About this SSC CGL English practice test

English Language & Comprehension is worth 25 marks in Tier 1 and a full 200 in Tier 2, yet it's the section most SSC aspirants revise last — usually to their own cost. It tests Reading Comprehension, Error Spotting, Fill in the Blanks, Synonyms, Antonyms, Idioms & Phrases, One-Word Substitution, Active/Passive Voice, Direct/Indirect Speech and Sentence Improvement, and because these rules don't change between attempts, consistent practice here pays off across CGL, CHSL, MTS and CPO alike.

SSC CGL English Language Practice Test sample questions

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1. 1. Read the following passage and answer the question: 'Urban bees are increasingly foraging in city gardens rather than the countryside, as green spaces in cities now offer greater floral diversity than intensively farmed rural land. Researchers note that this shift may actually improve the survival rates of certain pollinator species.' According to the passage, why are urban bees thriving in cities?

2. 2. Based on the same passage above ('Urban bees are increasingly foraging in city gardens...'), what can be inferred about intensively farmed rural land?

3. 3. Read the passage: 'The startup's revenue tripled within a year, yet the founders continued to operate out of a modest rented office and avoided unnecessary hires.' What does this suggest about the founders' approach to running their business?

4. 4. Identify the grammatical error and give the correction: 'The manager, along with his entire team, have decided to launch the new product next month.'

5. 5. Identify the grammatical error and give the correction: 'She is more taller than any other girl in her class.'

6. 6. Identify the grammatical error and give the correction: 'I have completed my project report yesterday evening.'

7. 7. Fill in the blank with the correct preposition: 'The new regulations will come ___ effect from the first of next month.'

8. 8. Fill in the blank with the correct form of the verb: 'By the time the chief guest arrives, the students ___ (decorate) the entire auditorium.'

9. 9. Fill in the blanks with suitable articles: 'She needed ___ hour to finish ___ unique handmade gift for her friend.'

10. 10. Choose the word closest in meaning to METICULOUS: (careless / painstaking / hasty / indifferent)

11. 11. Choose the word opposite in meaning to FRUGAL: (thrifty / extravagant / modest / prudent)

12. 12. Choose the word closest in meaning to OBSTINATE: (flexible / stubborn / agreeable / hesitant)

13. 13. Choose the correct meaning of the idiom: 'to spill the beans'

14. 14. Choose the correct meaning of the idiom: 'a blessing in disguise'

15. 15. Choose the correct meaning of the idiom: 'to burn the midnight oil'

16. 16. Give one word for: 'A person who is unable to speak'

17. 17. Give one word for: 'A place where birds are kept and displayed'

18. 18. Give one word for: 'A person who loves and works for the welfare of mankind'

19. 19. Change into passive voice: 'The chef is preparing a special dessert for the guests.'

20. 20. Change into active voice: 'The suspect was arrested by the police near the railway station.'

21. 21. Change into passive voice: 'You must complete this assignment before the deadline.'

22. 22. Change into indirect speech: She said, 'I am travelling to Jaipur tomorrow.'

23. 23. Change into indirect speech: He asked, 'Where do you live?'

24. 24. Change into indirect speech: The coach said to the players, 'Practice hard and you will win the tournament.'

25. 25. Improve the underlined part of the sentence, if required: 'Each of the candidates have submitted their application forms on time.'

26. 26. Improve the sentence, if required: 'Scarcely he had reached the station when the train left.'

27. 27. Rearrange the parts P, Q, R, S to form a meaningful sentence: (P) and decided to pursue a career in journalism (Q) after finishing her degree (R) she moved to a bigger city (S) in search of better opportunities

28. 28. Read the sentence and choose the most appropriate word for the blank: 'The new intern was initially ___ about the company's unconventional work culture, but she gradually grew to appreciate its benefits.' (confident / skeptical / indifferent / delighted)

29. 29. Read the sentence and choose the most appropriate word for the blank: 'Although the negotiations had reached a deadlock, both parties remained ___ to finding a mutually acceptable solution.' (indifferent / committed / hesitant / opposed)

30. 30. Read the sentence and choose the most appropriate word for the blank: 'The old wooden bridge, weakened by years of neglect, could no longer ___ the weight of heavy vehicles.' (bear / raise / lift / hold)

Answer key & quick explanations

Short answers for the sample questions above. Use this to self-check before generating a fresh AI-built mock test.

