SSC CHSL Tier 1 2023 English Comprehension Questions with Solutions

Explanation

When referring to the people of a country collectively, a definite article must precede the nationality adjective. In the given sentence, the English people are referred to correctly using the definite article as "The English". To maintain grammatical correctness and parallel structure, the French people must also be referred to with the definite article as "the French". Therefore, the omission of the article before "French" is grammatically incorrect.

Explanation

The given sentence is in the passive voice of the present continuous tense, which follows the structure: Wh-word + is/am/are + object + being + past participle (V3) + by + agent.

To convert this into the active voice, the structure must be transformed into: Wh-word + is/am/are + subject + present participle (verb-ing) + object.

Following this rule, the passive agent "you" becomes the active subject and takes the helping verb "are". The passive verb form "being eaten" changes to the active present participle "eating", and "the rotten apple" becomes the object of the verb. This yields the active voice sentence: "Why are you eating the rotten apple?"

Explanation

The sentence establishes a contrast between the slow development of democracy and the rapid rise of dictatorships.

Part D introduces the subject of democracy and its nature as a slow growth.

Part A introduces the contrasting scenario where dictators rise to power and initiate change.

Part B serves as the direct object of the verb inaugurate in Part A, specifying what is initiated: a new regime with dramatic suddenness.

Part C completes the description of this rise by adding the phrase and success under suitable conditions, which grammatically and contextually connects with the suddenness described in Part B.

Combined, the parts form a grammatically correct and semantically coherent sentence.

Explanation

The word adjourn means to defer, delay, or put off an event or action to a future time. In the context of the sentence, which discusses delaying happiness for a later period rather than experiencing it now, postpone is the direct synonym as it means to arrange for something to take place at a time later than first planned.

Explanation

The word abundant is defined as existing or available in large quantities, overflowing, or more than sufficient. Substituting the underlined phrase existing in large quantities with the clause that are abundant maintains the precise meaning of the sentence while making it more concise and grammatically natural.

Explanation

The word "fullfil" is incorrectly spelled. The correct spelling is either "fulfill" in American English or "fulfil" in British English. In both standard writing systems, the first syllable is spelled with only a single "l", making "fullfil" an error.

Explanation

The word hesitate means to pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness before making a decision or taking action. Similarly, dither means to be indecisive, waver, or hesitate in acting or making a choice. Both words convey the central concept of being unable to decide quickly, making dither the correct synonym.

Explanation

The idiomatic expression raining cats and dogs is a traditional English idiom used to describe unusually heavy or torrential rainfall. Replacing the incorrect phrasing in the sentence with this standard idiom restores the proper meaning and grammatical correctness of the expression.

Explanation

In this context, the word outbreak refers to the sudden occurrence of a disease, epidemic, or pandemic. A catastrophe represents a sudden, widespread disaster or misfortune that causes great damage and suffering, which closely aligns with the devastating global impact of the COVID-19 outbreak described in the sentence.

Explanation

The term coronation specifically denotes the formal, ceremonial act of crowning a new king or queen, which signifies their official accession to the throne and the assumption of regal power.

Explanation

The word unique refers to something that is the only one of its kind, highly distinctive, or limited to a single person, group, or purpose. Similarly, exclusive means restricted, limited to a specific entity, or not shared with others. Both terms convey the core idea of being singular, specialized, and distinct from the common whole, making them synonyms in contexts describing limited availability or individual characteristics.

Explanation

The idiom "high and mighty" is used to describe people who are arrogant, proud, or behave in a self-important manner, acting as if they are superior to others. In the given sentence, "high and mighty" perfectly replaces "proud" to convey the sense of haughty and overbearing behavior.

Explanation

The positive degree of comparison is used to compare two or more entities using the structure "as + adjective + as" or "so + adjective + as". In this construction, the adjective remains in its base form without any comparative or superlative inflections. The sentence uses this exact structure to compare the beauty of Istanbul with all other places the speaker has seen, keeping the adjective "beautiful" in the positive degree.

