SSC CHSL Tier 1 2024 English Comprehension Questions with Solutions

Explanation

The idiom "out of the frying pan and into the fire" is used to describe a situation where someone escapes from a difficult or unfavorable situation only to find themselves in an even worse or more dangerous one. The metaphorical transition from the heat of a frying pan directly into the open flames of a fire represents circumstances going from bad to worse.

Explanation

The word Conglomorate is incorrectly spelt. The correct spelling is conglomerate, where the letter e is used in the third syllable instead of o. A conglomerate refers to a large corporation run as a single business but made up of several distinct and seemingly unrelated businesses, or a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix.

Explanation

The word homily refers to a lecture, discourse, or talk on a moral or religious theme, typically delivered to offer guidance or advice. In a general context, it signifies a moralizing lecture or sermon. In the given sentence, the grandmother is fond of giving moralizing speeches to visitors, which aligns directly with the meaning of sermons.

Explanation

The word "concluded" is the most appropriate and formally accepted term used to describe the official ending or winding up of a formal event, meeting, or proceeding. It is highly idiomatic to say a meeting concluded with a vote of thanks, which represents the standard procedural wrap-up of such assemblies.

Explanation

The idiomatic expression "at one's wit's end" describes a state of being so overwhelmed, worried, or puzzled by a difficult situation that a person does not know what to do next. In the context of the sentence, the subject is unable to cope with the stress of a new environment and has run out of ideas or solutions, which is perfectly represented by the phrase "not knowing what to do".

Explanation

The segment contains a grammatical error because it lacks the indefinite article a before the singular noun week. When expressing frequency or distribution, the indefinite article a is used in the sense of per, as seen in the parallel phrase a day. Therefore, the phrase must be written as seven days a week to be grammatically correct.

Explanation

In first conditional sentences, which express a possible condition and its probable result in the future, the conditional clause introduced by if must be in the simple present tense, while the main clause uses the future tense with will. The auxiliary verb will is not used in the conditional clause when referring to future possibilities. Therefore, the segment if you will contains a grammatical error and should be corrected to if you so that the clause is in the simple present tense as if you ask her.

Explanation

The sentence expresses a general truth or timeless statement, which should be written in the present tense to maintain tense consistency. The use of the past tense verb "was" in this segment is incorrect because the subsequent conditional clause uses the present tense verb "has". Changing "was" to the present tense "is" restores grammatical agreement and consistency throughout the sentence.

Explanation

The subject of the sentence is the first-person singular pronoun I. In the simple present tense, the first-person singular pronoun requires the base form of the verb. Therefore, the verb picks, which is the third-person singular form, must be corrected to pick to ensure proper subject-verb agreement. This corrects the grammatical error while maintaining the simple present tense suitable for expressing a habitual action or general choice.

Explanation

The term investment is the most appropriate fit for blank 1 because the phrase returns on investment is a standard economic and financial term. In agriculture, the money spent on inputs like seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides is considered an investment. Substituting expensive chemical inputs with cheaper, locally produced organic inputs reduces the cost of this initial outlay, thereby generating higher and better returns on the investment made by the farmers.

Explanation

The passage highlights the positive economic impacts of organic agriculture, noting its capacity to generate income through exports. This is because the global demand for organically grown crops is experiencing an upward trend. The phrase "on a rise" correctly indicates this continuous increase in consumer demand, which directly facilitates higher export volumes and increased revenues for farmers.

Explanation

The passage compares organic agriculture with standard modern agricultural practices that rely heavily on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and high-yield variety seeds. In agricultural terminology, this standard, non-organic method of agriculture is referred to as conventional farming. The sentence highlights that organic farming is more labor-intensive than this standard method, making conventional the most appropriate and contextually accurate term to fill blank 3.

Explanation

The term proposition refers to a project, proposal, or undertaking that is presented for consideration. In the context of the passage, because India possesses a large and abundant labor force, an agricultural method that requires higher labor input, such as organic farming, serves as a highly viable, beneficial, and appealing economic opportunity or undertaking, making it an attractive proposition for the country.

Explanation

The term sustainable refers to methods that do not deplete natural resources or cause long-term damage to the ecosystem, thereby maintaining ecological balance. Organic agriculture avoids the use of synthetic chemicals and toxic pesticides, which preserves soil health, conserves water resources, and protects biodiversity, making it an environmentally sustainable method of food production.

Explanation

The correct spelling of the scientific study of the mind and behavior is Psychology. Derived from the Greek roots psyche, meaning soul, spirit, or mind, and logos, meaning study, the standard spelling requires the letters p-s-y-c-h-o-l-o-g-y. The silent letter p is followed by sychology, making Psychology the accurate rectifying term for the sentence.