1. 1. Q1 - Reading Comprehension (detail retrieval)

   Because city gardens offer greater floral diversity than intensively farmed rural land.

   The answer is a direct restatement of the passage's stated reason. RC detail questions at this level test whether students can locate the exact supporting clause rather than paraphrase or guess from general knowledge.

2. 2. Q2 - Reading Comprehension (inference)

   It offers less floral diversity than city green spaces, making it less favorable for pollinators.

   This is an inference question, so the answer is not stated word-for-word but follows logically from the contrast drawn in the passage between rural farmland and city gardens.

3. 3. Q3 - Reading Comprehension (inference from a single statement)

   The founders were fiscally prudent and cautious despite rapid growth.

   The contrast between tripled revenue and continued modest spending signals restraint rather than complacency; inference questions require reading between the lines of the stated facts, not just repeating them.

4. 4. Q4 - Error Spotting: subject-verb agreement with 'along with'

   'have decided' should be 'has decided'

   Phrases like 'along with,' 'as well as,' and 'together with' do not add to the subject for agreement purposes; the verb must still agree with the singular head noun 'the manager,' so the singular verb 'has decided' is required.

5. 5. Q5 - Error Spotting: double comparative

   'more taller' should be 'taller'

   'Taller' already carries the comparative '-er' suffix, so adding 'more' before it is redundant and grammatically incorrect; only one comparative marker is used at a time in standard English.

6. 6. Q6 - Error Spotting: tense with definite time marker

   'have completed' should be 'completed'

   Definite past time expressions such as 'yesterday evening' require the simple past tense; the present perfect is reserved for actions without a specified past time or with continuing present relevance.

7. 7. Q7 - Fill in the Blank: preposition

   into

   'Come into effect' is a fixed idiomatic collocation meaning to become operative or legally binding; 'into' expresses the change of state from inactive to active, which is the standard preposition paired with 'effect' here.

8. 8. Q8 - Fill in the Blank: future perfect tense

   will have decorated

   When one future action is completed before another future event, the future perfect ('will have + past participle') is used; here the decorating finishes before the guest's arrival, so 'will have decorated' is correct.

9. 9. Q9 - Fill in the Blank: articles

   an; a

   Article choice depends on sound, not spelling: 'hour' begins with a silent 'h' and thus a vowel sound, taking 'an,' while 'unique' begins with a consonant 'y' sound ('yoo-neek'), taking 'a'.

10. 10. Q10 - Synonym of METICULOUS

    painstaking

    'Meticulous' describes showing great care and precision over details; 'painstaking' conveys the same sense of thorough, careful effort, while the remaining options describe carelessness or lack of attention.

11. 11. Q11 - Antonym of FRUGAL

    extravagant

    'Frugal' means economical and avoiding waste, so its true opposite is 'extravagant,' meaning to spend lavishly; the other options are near-synonyms of frugal rather than opposites.

12. 12. Q12 - Synonym of OBSTINATE

    stubborn

    'Obstinate' describes refusing to change one's opinion or course of action despite persuasion; 'stubborn' conveys the same fixed, unyielding quality.

13. 13. Q13 - Idiom: 'to spill the beans'

    to reveal secret information

    This idiom means to disclose confidential or hidden information, often prematurely or accidentally; it is commonly traced to ancient voting customs involving beans.

14. 14. Q14 - Idiom: 'a blessing in disguise'

    something that seems bad at first but turns out to be beneficial

    The phrase captures the gap between an event's unfavorable initial appearance and its ultimately positive outcome, a common theme tested in SSC idiom questions.

15. 15. Q15 - Idiom: 'to burn the midnight oil'

    to work or study late into the night

    Rooted in the era of oil lamps, the idiom symbolizes diligent effort continued late at night, typically associated with exam preparation or looming deadlines.

16. 16. Q16 - One-Word Substitution: unable to speak

    Mute

    'Mute' specifically denotes a person who cannot speak, whether from a physical condition or choice; it must not be confused with 'deaf,' which refers to hearing loss.

17. 17. Q17 - One-Word Substitution: place for birds

    Aviary

    An 'aviary' is a large enclosure specifically built to house and display birds, distinct from a general 'zoo' housing many species or a small 'cage' for one bird.