Explanation

The word pageantry refers to a splendid display, ceremony, or elaborate spectacle. In the context of the sentence, a colourful procession is a classic example of pageantry, making it both contextually appropriate and correctly spelt.

Explanation

The correct arrangement forms a grammatically coherent and meaningful sentence: "As the world faces cascading and interlinked global crises and conflicts, the aspirations set out in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development are in jeopardy."

Part B begins the sentence with a subordinate clause of reason, ending with the coordinating conjunction "and" which connects to the adjective "interlinked" in Part C to describe the compound noun phrase "global crises and conflicts".

Part D introduces the subject of the main clause, "the aspirations set out in the 2030", which relates to the specific initiative in Part A, "agenda for sustainable development".

Part E provides the predicate "are in jeopardy", where the plural verb "are" agrees with the plural subject "aspirations" from the main clause, completing the logical flow of the sentence.

Explanation

The given sentence is in the passive voice and simple past tense. To convert a passive sentence in the simple past tense into the active voice, the sentence structure is Subject + past tense verb (V₂) + Object. Since the performer of the action is not specified in the passive sentence, the pronoun "they" is introduced as the active subject. Following this rule, the passive verb "was called off" becomes the active past tense verb "called off", and the passive subject "the meeting" becomes the active object. This yields the active voice sentence: "They called off the meeting."

Explanation

The simple present tense form I think is the grammatically correct phrase to express a present opinion or state of mind. It correctly pairs the first-person singular pronoun I with the base form of the verb think to state what the speaker is currently planning or believes.

Explanation

The gerund "knowing" acts as the subject of the clause, forming the noun phrase "knowing what to do". In the context of first aid, possessing the knowledge of how to respond to an emergency before professional medical help arrives is critical. Therefore, "knowing" is the grammatically and semantically correct choice to complete the sentence.

Explanation

In the context of an accident and the administration of first aid, the person who has been harmed and requires immediate medical attention before a doctor or trained professional arrives is referred to as an injured person. Therefore, the word injured is the most appropriate and contextually accurate term to describe the victim in this scenario.

Explanation

In the context of emergency medical assistance, first aid is administered immediately after an accident to preserve life. The phrase "can save a life" is a standard and highly appropriate collocation that fits perfectly when discussing critical situations such as stoppage of breathing, severe bleeding, and shock, where timely intervention prevents death before professional medical help arrives.

Explanation

The word "urged" correctly fits the context of the sentence, which expresses a strong recommendation or advice given to individuals with specific medical conditions. Medical authorities and first aid experts strongly advise, encourage, or recommend that people with conditions like diabetes, epilepsy, or allergies wear medical alert emblems to ensure their safety during emergencies. The passive construction "are urged to wear" perfectly conveys this serious recommendation, which acts as a safeguard to prevent the administration of harmful medication.

Explanation

The sentence discusses safeguarding individuals with special medical conditions against incorrect medical treatment. The coordinating conjunction "or even" is used to escalate the severity of the consequence from "injurious", which means causing damage or injury, to an extreme outcome. The word "fatal" perfectly fits this context as it means causing death, representing the ultimate and most severe danger of administering the wrong medication to a vulnerable patient.

Explanation

The given sentence is in the passive voice in the simple past tense, as indicated by the auxiliary verb "were" and the past participle "written". To convert a passive question starting with "By whom" into the active voice, the phrase "by whom" is replaced with the subject pronoun "who". The passive verb structure "were written" is converted to the active simple past tense verb "wrote", which directly acts upon the object "these letters". This gives the active voice structure "Who wrote these letters?".

Explanation

The passive sentence "The mice were chased by the cat" is in the simple past tense, which is indicated by the passive auxiliary verb "were" and the past participle "chased". To convert this into the active voice, the agent performing the action, "the cat", becomes the grammatical subject of the sentence. The recipient of the action, "the mice", becomes the direct object. The passive verb construction "were chased" changes to the active simple past tense verb "chased". This grammatical transformation results in the active voice sentence: "The cat chased the mice."

