Q1. Choose the synonym of 'OBFUSCATE'.
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Answer: D. Confuse
'Obfuscate' means to make something obscure, unclear or unintelligible, i.e. to confuse. 'Elucidate' and 'simplify' are nearly its opposites; 'expedite' means to speed up.
SSC CGL English Comprehension Advanced Practice Set 9
25 advanced questions, suggested time 30 minutes. Tap an option to check it, or open “Show answer” for the explanation.
Topics: Synonyms, Para Jumbles, Reading Comprehension, One-word Substitution, Cloze Test, Antonyms, Sentence Improvement, Spelling, Error Spotting
Score: 0 / 0
Q2. Rearrange the sentences P, Q, R and S to form a coherent paragraph. P: When prices rise too quickly, a central bank typically raises interest rates. Q: Higher rates make borrowing costlier for households and businesses alike. R: With demand thus cooled, the pace of price rise gradually eases. S: As a result, spending on homes, cars and new factories begins to slow.
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Answer: A. PQSR
P states the central bank's action; Q gives its immediate effect on borrowing; S ('As a result') describes reduced spending; R ('demand thus cooled') gives the final outcome.
Q3. Read the passage and answer the question. Passage: Translation is often imagined as a mechanical exchange of words, as though every term in one language had an exact twin in another. Any seasoned translator knows otherwise. Words carry histories, connotations and rhythms that refuse to travel intact. A pun that delights readers in Bengali may fall flat in French; a term of respect in Japanese may have no equivalent at all. The translator must therefore make choices, sacrificing literal accuracy here to preserve tone there. Far from being a lesser, derivative art, translation demands the sensibility of a writer and the scruples of a scholar. It is perhaps the closest reading a text can ever receive. Question: As used in the passage, 'scruples' most nearly refers to:
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Answer: D. a conscientious regard for accuracy and integrity
'Scruples' here means moral or professional principles that make a person careful and honest. Paired with 'of a scholar', it denotes a conscientious regard for accuracy.
Q4. Read the passage and answer the question. Passage: When antibiotics were introduced in the 1940s, they were hailed as miracle drugs, and diseases that had once been death sentences became easily curable. Yet even Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin, warned that misuse would breed resistant microbes. His warning has proved prophetic. Every time an antibiotic is taken unnecessarily, or a course is abandoned halfway, the hardiest bacteria survive and multiply. The routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock to speed their growth has accelerated this process. Today some infections resist almost every available drug, and the pipeline of new antibiotics has slowed to a trickle because such drugs offer pharmaceutical companies meagre profits. Unless usage is curbed, medicine risks returning to a pre-antibiotic age. Question: The tone of the passage is best described as:
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Answer: D. cautionary
The author warns of the consequences of antibiotic misuse and ends with the risk of a 'pre-antibiotic age', making the tone cautionary. Only the opening recalls the celebration of the 1940s.
Q5. A speech in a play in which a character, alone on stage, speaks his or her thoughts aloud is called a:
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Answer: B. Soliloquy
A 'soliloquy' is a speech made by a character alone on stage revealing inner thoughts. An 'epilogue' comes at the end of a play, a 'prologue' at the beginning, and a 'dialogue' is a conversation between characters.
Q6. Read the passage and answer the question. Passage: Mangroves, the salt-tolerant forests that fringe tropical coastlines, were long dismissed as mosquito-ridden swamps fit only to be drained. That view has been thoroughly discredited. Their tangled roots trap sediment, stabilising shorelines, and act as a buffer that blunts the force of storm surges; villages sheltered by intact mangroves have repeatedly suffered less damage during cyclones than exposed ones. The forests also serve as nurseries for countless species of fish and crab on which coastal fishermen depend. Moreover, they lock away carbon at rates far exceeding those of most inland forests. To clear mangroves for shrimp farms or resorts is thus to trade a lasting shield for a fleeting gain. Question: Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
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Answer: C. Mangroves, once undervalued, offer protection, livelihoods and climate benefits that outweigh any short-term gain from clearing them.
