SSC CHSL Tier 1 2025 English Comprehension Questions with Solutions

Explanation

An entomologist is a scientist who specializes in entomology, which is the branch of zoology concerned with the scientific study of insects, including their taxonomy, anatomy, physiology, and behavior. The term is derived from the Greek words entomon, meaning insect, and logia, meaning the study of.

Explanation

A museum is an institution dedicated to conserving, researching, and exhibiting a collection of rare, historical, artistic, scientific, or cultural objects for public viewing and education.

Explanation

The active sentence is in the present continuous tense, which follows the structure: Subject + is/am/are + verb-ing + Object. To convert this into the passive voice, the structure is: Object + is/am/are + being + past participle of the main verb + by + Subject. Applying this rule, the plural object "The tests" is followed by "are being" and the past participle "finished", resulting in "The tests are being finished by the students".

Explanation

In the sentence structure "one of those/these [plural noun] who [verb]", the relative pronoun "who" refers back to the plural antecedent, which is "people". Since the antecedent is plural, the verb following "who" must also be in its plural form to maintain proper subject-verb agreement. Therefore, the plural verb "trust" is used instead of the singular "trusts".

Explanation

The paragraph begins with sentence Q, which introduces the main action where the admiral issues a command based on his plan to block the enemy harbor. Sentence S naturally follows Q by elaborating on the details of this plan, explaining that they intended to cut off supplies and force a surrender without engaging in combat. Sentence P then introduces a contrast using the transition word "However", describing how a sudden and powerful storm disrupted their intentions. Finally, sentence R connects directly to P by explaining the consequence of that storm, stating that the mission turned into a desperate fight for survival because of the unpredictable weather. This sequence creates a coherent, logical, and chronological narrative.

Explanation

The correct spelling is "necessary", which is derived from the Latin word "necessarius". It is spelled with a single 'c', a double 's', and ends with the suffix "ary". The word is used to describe something that is essential, indispensable, or required for a particular purpose.

Explanation

Prosperity refers to the state of being successful, flourishing, or thriving, especially in terms of financial security, wealth, and good fortune. Poverty represents the state of being extremely poor, lacking material possessions or necessary money, which is the direct opposite condition of prosperity.

Explanation

The word clumsy describes someone or something that lacks grace, skill, or coordination in movement or handling. Awkward is a direct synonym, meaning lacking ease or grace in movement, shape, or manner. Both words share the central meaning of being uncoordinated or ungraceful.

Explanation

When converting a sentence from indirect to direct speech, the tenses, pronouns, and time expressions shift back to their original direct forms. In this sentence, the past perfect continuous verb phrase "had been sailing" reverts to the present perfect continuous "has been sailing". The past perfect verb "had encountered" shifts back to the simple past "encountered". The third-person pronoun "they" changes back to the first-person plural pronoun "we", and the time reference "the previous night" changes back to "last night". Option C correctly implements all of these back-shifts to reconstruct the captain's original spoken words.

Explanation

The idiom "against the clock" means to work as fast as possible to finish something before a specific deadline. In this context, the workers were rushing and working under time pressure to complete their project before the approaching deadline.

Explanation

Correct Answer: C

In the sentence "She saw the bus coming immediately", the word "saw" is the past tense of the verb "see", which means to perceive or witness something visually. In the sentence "I saw the accident happen suddenly", the word "saw" is used in the exact same grammatical category as a verb and carries the identical meaning of visually perceiving an event as it occurred.

Explanation

The correct spelling of the word is "Government". It is formed by adding the suffix "-ment" to the root verb "govern". The noun refers to the system or group of people governing an organized community, and it retains the letter "n" from the verb "govern" followed by the standard noun-forming suffix "-ment".

Explanation

The passage explicitly states that accessibility is the key advantage of online purchasing, which allows customers to browse and purchase products from almost anywhere at any time, while often providing a wider selection of products than traditional physical stores.