Explanation

The phrase "It is imperative in understanding" is grammatically incorrect because the adjective "imperative", meaning crucial or essential, should be followed by a "to-infinitive" rather than the preposition "in" and a gerund. Correcting this phrase to "It is imperative to understand" establishes the proper grammatical structure and conveys the intended meaning of the sentence.

Explanation

The word accept is a verb that means to consent to receive or agree to something, which correctly fits the first blank to express willingness to receive a job offer. The word except is a preposition meaning excluding or other than, which correctly fits the second blank to introduce the exclusion of job offers requiring weekend work.

Explanation

Sentence B is the ideal opening sentence as it introduces the central theme, which is the major change in the teaching-learning process in education. Sentence A logically follows B because the phrase "These changes" directly refers to the change introduced in sentence B, attributing it to technological intervention. Sentence D continues this line of thought by using "Beyond this" to introduce another factor, the constant flux in academics, that has forced this change. Finally, sentence C concludes the paragraph by providing a resolution, stating that willing acceptance and practice of this change is the only option left for educators.

Explanation

This sentence follows the structure of a first conditional sentence, which is used to express a possible future condition and its probable result. In a first conditional sentence, the conditional clause (the "if" clause) uses the simple present tense, while the main clause uses the simple future tense (will + base verb). Since the main clause "She will accept his love proposal" is in the simple future tense, the "if" clause must be in the simple present tense. With the third-person singular subject "he", the correct verb form is "expresses".

Explanation

The word potential refers to a possibility, capability, or something that has the capacity to develop or happen in the future but is not yet guaranteed. Its direct antonym is certainty, which denotes a state of being completely definite, sure, or an established fact that is guaranteed to happen.

Explanation

The idiom queer someone's pitch means to spoil someone's plans, ruin their chances, or prevent them from doing something successfully. It originated in the 19th century from the slang of street vendors and performers, where a pitch referred to the specific spot where they set up their business, and to queer meant to damage or ruin, thereby disrupting their ability to make a profit.

Explanation

The idiom "to have bigger fish to fry" is a common English expression that means to have more important, interesting, or influential matters to attend to. Replacing the incorrect phrasing in the sentence with this standard idiom correctly conveys that Ravindra left the meeting because he had more important things to do.

Explanation

The word turmoil refers to a state of great disturbance, confusion, uncertainty, or wild disorder. The most appropriate antonym for turmoil is peace, which signifies a state of harmony, tranquility, order, and freedom from disturbance or conflict.

Explanation

The phrase are you interested in watching is an appropriate substitution because it directly inquires about the listener's preference and inclination. In conversational English, asking about someone's interest using this construction is a polite and natural way to seek their input on making a choice for the evening's entertainment.

Explanation

The word facilitated means to make an action or process easy or easier, or to help progress. In contrast, hindered means to delay, obstruct, or make it difficult for something to happen. Since hindering represents the exact opposite action of easing or assisting progress, hindered is the correct antonym of facilitated.

Explanation

The prepositional phrase used in this sentence is incorrect. The standard English idiom is on behalf of, which means in the interest of or as a representative of. Using the preposition at in this context is grammatically incorrect, and it must be replaced with of to make the sentence grammatically sound.

Explanation

A teetotaller is defined as a person who practices complete personal abstinence from alcoholic beverages. The prefix tee- is an intensification of the word total, signifying absolute or total abstinence from alcohol. This directly aligns with the context of the sentence, where the individual decides to completely avoid alcohol after witnessing its negative effects on others.

Explanation

Efficient is the correct spelling of the word meaning performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort. Its correct spelling is E-f-f-i-c-i-e-n-t.

Explanation

The word Pilgrimmage is spelt incorrectly. The correct spelling is Pilgrimage, which contains only a single letter m. It refers to a journey made to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion.

