SSC CGL 2025 Prelims (Tier-I) Previous Year Question Paper – Hard Level. 100 Questions | 100 Marks. Covers Quantitative Aptitude (25Q), General Intelligence & Reasoning (25Q), General Awareness (25Q), and English Comprehension (25Q).
Choose the correct meaning of the idiom: 'To burn the midnight oil'.
To work or study until late at night.
A clock shows 3:40. What is the angle between the hour and minute hands?
130°. (Hour hand at 3:40 = 110°; Minute hand at 40 min = 240°; Difference = 130°)
Select the correctly spelt word: (A) Accomodation (B) Accommodation (C) Acommodation (D) Acomodation
(B) Accommodation.
How many triangles are there in a figure with 5 straight lines passing through a common point?
0 triangles. (All lines pass through one point, no triangles can be formed.)
Fill in the blank with the correct option: 'The committee has ______ its decision.' (A) gave (B) given (C) give (D) giving
(B) given. (Present perfect tense: has + past participle)
Find the missing number: 4, 9, 25, 49, 121, ?
169. (Squares of prime numbers: 2²,3²,5²,7²,11²,13²=169)
Identify the error in the sentence: 'She is one of the best student in the class.' (A) She is (B) one of the (C) best student (D) in the class
(C) 'best student' should be 'best students' — 'one of the' is always followed by a plural noun.
Select the figure that completes the pattern: Row 1: ▲ ■ ●; Row 2: ■ ● ▲; Row 3: ● ▲ ?
■ (Each row is a cyclic shift of the three shapes)
Choose the antonym of 'Benevolent': (A) Kind (B) Generous (C) Malevolent (D) Charitable
(C) Malevolent.
Statement: Some books are pens. All pens are pencils. Conclusion I: Some books are pencils. Conclusion II: All pencils are books. Which follows?
Only Conclusion I follows.
Select the synonym of 'Ephemeral': (A) Eternal (B) Transient (C) Permanent (D) Enduring
(B) Transient.
If '+' means '÷', '−' means '×', '×' means '+', '÷' means '−', find: 16 + 4 − 3 × 2 ÷ 1
13. (16÷4×3+2−1 = 4×3+2−1 = 12+2−1 = 13)
Choose the one-word substitution for: 'A person who is unable to pay his debts.'
Insolvent.
Rahul walks 5 km North, turns East and walks 4 km, turns South and walks 3 km. What is the shortest distance from starting point?
√(4²+2²) = √20 = 2√5 km ≈ 4.47 km. (Net North=2, Net East=4 → √(4+16)=√20)
Rearrange the sentence into the correct order: (P) to reach the summit (Q) the climbers (R) several days (S) took (A) QSRP (B) QSPR (C) PQSR (D) RQPS
(A) QSRP — 'The climbers took several days to reach the summit.'
In a row of 40 students, Priya is 15th from the left and Meena is 20th from the right. How many students are between them?
5. (Meena's position from left = 40−20+1 = 21; Between = 21−15−1 = 5)
Choose the correct passive voice of: 'The teacher is teaching the students.'
'The students are being taught by the teacher.'
Complete the series: AZ, BY, CX, DW, ?
EV.
In the sentence 'Hardly had she left when it started raining', the underlined phrase 'Hardly had she left' is an example of which grammatical structure?
Inverted/negative inversion structure — when a negative adverb (Hardly, Scarcely, No sooner) begins a sentence, subject-auxiliary inversion occurs.
Which of the following Venn diagrams correctly represents: Doctors, Females, Surgeons?
Intersecting circles — some doctors are female, some doctors are surgeons, and some females are surgeons, with possible overlap of all three.