Explanation

According to the passage, competitive pricing is a major benefit of online shopping. This advantage is directly enabled by online retailers lowering their overhead costs, which allows them to offer lower, more competitive prices on certain items to consumers.

Explanation

The passage highlights that online purchasing comes with a clear set of drawbacks, specifically noting that the customer service experience can suffer due to reduced human interaction. This lack of direct, face-to-face contact and physical engagement during the purchasing process represents a significant limitation of online shopping compared to traditional retail environments.

Explanation

The passage explicitly states that the environmental impact of packaging and transportation is becoming increasingly evident. Transportation activities rely heavily on the consumption of fuel, which leads to carbon emissions and environmental degradation, directly linking greater fuel usage to the environmental concerns of online shopping.

Explanation

The passage explicitly states that the customer service experience may suffer due to reduced human interaction. This directly supports the fact that personalized customer service is the part of the customer experience that may decline as a result of online shopping.

Explanation

Sentence Q serves as the introductory statement, establishing the initial state of the Roman Empire as strong, prosperous, and well-organized. Sentence P introduces a contrast using the transition word "However", describing how internal and external challenges began to increase as the empire expanded. Sentence R builds on this by identifying the specific factors that contributed to the empire's slow decline, such as military overextension, political corruption, and economic weakness. Sentence S concludes the paragraph by explaining that "these pressures" (referring to the factors mentioned in R) placed a heavy strain on society, governance, and military support systems. This sequence creates a logical and chronological progression from peak prosperity to challenges, specific causes of decline, and final systemic strain.

Explanation

When converting direct speech to indirect speech with a reporting verb in the past tense (announced), several tense, pronoun, and demonstrative changes must occur.

The pronoun "we" changes to "they", "us" changes to "them", and the possessive adjective "our" changes to "their" to reflect the third-person perspective of the speaker.

The modal verb "will" changes to its past equivalent "would" in both clauses, converting "will not be able" to "would not be able" and "will make" to "would make".

The simple present verb "is" changes to the simple past "was".

The demonstrative adjective "this" shifts to "that", converting "this quarter" to "that quarter".

Explanation

The word consent means to give permission, agree to do something, or express willingness. Its direct opposite or antonym is refuse, which means to decline to accept, give, or do something.

Explanation

The idiom "as cool as a cucumber" is used to describe a person who remains extremely calm, composed, and self-possessed, especially in times of stress or unexpected trouble. The comparison draws from the physical property of cucumbers, which feel cool to the touch and can maintain an internal temperature lower than the surrounding air.

Explanation

The idiom "take it on the chin" or "accept on the chin" means to accept adversity, criticism, or a setback courageously and without complaining. In this sentence, she faced the setback stoically and immediately focused on improving in the future, making this the most appropriate idiom.

Explanation

An imperative sentence in the passive voice structured as "Let + object + be + past participle" is converted into the active voice by starting directly with the base form of the verb (V1) followed by the object.

In the given passive sentence, "the emergency meeting" is the object and "be held" is the passive verb form. Converting this to the active imperative form requires starting with the base verb "Hold" followed by the object "the emergency meeting" and the remaining adverbial phrases, resulting in "Hold the emergency meeting at 10 AM without delay."

Explanation

The subject of the sentence is the plural noun phrase "Marginal sellers", which requires the plural verb "are". The adjective "likely" is followed by the to-infinitive construction, requiring the base form of the verb "maintain" after "to". The conjunction "or" connects "maintain" with another base form verb "improve", establishing a correct parallel structure "to maintain or even improve".

Explanation

The adjective responsible requires the preposition for when denoting charge, duty, or obligation over someone or something. Therefore, the phrase is responsible of is grammatically incorrect and must be corrected to is responsible for.

Explanation

The active sentence is in the simple present tense, indicated by the auxiliary verb "do" and the base verb "make". To convert a simple present interrogative sentence into the passive voice, the structure used is: Wh-word + is/are/am + subject (original object) + past participle (V₃) of the main verb + by + agent.