The passage lists the benefits of mangroves (coastal protection, fish nurseries, carbon storage) and concludes that clearing them trades 'a lasting shield for a fleeting gain'.
Q7. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word: The new manager's ________ style of functioning, in which he consulted no one before taking decisions, soon alienated his team.
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Answer: A. autocratic
'Autocratic' means taking decisions without consulting others, which fits the clause. 'Collegial', 'consultative' and 'egalitarian' imply sharing authority.
Q8. Choose the antonym of 'EFFETE'.
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Answer: C. Vigorous
'Effete' means weak, ineffectual or exhausted of vitality. 'Vigorous' (strong, energetic) is its opposite; 'decadent', 'enfeebled' and 'spent' share the sense of decline or exhaustion.
Q9. Read the passage and answer the question. Passage: Mangroves, the salt-tolerant forests that fringe tropical coastlines, were long dismissed as mosquito-ridden swamps fit only to be drained. That view has been thoroughly discredited. Their tangled roots trap sediment, stabilising shorelines, and act as a buffer that blunts the force of storm surges; villages sheltered by intact mangroves have repeatedly suffered less damage during cyclones than exposed ones. The forests also serve as nurseries for countless species of fish and crab on which coastal fishermen depend. Moreover, they lock away carbon at rates far exceeding those of most inland forests. To clear mangroves for shrimp farms or resorts is thus to trade a lasting shield for a fleeting gain. Question: What can be inferred about the earlier view of mangroves mentioned in the passage?
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Answer: A. It failed to recognise their ecological and economic value.
Mangroves were once seen as swamps 'fit only to be drained'; the passage says this view has been discredited and goes on to list their many benefits, implying the earlier view overlooked their value.
Q10. Choose the antonym of 'CANTANKEROUS'.
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Answer: A. Affable
'Cantankerous' means bad-tempered and argumentative. 'Affable' (friendly and good-natured) is its opposite; 'irascible', 'quarrelsome' and 'testy' are synonyms.
Q11. Choose the antonym of 'EXTOL'.
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Answer: A. Denigrate
'Extol' means to praise enthusiastically. 'Denigrate' means to criticise unfairly or belittle, its opposite. 'Laud', 'eulogise' and 'glorify' are synonyms of extol.
Q12. Read the passage and answer the question. Passage: When antibiotics were introduced in the 1940s, they were hailed as miracle drugs, and diseases that had once been death sentences became easily curable. Yet even Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin, warned that misuse would breed resistant microbes. His warning has proved prophetic. Every time an antibiotic is taken unnecessarily, or a course is abandoned halfway, the hardiest bacteria survive and multiply. The routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock to speed their growth has accelerated this process. Today some infections resist almost every available drug, and the pipeline of new antibiotics has slowed to a trickle because such drugs offer pharmaceutical companies meagre profits. Unless usage is curbed, medicine risks returning to a pre-antibiotic age. Question: As used in the passage, 'prophetic' most nearly means:
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Answer: C. accurately predictive
'Prophetic' here means correctly foretelling what would happen. Fleming's warning about resistant microbes has come true, so it was accurately predictive.
Q13. Read the passage and answer the question. Passage: Mangroves, the salt-tolerant forests that fringe tropical coastlines, were long dismissed as mosquito-ridden swamps fit only to be drained. That view has been thoroughly discredited. Their tangled roots trap sediment, stabilising shorelines, and act as a buffer that blunts the force of storm surges; villages sheltered by intact mangroves have repeatedly suffered less damage during cyclones than exposed ones. The forests also serve as nurseries for countless species of fish and crab on which coastal fishermen depend. Moreover, they lock away carbon at rates far exceeding those of most inland forests. To clear mangroves for shrimp farms or resorts is thus to trade a lasting shield for a fleeting gain. Question: As used in the passage, the word 'blunts' most nearly means:
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Answer: B. reduces the intensity of
To 'blunt' the force of storm surges is to weaken or reduce their intensity, as shown by the villages that suffered less damage.
