Test: SSC CGL Previous Year Questions: Spotting Errors (2023-18) -1 - SSC CGL MCQ

The ‘pseudoscience’ mentioned in the given sentence is not specific and we generally use the indefinite article ‘a’ before a non-specific noun. Hence, ‘considered a pseudoscience’ is the most appropriate answer.

The given sentence is grammatically correct.

‘The’ must be replaced with ‘a’. Article ‘the’ is used for specific or particular nouns but the ‘story’ mentioned in the sentence is not specific. Hence, ‘told a rather improbable’ is the most appropriate answer

‘While’ must be replaced with ‘when’. The phrase ‘when the time comes’ is used to state an action that will be done in the suitable circumstances. Hence, ‘when the time comes’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘His’ is used with ‘everybody / everyone / somebody / someone / nobody / no one’ if the gender is unknown. Similarly, the given sentence talks about every single person, both male and female. Hence, ‘respect his’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Happily’ is an adverb that will be used before the adjective ‘married’ to modify its meaning. Hence, ‘happily married’ is the most appropriate answer

‘Live in first floor’ must be replaced with ‘live on the first floor’. Definite article ‘the’ is used before a superlative degree adjective. ‘First’ is a superlative adjective. ‘On’ is used to indicate the surface on which something rests. ‘Floor’ is the bottom surface of a room. Hence, ‘live on the first floor’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Dainty’ must be replaced with ‘daintily’. The given sentence needs an adverb to modify the verb (swayed) and not an adjective(dainty). Hence, ‘swayed daintily’ is the most appropriate answer.

We always place the definite article ‘the’ before ‘beginning’ and ‘end’. Hence, ‘away at the end of April’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Aging’ must be replaced with ‘ages’. ‘Of all ages’ is a phrase which means people belonging to all age groups. Hence, ‘tourists of all ages’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘We have being’ must be replaced with ‘We have’. The given sentence is in Present Perfect Tense and ‘Plural Sub. + have + V 3 (arranged)’ is the correct grammatical structure for it. Hence, ‘We have’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Be pass’ must be replaced with ‘have passed’ as the given sentence is an example of a third conditional sentence and the correct grammatical structure for it is “If + Simple past(V₂ ) / past perfect(had + V₃ )…….. Would have + V₃ ”. Hence, ‘would have passed his exams’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Guard over’ must be replaced with ‘guard against’ as the verb ‘guard’ is followed by the preposition ‘against’ when it means to protect something from harm or damage. Hence, ‘guard against’ is the most appropriate answer.

He is a doctor who specialises in the treating rare diseases.(Incorrect)
He is a doctor who specialises in treating rare diseases. (Correct)
The definite article 'the' is not used before gerunds.

(a) Earlier, he was feeling better, but things took a turn for the worst.(Correct)
(b) Earlier, he was feeling good , but things took a turn for the bad.(Incorrect Word)
(c) Earlier, he was feeling well , but things took a turn for the ill.(Incorrect Degree)
(d) Earlier, he was feeling better, but things took a turn for the ill .(Incorrect Word)

'When + Simple Past Tense(Subject + V₂ )' is used to indicate the time of occurrence of an event that started in the past. Therefore, ‘had’ must be removed from this part. Hence, 'arrived' is the most appropriate answer.

‘A world’ must be replaced with ‘the world’ as we generally use article ‘the’ with a specific place or thing. Hence, ‘the world was’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘The last’ must be replaced with ‘the latter’ as the wor ‘latter’ is used to refer to the second of two things or people. Hence, ‘the latter’ is the most appropriate answer.

Present Perfect Tense(Has/Have + V₃ ) is used when something happens for the first time in the present. Hence, ‘I have eaten(V₃ ) such’ is the most appropriate answer.

Article ‘A’ is used before the words starting from a consonant sound - (a conversation, a story). Whereas, the article ‘An’ is used before the words starting from a vowel sound(an imminent danger, an apple). Hence, ‘an old woman’ is the most appropriate answer.

Adjective ‘Meaningless’ must be replaced with the noun ‘meaning’ as we need to use a noun to refer to the concept or state of existence. Hence, ‘on pondering the meaning of existence’ is the most appropriate answer.

Article ‘A’ is used before the words starting from a consonant sound - (a conversation, a story). Similarly, in the given sentence, ‘safari’ starts with a consonant. Hence, ‘on a safari tour’ is the most appropriate answer.

Article ‘an’ must be replaced with ‘a’ as we generally use article ‘a’ before the words starting with a consonant sound. Similarly, in the given sentence, the noun ‘lawyer’ starts with a consonant sound. Hence, ‘a lawyer’ is the most appropriate answer

'When + Simple Past Tense' is used to indicate the time of occurrence of an event that started in the past. 'Subject + V₂ ' is the correct grammatical structure for this sentence. Hence, 'went out(V₂ )' is the most appropriate answer

Adjective ‘viable’ must be replaced with the noun ‘viability’ as we need to use a specific noun after the article ‘the.’ Hence, ‘the viability of life’ is the most appropriate answer.

Article ‘the’ must be removed as the definite article 'the' is not used before the name of materials like Gold, Silver, Platinum etc. Hence, ‘platinum’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Will have’ must be replaced with ‘will be’. Simple Present Tense(Singular Sub. + V-s/es) is used with the phrase ‘by the time’ to indicate the point of time in the future when some action will have been completed. Hence, ‘she marries’ is the most appropriate answer.

Article ‘a’ must be replaced with ‘article ‘an’ as we generally use article ‘an’ with the nouns starting with a vowel sound. Similarly, in the given sentence, ‘Atlas-Agena D’ starts with a vowel sound. Hence, ‘an’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Lesser’ is used to indicate something of lower importance or significance & ‘less’ used to indicate a lower amount or degree. Hence, ‘less’ is the most appropriate answer.

‘Favour’ must be replaced with ‘favours.’ According to the “Subject-Verb Agreement Rule”, a singular subject always takes a singular verb. Similarly, ‘fortune’ is a singular subject that will take ‘favours’ as a singular verb. Hence, ‘favours the’ is the most appropriate answer.