18. 18. Q18 - One-Word Substitution: lover of mankind

    Philanthropist

    A 'philanthropist' actively promotes human welfare, typically through charitable giving, distinguishing the term from 'humanist' or 'optimist,' which describe attitudes rather than active charitable action.

19. 19. Q19 - Active to Passive: present continuous

    A special dessert is being prepared for the guests by the chef.

    Since the original verb is in present continuous tense, the passive must use 'is/are being + past participle'; the object becomes the subject and the original subject becomes the 'by'-agent.

20. 20. Q20 - Passive to Active: simple past

    The police arrested the suspect near the railway station.

    In converting passive to active, the 'by'-agent ('the police') becomes the subject, the original subject ('the suspect') becomes the object, and the verb returns to its simple active past form.

21. 21. Q21 - Active to Passive: modal verb

    This assignment must be completed before the deadline.

    Passive voice with modal verbs follows the pattern 'modal + be + past participle'; since the original subject 'you' is a generic, unspecified agent, it is naturally dropped in the passive version.

22. 22. Q22 - Direct to Indirect: present continuous with time shift

    She said that she was travelling to Jaipur the next day.

    Present continuous ('am travelling') shifts to past continuous ('was travelling') in indirect speech, the pronoun 'I' becomes 'she,' and the time expression 'tomorrow' shifts back to 'the next day.'

23. 23. Q23 - Direct to Indirect: wh-question

    He asked where I lived.

    For questions with a question word, the same word introduces the indirect clause without 'if/whether'; word order becomes statement-like (subject before verb), and the tense shifts back from present to past.

24. 24. Q24 - Direct to Indirect: imperative plus result clause

    The coach told the players that if they practiced hard, they would win the tournament.

    An imperative followed by 'and + future result' is converted into a conditional clause in indirect speech; 'will' becomes 'would' by the sequence of tenses, and 'said to' becomes 'told' since a listener is named.

25. 25. Q25 - Sentence Improvement: indefinite pronoun agreement

    has submitted

    'Each' is a singular indefinite pronoun and always takes a singular verb, regardless of the plural noun in the following 'of' phrase; therefore 'have submitted' must be corrected to 'has submitted.'

26. 26. Q26 - Sentence Improvement: inversion after 'scarcely'

    Scarcely had he reached the station when the train left.

    When a sentence opens with the negative adverb 'scarcely,' the auxiliary verb must be inverted before the subject; the same inversion rule applies to 'hardly' and 'no sooner' in similar constructions.

27. 27. Q27 - Sentence Rearrangement

    Q R S P

    The logical order begins with the time clause 'after finishing her degree' (Q), followed by the main action 'she moved to a bigger city' (R), its purpose 'in search of better opportunities' (S), and finally the resulting decision (P), forming a coherent chronological sentence.

28. 28. Q28 - Cloze Test: contextual contrast

    skeptical

    The connector 'but' signals a contrast with the intern's later appreciation, so the blank must express initial doubt; 'skeptical' fits this contrast, while the other options do not oppose 'grew to appreciate.'

29. 29. Q29 - Cloze Test: contextual contrast

    committed

    'Although' introduces a contrast between the stalled talks and the parties' attitude, implying persistence despite the setback; 'committed' reflects this resolve, unlike options suggesting reluctance or disengagement.

30. 30. Q30 - Cloze Test: precise word choice

    bear

    'Bear' specifically means to support or withstand weight or load, making it the precise fit; 'raise' and 'lift' wrongly imply upward movement, and 'hold' is less idiomatically exact for structural load-bearing capacity.

Curriculum Mapping & Learning Guide

Use this breakdown to identify which skills each question tests and guide post-test review.

SSC CGL English units covered

1. Chapter 1: Reading Comprehension
2. Chapter 2: Error Spotting (Grammar Rules)
3. Chapter 3: Fill in the Blanks (Prepositions, Tenses, Articles)
4. Chapter 4: Synonyms and Antonyms (Vocabulary)
5. Chapter 5: Idioms and Phrases
6. Chapter 6: One-Word Substitution
7. Chapter 7: Active Voice and Passive Voice
8. Chapter 8: Direct and Indirect Speech
9. Chapter 9: Sentence Improvement and Rearrangement
10. Chapter 10: Cloze Test

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