In this sentence, the plural object "unnecessary complaints" becomes the new subject, which requires the plural auxiliary verb "are". The main verb "make" is converted into its past participle form "made", and the subject pronoun "they" changes to its object form "them" preceded by "by". This directly gives the correct passive form: "Why are unnecessary complaints always made over such minor issues by them?"

Explanation

The sentence refers to a future action occurring next week, which requires the simple future tense in the active voice. The simple future tense is formed by combining the modal auxiliary verb "will" with the base form of the main verb "inaugurate", making "will inaugurate" the grammatically correct structure.

Explanation

The idiom "at loggerheads" is used to describe a situation where two or more parties are in strong, stubborn, or serious disagreement with each other. It signifies a state of head-to-head conflict, dispute, or impasse where neither side is willing to compromise or reach an understanding.

Explanation

The word negotiation should be in its plural form negotiations to maintain parallel structure with the plural noun meetings. Since the process involved multiple, ongoing discussions alongside several meetings, using the plural negotiations is grammatically correct and idiomatic in this context.

Explanation

When converting a sentence from indirect speech to direct speech, the tenses shift back to their original present forms if the reporting verb is in the past tense (said). In the given indirect sentence, the past perfect tenses "had been" and "had conclusively established" are used. In direct speech, these backshifted tenses return to their present perfect forms, which are "has been" and "have conclusively established" respectively. This correct alignment of tenses accurately restores the original direct statement made by the judge.

Explanation

The active sentence is in the present perfect tense, indicated by the auxiliary verb have and the past participle uncovered. To convert a present perfect active sentence into the passive voice, the structure has/have + been + past participle is used. Since the singular object a long-lost historical settlement becomes the new subject of the passive sentence, it takes the singular auxiliary verb has been uncovered. The agent the archaeologists is introduced with the preposition by, and the adverbial phrase after many years of searching remains unchanged, maintaining the exact meaning and tense of the original sentence.

Explanation

An herbalist is a practitioner who specializes in the study and use of the medicinal properties of plants and other natural substances to prevent and treat various health conditions. This practice, known as herbalism, relies on botanical remedies derived from herbs, roots, flowers, and leaves to promote healing and restore body balance through natural means.

Explanation

Correct Answer: D

In the given sentence, the word desert is used as a verb meaning to abandon, leave behind, or withdraw from a place or duty, especially in a time of trouble or in violation of an obligation. In option D, the word is used in the exact same grammatical category as a verb and carries the identical meaning of abandoning or leaving one's duty or post during a difficult situation.

Explanation

The paragraph follows a logical and chronological sequence describing the steps of an archaeological excavation and its ultimate outcome. Sentence P sets the initial stage by introducing the start of the physical excavation process, establishing a grid and removing the topsoil. Sentence Q logically follows by describing the next step of uncovering and recording the exact positions of artifacts as they emerge from the soil. Sentence R continues this progression by explaining the post-discovery processing of the uncovered objects, such as cleaning and cataloging. Finally, sentence S provides a cohesive conclusion by explaining the ultimate impact and historical significance of these processed artifacts in bringing a long-forgotten civilization back to life.

Explanation

The word indispensable is the correct spelling, meaning absolutely necessary, essential, or impossible to replace or do without. It is formed by combining the prefix in- (meaning not) with the word dispensable (capable of being dispensed with or done without). The suffix used in this word is -able, which is a standard English adjectival suffix derived from the Latin -abilis.

Explanation

The word lethargic describes a state of physical or mental sluggishness, lack of energy, and inactivity. Its direct opposite is energetic, which refers to being filled with, manifesting, or involving great activity, vitality, and vigor.

Explanation

The phrasal verb stumble upon means to discover or find something by chance or unexpectedly. In this context, the archaeologist discovered the hidden chamber by accident while conducting the excavation, which perfectly fits the meaning and usage of this phrasal verb.