Q14. Choose the best replacement for the bracketed part of the sentence. Choose 'No improvement' if it is already correct. He is [too weak that he cannot walk] without support.
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Answer: D. so weak that he cannot walk
'Too' is followed by 'to + infinitive' (too weak to walk), while a 'that' clause requires 'so ... that'. Hence 'so weak that he cannot walk'.
Q15. Read the passage and answer the question. Passage: The fashion industry has discovered speed. Collections that once changed twice a year now arrive in stores every few weeks, and garments are priced so low that many are worn only a handful of times before being discarded. The hidden costs of this abundance are considerable. Textile dyeing pollutes rivers, synthetic fibres shed microplastics with every wash, and the workers who stitch these clothes often labour for paltry wages in unsafe conditions. Some consumers have begun to resist, buying fewer but more durable clothes, repairing rather than replacing, and seeking out traditional handloom weavers. Such choices will not transform the industry overnight, but they signal a welcome shift away from treating clothing as disposable. Question: What is the author's attitude towards consumers who buy fewer, more durable clothes?
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Answer: A. approving
The author calls their choices 'a welcome shift', showing approval, while conceding that they will not change the industry overnight.
Q16. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word: Having squandered his inheritance on gambling and luxuries, the once-wealthy heir was reduced to ________.
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Answer: B. penury
'Penury' means extreme poverty, the natural result of squandering a fortune; 'reduced to penury' is a standard collocation. 'Opulence' and 'affluence' mean wealth, and 'prominence' means fame.
Q17. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word: Far from being a sudden decision, the merger was the ________ of months of painstaking negotiation.
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Answer: A. culmination
'Culmination' means the final result or climax of a long process, which fits 'months of painstaking negotiation'. 'Inception' and 'genesis' mean beginning, and 'abandonment' contradicts the merger taking place.
Q18. Choose the antonym of 'ABSTEMIOUS'.
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Answer: A. Intemperate
'Abstemious' means not self-indulgent, especially in eating and drinking. 'Intemperate' (lacking self-control, indulgent) is its opposite; 'temperate', 'ascetic' and 'moderate' are similar in meaning.
Q19. Choose the correctly spelt word meaning 'a story told about a past event that one remembers'.
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Answer: A. Reminiscence
The correct spelling is 'Reminiscence' (remi-nis-cence), with 'sc' in the middle and '-ence' at the end.
Q20. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'I have met / your brother / at the conference / last week.'
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Answer: A. I have met
The present perfect is not used with a definite past time expression such as 'last week'. The simple past is needed: 'I met your brother at the conference last week.'
Q21. Choose the synonym of 'PUSILLANIMOUS'.
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Answer: B. Cowardly
'Pusillanimous' means showing a lack of courage or determination, i.e. cowardly. 'Valiant', 'dauntless' and 'resolute' all indicate courage or firmness.
Q22. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word: The government's ________ response to the epidemic, announcing measures only after thousands had fallen ill, drew sharp criticism.
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Answer: C. belated
'Belated' means coming late, which fits a response made only after thousands fell ill. 'Prompt', 'pre-emptive' and 'timely' would not attract such criticism.
Q23. Choose the synonym of 'VITUPERATION'.
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Answer: B. Invective
'Vituperation' is bitter and abusive language, i.e. invective. 'Eulogy', 'panegyric' and 'adulation' all denote praise.
Q24. Choose the best replacement for the bracketed part of the sentence. Choose 'No improvement' if it is already correct. Seldom [we have seen] such a spectacular display of fireworks.
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Answer: B. have we seen
When a negative or restrictive adverb such as 'seldom', 'never' or 'rarely' begins a sentence, the subject and auxiliary are inverted: 'Seldom have we seen...'. 'Did we saw' is wrong because 'did' must be followed by the base form.
Q25. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word: The two rival parties agreed to ________ their differences and form a coalition government in the larger interest of the state.
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Answer: A. sink
'To sink one's differences' is the idiomatic expression meaning to set aside disagreements for a common goal. The other verbs do not collocate with 'differences' in this sense.