SSC CPO · Topic Collection

English Comprehension PYQs

Reading comprehension, vocabulary, synonyms and antonyms, idiom usage, error spotting, sentence improvement, and cloze tests.

4100 Total Questions67 Official PapersYears: 2017–2025Search in English Comprehension
Showing questions 61–80 of 4100Page 4 of 100
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 61

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word:

TRANQUILIZING

  1. AOption (a)

    Soothing 

  2. BOption (b)

    Irritating 

  3. COption (c)

    Provocative 

  4. DOption (d)

    Harsh 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Soothing 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 62

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word:

CALUMNY

  1. AOption (a)

    Truth 

  2. BOption (b)

    Slander 

  3. COption (c)

    Praise 

  4. DOption (d)

    Compliment

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Truth 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 63

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Select the most appropriate antonym of the given word. Dogmatic  

  1. AOption (a)

    Stubborn 

  2. BOption (b)

    Flexible 

  3. COption (c)

    Rigid 

  4. DOption (d)

    Arrogant 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Stubborn 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 64

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Select the most appropriate antonym of the given word. Clandestine 

  1. AOption (a)

    Open

  2. BOption (b)

    Long

  3. COption (c)

    Secret

  4. DOption (d)

    Boring

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Open

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 65

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word:

DISCONSOLATE

  1. AOption (a)

    Unhappy 

  2. BOption (b)

    Cheerful 

  3. COption (c)

    Content  

  4. DOption (d)

    Elated 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Unhappy 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 66

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word:

EFFRONTERY

  1. AOption (a)

    Audacity 

  2. BOption (b)

    Politeness 

  3. COption (c)

    Shyness 

  4. DOption (d)

    Courtesy 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Audacity 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 67

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Select the most appropriate antonym of the given word.

Sanguine

  1. AOption (a)

    Optimistic 

  2. BOption (b)

    Cheerful 

  3. COption (c)

    Pessimistic 

  4. DOption (d)

    Hopeful  

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Optimistic 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 68

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Select the most appropriate antonym of the given word.

Rebarbative

  1. AOption (a)

    Attractive 

  2. BOption (b)

    Repulsive 

  3. COption (c)

    Off-putting 

  4. DOption (d)

    Irritating 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Attractive 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 69

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Choose the correct meaning of idiom:

Where the shoe pinches

  1. AOption (a)

    The turning point in fortune 

  2. BOption (b)

    The hidden benefit in hardship  

  3. COption (c)

    The point of real difficulty or discomfort  

  4. DOption (d)

    The weakest member in a team  

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

The turning point in fortune 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 70

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Choose the correct meaning of idiom:

Rest on his laurels

  1. AOption (a)

    To withdraw from success 

  2. BOption (b)

    To bask in past glory and avoid current effort 

  3. COption (c)

    To criticize one’s own success 

  4. DOption (d)

    To challenge past achievements 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

To withdraw from success 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 71

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Select the correct spelling of a word meaning ‘temporary stay or visit’. 

  1. AOption (a)

    Sojourn  

  2. BOption (b)

    Soejourn 

  3. COption (c)

    Sajourn 

  4. DOption (d)

    Sojurn 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Sojourn  

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 72

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Spot the correct spelling of a term meaning 'study of the mind’. 

  1. AOption (a)

    Sychology 

  2. BOption (b)

    Psychology 

  3. COption (c)

    Psychollogy 

  4. DOption (d)

    Psycology  

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Sychology 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 73

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Which of these is the correct spelling of an ethical theory prioritizing duty? 

  1. AOption (a)

    Deontological 

  2. BOption (b)

    Deantological 

  3. COption (c)

    Deontollogical 

  4. DOption (d)

    Deontologicel 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Deontological 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 74

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Choose the correct one-word substitute for: ‘A short, arnusing or interesting story about a real incident or person.’ 

  1. AOption (a)

    Tale  

  2. BOption (b)

    Allegory 

  3. COption (c)

    Anecdote 

  4. DOption (d)

    Biography 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Tale  

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 75

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Choose the correct one-word substitute for: 'A disease that spreads over a whole country or the world’. 

  1. AOption (a)

    Epidemic 

  2. BOption (b)

    Endemic 

  3. COption (c)

    Pandemic 

  4. DOption (d)

    Pathogen 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Epidemic 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 76

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Spot the correct spelling of a blood-pressure device. 

  1. AOption (a)

    Sphygmomannometer 

  2. BOption (b)

    Sphygmomanometer 

  3. COption (c)

    Sphygmamanometre 

  4. DOption (d)

    Sphygmomamometer 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Sphygmomannometer 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 77

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

Choose the correct one-word substitute for: 'A government ruled by the wealthy." 