Explanation

To express a sentence in the superlative degree, all coordinating adjectives modifying the noun must be in their superlative forms to maintain parallel grammatical structure. The adjective "quiet" is a monosyllabic word, so its superlative degree is formed by adding the suffix "-est", resulting in "quietest". The adjective "efficient" consists of multiple syllables, so its superlative degree is formed by placing the adverb "most" before it, resulting in "most efficient". Combining these parallel superlative forms yields "the quietest and most efficient style of humidifier".

Explanation

The word demarcation means the action of fixing the boundary or limits of something, which serves as a direct synonym for division in the context of setting a clear boundary or separating line between two different concepts, such as work and leisure.

Explanation

The word tantalise means to tease, torment, or excite someone by presenting something desirable that is out of reach. Provoke is the most appropriate synonym in this context because it means to stimulate, arouse, or trigger a strong reaction or desire, capturing the essence of teasing or instigating a response.

Explanation

The correct order of the jumbled parts to form a coherent and grammatically correct sentence is DACB.

This sequence begins with the subject and verb in part D, modern Indian youth seek. It is followed by the direct object in part A, pleasure, fun and luxury. The sentence is then completed by the modifying phrases in parts C and B, more than anything else and in life, respectively. Putting them together forms the complete, meaningful sentence: Modern Indian youth seek pleasure, fun and luxury more than anything else in life.

Explanation

The context of the passage highlights the large-scale impact, reach, and importance of the Clean India Mission across the country. The term significant correctly describes the mission as highly important, notable, and consequential, which perfectly complements the adjective popular in describing a major national-level campaign of this magnitude.

Explanation

The word governed means to conduct the policy, actions, and affairs of state, or to officially control, direct, and manage. In the context of the passage, the cleanliness campaign (Clean India Mission or Swachh Bharat Abhiyan) was initiated, managed, and administered under the authority of the central government of India at the national level. Thus, governed is the most appropriate fit for the blank as it correctly denotes the administration and execution of the campaign by the government.

Explanation

The word encompassing means including, covering, or containing a wide range of things. In the context of the sentence, the cleanliness campaign was launched at the national level to cover and include all geographical areas, specifically all rural towns and urban cities across India. Therefore, encompassing is the most appropriate word to describe the complete coverage of the mission across the entire country.

Explanation

The phrasal verb dispose of is a standard English collocation meaning to get rid of or discard something. In the context of waste management, teaching citizens to dispose of waste mindfully refers to the proper and responsible throwing away of garbage, which fits grammatically with the preposition of that immediately follows the blank.

Explanation

In the context of the Clean India Mission, which is a national campaign focused on cleanliness, hygiene, and waste management, the term sanitation is the most appropriate fit for blank 5. The phrase sanitation facilities refers to the systems and infrastructure required for the safe disposal of human waste and the maintenance of hygienic conditions, which directly aligns with the core objectives of the cleanliness drive.

Explanation

The idiom "egging on" means to urge, encourage, or provoke someone to do something, especially something unwise, hostile, or mischievous. In the given sentence, Richa is actively provoking and instigating her neighbors to take action against her maid, which directly corresponds to the meaning of "egging on".

Explanation

The word corpulent means having a large, bulky, or fat body. The word rotund is a direct synonym, referring to a round, plump, or chubby physical shape, making it the most appropriate match to describe the player's body in this context.

Explanation

The paragraph begins with sentence A, which introduces the main topic of human relationships and their importance to everyone. Sentence C follows immediately as it provides the reason for this importance, with the pronoun "it" referring back to the nurturing of human relationships mentioned in sentence A. Sentence B introduces a transition using "Nevertheless," bringing in the concept of "many other elements" that contribute to a good social life. Sentence D naturally follows sentence B, as the phrase "all such elements" directly references the "other elements" mentioned in sentence B, highlighting the consequences when the present generation fails to recognize them. This sequence forms a coherent and logical flow of thoughts.