Explanation

The sentence establishes that the guard did not want anything bad to happen, which sets a negative context. The word terrible means extremely bad or serious, perfectly aligning with the guard's intention to prevent a harmful or highly unpleasant situation.

Explanation

Anxiety refers to a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome. Distress is defined as extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain. Both words share a core meaning of mental suffering and emotional discomfort, making them closely related synonyms.

Explanation

Correct Answer: C

The word hostile refers to an environment or behavior that is unfriendly, antagonistic, or opposed to someone. The direct antonym is friendly, which describes a supportive, pleasant, and welcoming environment.

Explanation

The sentence begins by stating that the person has recovered, indicating a positive improvement in health and physical capability. The structure "adjective + enough + to-infinitive" is the standard grammatical construction used to denote that a person possesses the sufficient level of a quality required to perform an action. Therefore, "strong enough to walk" correctly conveys that he now has the necessary strength to walk.

Explanation

The word heard is the past tense of hear, which means to perceive sound or receive information, fitting perfectly in the first blank where the speaker receives news about someone's promotion. The word sealing refers to the action of fastening, securing, or placing an official mark on something, and a sealing officer is a recognized administrative or customs role responsible for securing goods, properties, or ballot boxes. Thus, heard and sealing are the grammatically and contextually correct homophones for the respective blanks.

Explanation

The correlative conjunction "neither" is grammatically paired with "nor" to connect two negative alternatives. In the given sentence, the conjunction "or" is incorrect because it violates this standard pairing. Replacing "or" with "nor" establishes the correct correlative structure "neither... nor", which correctly connects the two subjects Janki and I.

Explanation

The word quintessential is spelt correctly. It is an adjective that means representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class. Structurally, the word is derived from the noun quintessence, which comes from the Medieval Latin phrase quinta essentia, meaning fifth essence. The spelling of the word combines the prefix quint- with the standard spelling of essential, requiring a double s in the middle and ending with the suffix -tial.

Explanation

Correct Answer: C

The idiomatic phrasal verb used to describe being unfaithful to a spouse or romantic partner is "cheat on" someone. In this context, "cheating on him" is the correct and natural expression to indicate that she was unfaithful to Peter.

Explanation

The word queer is used to describe something that is strange, odd, unusual, or deviating from the normal. The word ordinary refers to something that is common, regular, normal, or customary. Therefore, ordinary is the direct antonym of queer as it represents the exact opposite of being strange or unusual.

Explanation

In English, collocations dictate which words naturally go together. The adjective quick is the standard and idiomatic collocate used with brief activities or routines, making a quick shower the natural phrasing to describe taking a shower of short duration. This fits the context of returning promptly to someone waiting in the lobby.

Explanation

The idiom "in apple-pie order" means to be in perfect, complete, and neat order. It is used to describe a state where everything is highly organized, tidy, and placed precisely where it belongs. When used in the context of household items or furniture, it signifies that the arrangement is exceptionally neat and orderly.

Explanation

The plural subject "wildlife parks" requires the plural verb "are" to maintain proper subject-verb agreement. Additionally, when making a comparison between two things (the wildlife parks of Botswana and those of Kenya), the comparative adjective "larger" must be followed by the conjunction "than" instead of the preposition "to". Therefore, "are larger than" is the grammatically correct phrase.

Explanation

The word contaminate means to make something impure, dirty, or harmful by exposing it to or mixing it with a polluting substance. Its direct antonym is purify, which means to remove contaminants, impurities, or harmful elements from something to make it clean, sterile, or pure. In the context of the sentence, purifying the system is the action required to counteract the contamination caused by the brain-eating amoeba.

Explanation

The first blank requires the word principle, which refers to a fundamental moral rule, belief, or value that guides an individual's behavior. Acting against one's moral beliefs is described as being against one's principles.

The second blank requires the word profit, which refers to financial gain or the surplus remaining after total costs are deducted from total revenue. In the context of business and earnings decided by a board of directors, profit is the appropriate term.

Explanation

The idiom "to throw dust in one's eyes" means to mislead, deceive, or trick someone to prevent them from seeing the truth of a situation. The expression figuratively refers to the act of throwing physical dust or sand into an opponent's eyes to temporarily blind or confuse them, thereby gaining an advantage or escaping notice. In common usage, it describes any action or speech designed to cloud someone's judgment or obscure reality.

Explanation

The segment "does not likes" contains a grammatical error because the auxiliary verb "does" (or "do") is always followed by the bare infinitive or base form of the main verb. When "does" is used for negative or interrogative structures in the simple present tense with a third-person singular subject, the main verb must lose its "-s" or "-es" ending. Therefore, the correct phrasing is "does not like".