Explanation

In indirect speech, when the reporting verb is in the past tense (He said), the tenses in the reported speech change accordingly to reflect the shift in time.

The simple past tense (finished) changes to the past perfect tense (had finished).

The past continuous tense (was preparing) changes to the past perfect continuous tense (had been preparing).

Additionally, the first-person pronouns (I, my) change to the third-person pronouns (he, his) to align with the subject of the reporting verb.

Applying these tense and pronoun transformations results in: He said that he had finished his project and he had been preparing a report.

Explanation

A dilettante refers to a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts or a field of study, in a casual and superficial manner without serious study or commitment. Originating from the Italian word dilettare, meaning to delight, the term characterizes an amateur who engages in an activity purely for amusement rather than with deep professional seriousness or academic rigor.

Explanation

The subject of the sentence is the noun phrase "A section of the population", where the head noun is the singular noun "section". According to the rules of subject-verb agreement, a singular subject must be paired with a singular verb, which is "has". Furthermore, the action of moving to the cities is an active process completed by the people themselves, requiring the active present perfect tense "has migrated" rather than a passive construction.

Explanation

The passage explicitly states that AI programs learning from historical data have the potential to reinforce and magnify prevailing cultural biases, which leads to biased performance evaluations and discriminatory hiring practices. This directly corresponds to the perpetuation and amplification of existing cultural biases as a prominent ethical concern in the automated workplace.

Explanation

The passage explicitly states that strong retraining initiatives and proactive legislative responses are necessary to counteract social disruption in the face of the possibility of widespread job losses resulting from the integration of Artificial Intelligence in the workplace.

Explanation

The passage explicitly states that as AI fills an increasing number of decision-making positions, the accountability issue comes to the forefront, raising the question of who is responsible when an AI system commits a critical mistake or inflicts harm. This directly corresponds to the difficulty in assigning responsibility for errors or harm caused by AI systems.

Explanation

The sentence uses correct subject-verb agreement for a compound subject. The subject is composed of two plural noun phrases, "Strong retraining initiatives" and "proactive legislative responses", connected by the conjunction "and". In English grammar, a compound subject joined by "and" requires a plural verb. Therefore, the plural verb "are" correctly agrees with the plural compound subject to ensure grammatical correctness.

Explanation

The passage explicitly states that AI programs that learn from historical data have the potential to reinforce and magnify prevailing cultural biases. This leads to biased performance evaluations or discriminatory hiring practices, which directly threatens fairness and equity in an automated workplace.

Explanation

Judgement is the correct spelling of the word in standard British English, which is the benchmark for grammar and vocabulary in Indian competitive examinations. The word is formed by appending the noun-forming suffix -ment to the base verb judge, retaining the silent e.

Explanation

Epistemological is the adjective form of epistemology, which is the branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge. It is derived from the Greek words episteme, meaning knowledge, and logos, meaning study or discourse. Therefore, anything described as epistemological is directly related to knowledge, its acquisition, and its validity.

Explanation

Collusion refers to a secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy, especially in order to cheat or deceive others, which inherently involves concealment and a lack of openness. Transparency represents the state of being open, honest, and free from secrecy, making it the direct conceptual opposite of collusion.

Explanation

To convert the indirect sentence into direct speech, the reporting verb "asked" is changed to "said to" when it is followed by the object "his mother". The indirect question clause "where he could find his lost school bag" is transformed into a direct question. The third-person pronoun "he" refers to the speaker, so it changes to the first-person pronoun "I". The possessive pronoun "his" changes to "my". The modal verb "could" changes back to its present tense form "can". Finally, the sentence structure is reordered from an assertive form into an interrogative form, resulting in: "Where can I find my lost school bag?"

Explanation

To change a passive sentence in the simple present tense with an implied agent into the active voice, a general subject like "People" is introduced. The verb "is sung" is converted to its simple present active form "sing". This correctly places the agent performing the action as the subject of the sentence, while retaining the original meaning and tense.