  1. AOption (a)

    Kleptocracy 

  2. BOption (b)

    Plutocracy 

  3. COption (c)

    Theocracy 

  4. DOption (d)

    Meritocracy 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

Kleptocracy 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 78

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

In the given passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage intently and choose the most appropriate option to fill in each blank:

Equity in education is not a matter of distributing identical tools to unequal lives. It is, instead, the ______ (1) of design-one that begins by listening, not prescribing. To mistake uniformity for fairness is to ignore the histories etched into the margins of classrooms: the quiet absence of confidence, the inherited silences of caste, class, or gender, the invisible weight of underfed attention. In this context, merit is often brandished as a ________ (2) obscuring the scaffolded advantages that shape who arrives prepared and who arrives late. A just system does not pretend everyone starts at the same line; it re-draws the line so that the race itself does not entrench inequality. That redrawing requires more than infrastructure-it demands a ______ (3) of imagination. What if assessments accounted for lived complexity? What if pedagogy paused for breath where society gasps for access? Education is not a ladder out of poverty if the rungs are greased for some and splintered for others. Nor is inclusion real if it is merely spatial-a desk, a roll call, a token smile. True equity emerges not from programs alone, but from the ________ (4) to confront whose stories are centred, whose questions are validated, and whose silences are allowed to remain unbroken. The future of learning lies not in acceleration, but in the willingness to _______ (5) where we have failed to ask why the an always sound the same.

What should come in the place of blank number (1)?

  1. AOption (a)

    vocabulary 

  2. BOption (b)

    architecture 

  3. COption (c)

    illusion 

  4. DOption (d)

    burden 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

vocabulary 

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 79

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

In the given passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage intently and choose the most appropriate option to fill in each blank:

Equity in education is not a matter of distributing identical tools to unequal lives. It is, instead, the ______ (1) of design-one that begins by listening, not prescribing. To mistake uniformity for fairness is to ignore the histories etched into the margins of classrooms: the quiet absence of confidence, the inherited silences of caste, class, or gender, the invisible weight of underfed attention. In this context, merit is often brandished as a ________ (2) obscuring the scaffolded advantages that shape who arrives prepared and who arrives late. A just system does not pretend everyone starts at the same line; it re-draws the line so that the race itself does not entrench inequality. That redrawing requires more than infrastructure-it demands a ______ (3) of imagination. What if assessments accounted for lived complexity? What if pedagogy paused for breath where society gasps for access? Education is not a ladder out of poverty if the rungs are greased for some and splintered for others. Nor is inclusion real if it is merely spatial-a desk, a roll call, a token smile. True equity emerges not from programs alone, but from the ________ (4) to confront whose stories are centred, whose questions are validated, and whose silences are allowed to remain unbroken. The future of learning lies not in acceleration, but in the willingness to _______ (5) where we have failed to ask why the an always sound the same.

What should come in the place of blank number (2)? 

  1. AOption (a)

    shield

  2. BOption (b)

    disquise 

  3. COption (c)

    mandate  

  4. DOption (d)

    virtue 

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

shield

Explanation not yet available.
SSC CPO 2025 Official Paper (Held On: 09 Dec, 2025 Shift 2) (Previous Year Paper)·English Comprehension
View full paper

Question 80

SSC CPO 2025• English Comprehension• English Comprehension

In the given passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage intently and choose the most appropriate option to fill in each blank:

Equity in education is not a matter of distributing identical tools to unequal lives. It is, instead, the ______ (1) of design-one that begins by listening, not prescribing. To mistake uniformity for fairness is to ignore the histories etched into the margins of classrooms: the quiet absence of confidence, the inherited silences of caste, class, or gender, the invisible weight of underfed attention. In this context, merit is often brandished as a ________ (2) obscuring the scaffolded advantages that shape who arrives prepared and who arrives late. A just system does not pretend everyone starts at the same line; it re-draws the line so that the race itself does not entrench inequality. That redrawing requires more than infrastructure-it demands a ______ (3) of imagination. What if assessments accounted for lived complexity? What if pedagogy paused for breath where society gasps for access? Education is not a ladder out of poverty if the rungs are greased for some and splintered for others. Nor is inclusion real if it is merely spatial-a desk, a roll call, a token smile. True equity emerges not from programs alone, but from the ________ (4) to confront whose stories are centred, whose questions are validated, and whose silences are allowed to remain unbroken. The future of learning lies not in acceleration, but in the willingness to _______ (5) where we have failed to ask why the an always sound the same.

What should come in the place of blank number (3)? 

  1. AOption (a)

    reduction 

  2. BOption (b)

    poverty 

  3. COption (c)

    generosity

  4. DOption (d)

    rupture

View answer & explanation

Correct answer

Answer: (a)A.

reduction 

Explanation not yet available.

How should I prepare for English Comprehension in SSC CPO?

Solving previous year questions by topic helps identify recurring concepts, question patterns, and frequently asked sub-topics. Attempt each question, review the step-by-step explanation, and note down key formulas or facts for quick revision before the exam.