The SSC CGL exam is one of the most sought after government exam among aspirants in India. It is also popular because it gives Class 10 & Class 12 pass candidates an opportunity to get government jobs in Group B and Group C. Therefore, every year lakhs of candidates appear for this exam thereby increasing the competition way higher than expected.
In this article, we are going to discuss the significance of the previous year papers and how they play an important role in your preparation for the SSC CGL 2021 exam.
SSC CGL Previous Year Papers
Previous year papers play a crucial role in the preparation of any government exam and SSC CGL is no different. Previous year papers are the best source to understand the exam pattern and the type of questions that can be asked in the exam.
Why should you focus on the SSC CGL Previous Year Papers?
- Helps you to identify topics that hold more weightage.
- To spot your strengths/weaknesses and work on the same.
- To practice questions of various difficulties.
One interesting fact about SSC is that they tend to repeat its previously asked questions. This makes the SSC CGL previous year papers even more relevant to your exam preparation.
Let us now look at the subject-wise and topic wise breakdown of the questions asked in the SSC CGL Exam 2020 (Tier 1).
English Language
It can be seen from the table below, that the questions have been asked from the basic grammar topics and there was no Reading Comprehension. This makes the level of the English language section easy.
| Topics | No. Of Questions asked | Level Of Exam |
| Fill in the Blanks | 2 | Easy |
| Sentence Improvement | 2 | Easy-moderate |
| Error Detection | 2 | Easy-moderate |
| Sentence Rearrangement | 2 | Easy |
| Idioms and Phrases | 2 | Easy |
| Synonyms | 2 | Easy |
| Antonyms | 2 | Easy |
| Active Passive | 1 | Easy |
| Narration | 1 | Easy |
| One Word | 2 | Easy |
| Spelling Correction | 2 | Easy |
| Cloze test | 5 | Easy |
| Total Questions | 25 | Easy |
Quantitative Aptitude
Maximum questions in this section were asked from Data Interpretation, Trigonometry, Mensuration and Algebra. Moreover, you should also focus on other topics that are mentioned in the table below. The overall level of this section was easy-moderate.
| Topics | No. Of Questions asked | Level of Exam |
| Ratio | 2 | Easy |
| Average | 1 | Easy |
| Number System | 2 | Easy |
| Simplification | 1 | Easy |
| Time & Work | 1 | Easy-moderate |
| Time, Speed & Distance | 1 | Easy-moderate |
| S.I./C.I | 1 | Moderate |
| Profit & Loss | 2 | Easy |
| Geometry | 2 | Easy |
| Mensuration | 3 | Easy-moderate |
| Trigonometry | 3 | Easy-moderate |
| Percentage | 1 | Easy |
| Algebra | 3 | Easy-moderate |
| DI | 4 | Easy-moderate |
| Total questions | 25 | Easy-moderate |
Reasoning Ability
It is evident from the table below that most of the questions were asked from Analogy, Coding-Decoding and Mathematical Operations. The level of difficulty of this section was easy.
| Topics | No. Of Questions asked | Level Of Exam |
| Analogy | 3 | Easy |
| Odd One Out | 2 | Easy |
| Series | 1 | Easy |
| Statement & Conclusions | 1 | Easy |
| Sequence (Acc. to Dictionary) | 1 | Easy |
| Coding-Decoding | 3-4 | Easy-moderate |
| Mathematical Operations | 2-3 | Easy |
| Blood Relation | 1 | Easy |
| Mirror Image | 1 | Easy |
| Venn Diagram | 1 | Easy |
| Paper Folding Image | 1 | Easy |
| Missing Term | 2 | Easy |
| Hidden Figure | 1 | Easy |
| Cube | 1 | Easy |
| Counting Figure [Rectangle] | 1 | Easy |
| Complete Figure | 1 | Easy |
| Total Questions | 25 | Easy |
SSC CGL Previous Year Papers: Sample Questions
Reasoning Ability
Q1) Select the combination of letters that when sequentially placed in the blanks of the given series will complete the series.
L_UA_Z_N_AP_L_U_PZ
- P, N, L, Z, U, A, N
- N, P, L, U, Z, N, A
- P, L, U, Z, N, A, N
- N, L, P, A, N, U, Z
Ans: b
Q2) Select the option that is related to the third number in the same way as the second number is related to the first number.
- 121
- 201
- 210
- 112
Ans: d
Quantitative Aptitude
Q1) Length of each side of a rhombus is 13 cm and one of the diagonals is 24 cm. What is the area (in cm2) of the rhombus?
- 240
- 60
- 300
- 120
Ans: d
Q2) When x is subtracted from each of 19, 28, 55 and 91, the numbers obtained are in proportion. What is the value of x?
- 8
- 7
- 9
- 5
Ans: b
English
Sentences of a paragraph are given below in jumbled order. Arrange the sentences in the right order to form a meaningful and coherent paragraph.
Q1) A. When we got near, we saw steam rising from hot springs. B. We saw in the distance a great column of smoke. C. We wondered if it came from a chimney or a burning house. D. We thought of taking a bath in the hot water.
- ACDB
- ABCD
- BCAD
- BCDA
Ans: c
Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word.
Q2) Generic
- Specific
- Precise
- Definite
- Universal
Ans: d
General Awareness
Q1) In which of the following years was the Planning Commission of India set up?
- 1945
- 1950
- 1958
- 1962
Ans: b
Q2) Who among the following won the ‘3rd Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize’ for his novel ‘The City and The Sea’ in December 2020?
- Shekhar Gupta
- Raj Kamal Jha
- Rajdeep Sardesai
- Siddharth Sharma
Ans: b
Q3) In Leh, the first ever ice climbing festival was celebrated in ______ valley in January 2021.
- Ripchar
- Markha
- Nubra
- Dras
Ans: c
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Also Read
Notification, Exam Date, Exam Pattern and All Details: SSC CGL 2021-22
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Life of SSC CGL- Assistant Enforcement Officer (AEO)