SSC CGL English · Free notes
Cloze Test: SSC CGL English
Cloze Test has 410 questions in the SSC CGL Tier I bank: 195 from the 2023 shifts, 180 from the 2024 shifts and 35 from the 2025 shifts, and 308 of them EASY. Each passage carries five blanks; the 2023 and 2024 passages are everyday prose, while the seven 2025 passages are dense academic writing whose blanks are often explained by the words after a dash or a colon. Read the whole passage once before filling any blank, then settle each one by the sense of the passage, by the words around the blank, or by grammar.
The handout has every subtopic, worked example, formula and trap with answers shown. The formula sheet is the chapter’s formulas and traps alone, on one page.
Subtopic notes
Reading the Passage's Meaning
155 PYQsBlanks whose options are the same kind of word, so only the sense of the passage picks one: its direction, the words that turn it, and the phrases that explain the blank.
Word Partners and the Precise Word
142 PYQsBlanks whose options mean nearly the same thing, settled by the word English pairs with the blank's neighbours, by the word right after the blank, or by the exact sense of the scene.
Grammar of the Blank
113 PYQsBlanks whose options differ in grammar rather than meaning: the part of speech the slot needs, the form and tense of a verb, the preposition a word takes, and the linker that joins two ideas.
Formula & revision sheet
0 formulas · 1 reference tables · 20 gotchas across all subtopics — the exam-eve cheat-sheet
Formula & revision sheet
0 formulas · 1 reference tables · 20 gotchas across all subtopics — the exam-eve cheat-sheet
Watch out for (6)
- Choosing a word because it looks difficult→ The direction of the passage
- Reading only the blank's own sentence→ The direction of the passage
- Missing a turn in the middle of a sentence→ Words that turn or keep the sense
- Treating 'not only ... but also' as a turn→ Words that turn or keep the sense
- Choosing the grandest word→ The passage explains the blank
- Stopping at the blank's sentence→ The passage explains the blank
Reference tables (1)
Word partners (collocations)12 rows
| Phrase | Other options offered | Asked in |
|---|---|---|
| a source of energy | gesture, control, symbol | 2023 |
| the emission of greenhouse gases | absorption, reflection, conduction | 2023 (twice) |
| implement policies | sanctions, subsidies, restrictions | 2023 |
| severely criticised | selectively, intelligibly, legibly | 2023 |
| immense importance | sheer, complete, total | 2023 |
| put the right policies in place | desire, cut, design | 2023 |
| equal distribution of wealth | spending, partition, earning | 2023 |
| pursed her lips | stuck, dusted, dirt | 2024 |
| routine vaccinations | irregular, different, similar | 2024 |
| a succession of waves | arrest, interruption, disorder | 2024 |
| honour the pledges | take, watch, keep | 2024 |
| gives the impression of | fancy, suspicion, affect | 2024 |
Watch out for (6)
- Choosing a synonym that does not pair→ Word partners (collocations)
- Translating a pairing→ Word partners (collocations)
- Ignoring the next word→ The word after the blank chooses it
- Comprise of→ The word after the blank chooses it
- Accepting a rough synonym→ The precise word among near-synonyms
- Amount with a countable noun→ The precise word among near-synonyms
Watch out for (8)
- Choosing by meaning when the options are forms of one word→ What the slot needs
- A plain adjective before than→ What the slot needs
- Ignoring the passage's tense→ The verb's form and tense
- Losing the subject behind a phrase→ The verb's form and tense
- The small word that changes a phrasal verb→ Prepositions after a word
- Since and for→ Prepositions after a word
- A result word after a contrast→ Linkers and clause openers
- That after a comma→ Linkers and clause openers
PYQ weightage by concept
10 concepts · 410 PYQs — where the marks actually sit, so you know what to drill first
PYQ weightage by concept
10 concepts · 410 PYQs — where the marks actually sit, so you know what to drill first
| Concept | PYQs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| The direction of the passage | 100 | 24% |
| The passage explains the blank | 40 | 10% |
| Words that turn or keep the sense | 15 | 4% |
| Concept | PYQs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| The precise word among near-synonyms | 74 | 18% |
| Word partners (collocations) | 45 | 11% |
| The word after the blank chooses it | 23 | 6% |
| Concept | PYQs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| The verb's form and tense | 37 | 9% |
| What the slot needs | 28 | 7% |
| Prepositions after a word | 24 | 6% |
| Linkers and clause openers | 24 | 6% |
Test yourself on a real paper
Sit a past SSC CGL paper, timed and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.