Explanation

The segment "among you is to baked the" contains a grammatical error. In English grammar, the infinitive structure requires the preposition "to" followed by the base form of the verb. Therefore, the past participle form "baked" is incorrect in this context and must be replaced with the base verb "bake" to form the correct infinitive construction "to bake".

Explanation

The adverb "quite" is an adverb of degree that typically modifies adjectives, adverbs, or verbs representing a state of mind, feeling, or completeness, such as "quite like" or "quite agree". It cannot be used to modify active, physical verbs like "meet" to indicate frequency or occurrence. Therefore, using "quite" in this context is grammatically incorrect.

Explanation

The segment contains a grammatical error due to the mismatch between the past continuous verb phrase was working and the present time adverb now. Since the second clause but she can be seen uses the present tense modal can to describe a current daily routine, the first clause must also reflect the present state. To establish tense consistency, the past auxiliary verb was should be replaced with the present auxiliary is, making the correct phrase Geeta is working now.

Explanation

The passage is extracted from the National Education Policy 2020, which outlines official directives and future commitments for the education sector. The auxiliary verb phrase "will be" is used in the passive voice to express a definitive future plan and policy mandate that is scheduled to be implemented for teachers.

Explanation

The passage is extracted from the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which outlines official directives and future standards for school education in India. In policy documents, the future passive construction "will be" is used to express mandatory guidelines and definitive expectations established for the future. Therefore, "will be" correctly completes the sentence to show that each teacher is expected to undertake at least 50 hours of Continuous Professional Development every year.

Explanation

The past participle driven is followed by the preposition by to indicate the agent, cause, or motivating force behind an action. In this context, the teachers' professional development is motivated and guided by their own interests, making driven by the grammatically correct and idiomatic phrase.

Explanation

The passage is an excerpt from India's National Education Policy 2020, which outlines the guidelines for the Continuous Professional Development of teachers. In this context, the adverb systematically is the most appropriate fit as it describes how these training programs will methodically, thoroughly, and in an organized manner cover the essential pedagogies and learning outcomes required for effective teaching.

Explanation

The blank requires a phrase that introduces examples of related pedagogies mentioned in the text. The phrase such as is standard English usage to introduce specific examples or a list of items, which perfectly fits before experiential learning, arts-integrated, sports-integrated, and storytelling-based approaches.

Explanation

The verb prefer is standardly followed by the preposition to when comparing two nouns or gerunds. The grammatically correct structure is prefer doing something to doing something else. Therefore, the phrase eating at home is correctly paired with to eating out to express a choice of one activity over another.

Explanation

The phrasal verb took out, which is the past tense of take out, means to remove or extract something from a container or enclosed space. In this sentence, the narrator opened a box and removed a book from inside it, making took out the grammatically and contextually appropriate phrase to use.

Explanation

The idiom "a jack of all trades" refers to a person who has acquired a broad range of skills and can perform many different types of tasks, but has not achieved a high level of expertise or mastery in any specific area. This is often completed by the traditional figure of speech "a jack of all trades, master of none," which emphasizes the contrast with a specialist who focuses deeply on a single field.

Explanation

The word vacancies refers to unoccupied positions or job openings. In the context of the sentence, advertising job openings in the education sector has received a huge response. The correct spelling of this word is vacancies, which is the plural form of vacancy, formed by replacing the ending letter y with ies.

Explanation

The word candid means truthful, straightforward, and frank in speech or expression. It denotes a quality of being open, sincere, and free from reservation or disguise. Therefore, honest is the most appropriate synonym, as it similarly describes someone who is truthful, sincere, and free of deceit.

Explanation

The word abundant means existing or available in large quantities, or being plentiful and overflowing. Its direct antonym is deficient, which means lacking in necessary quality or quantity, or being inadequate and insufficient.

Explanation

The idiom bury the hatchet means to make peace, end a conflict, or settle a long-standing grievance or rivalry. In the context of the sentence, the two schools decided to put aside their years of rivalry and work together to participate in a National Event, making this the most appropriate idiom for the situation.

Explanation

Loiter around is a phrasal verb that means to stand or wait around idly or without any obvious purpose. In the context of the sentence, it correctly advises someone not to linger or hang around on the street, which makes it the most appropriate and grammatically correct substitution.

Explanation

The phrase "round of applause" is a standard idiomatic collocation in the English language used to describe a burst of clapping or cheering from an audience to show appreciation and approval for a performance.

Explanation

The word compulsory means required by law or a rule, or having the nature of an obligation. Its direct antonym is optional, which means left to choice or not mandatory.

Explanation

Correct Answer: B

The word unsettled in this context describes a state of being anxious, nervous, or lacking composure and self-assurance before a performance or event. The antonym of this emotional state is confident, which denotes feeling or showing certainty, self-assurance, and composure.