon), resulting in the active sentence: The peon rings the bell.

Explanation

The correct spelling of the first word is "announcement", which is derived from the verb "announce" and contains a double 'n'. The correct spelling of the second word is "grabbed", which is the past tense of the monosyllabic verb "grab". According to English spelling rules, when a single-syllable verb ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern, the final consonant is doubled before adding the "-ed" suffix.

Explanation

The idiom "close shave" means a narrow escape from danger, disaster, or a difficult situation. In the given sentence, it perfectly replaces the underlined phrase "narrow escape" to indicate that Ritika narrowly avoided a major accident while driving recklessly on the highway.

Explanation

The word ingenious is used to describe a person who is exceptionally clever, original, inventive, or talented. It comes from the Latin word ingeniosus, which means intellectually gifted or clever, and is typically used to characterize people who possess a high degree of mental ability or creative power.

Explanation

The phrase nothing else is standardly paired with the conjunction but to form the correlative structure nothing else but, which means nothing other than or only. In this sentence, using nothing else before but completes this idiomatic English construction to express that the feeling is solely pride and nothing other than that.

Explanation

The word adulterated refers to food or drink that has been made impure, inferior, or unsafe for consumption by the addition of foreign or harmful substances. Similarly, contaminated means made impure, toxic, or unusable by contact with or the addition of something unclean, bacteria, or poisons, making it the most appropriate synonym in the context of food causing illness.

Explanation

The word worn refers to something that is damaged, degraded, or showing signs of heavy use, age, or wear. Similarly, dilapidated describes something, typically a building or object, that is in a state of disrepair, ruin, or decay as a result of age, wear, or neglect. Both words share the core meaning of being in a degraded or broken-down condition due to long use or the passage of time, making them synonyms.

Explanation

The sentence begins with the main subject and reporting verb in part D, the theater management recommends. This is followed by the subordinate clause starting with the subject in part E, the audience, and its verb phrase in part B, should be there. The sentence is completed by the adverbial of duration in part C, at least fifteen minutes, and the adverbial clause of time in part A, before the movie starts. Putting these parts together in the order of D-E-B-C-A yields the grammatically correct and meaningful sentence: The theater management recommends the audience should be there at least fifteen minutes before the movie starts.

Explanation

The word enchanting means delightfully charming or having a magical quality, which makes it the most appropriate synonym for magical among the choices provided in the sentence.

Explanation

The word regularity refers to the state of being regular, consistent, or conforming to a standard or normal pattern. In contrast, the word abnormality denotes a state or condition that is irregular, unusual, or deviating from what is normal, standard, or healthy. Therefore, abnormality is the direct antonym of regularity.