PPSC Past Papers 2025

The correct answer is Leads. This sentence demonstrates a rule of subject-verb agreement. When

In grammar, different parts of speech serve distinct functions. An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, providing more information about how, when, where, or to what extent an action or quality occurs.

• “Adverb” is the correct answer because its primary role is to modify verbs (e.g., runs quickly), adjectives (e.g., very happy), and other adverbs (e.g., quite slowly).
• “Conjunction” is incorrect; conjunctions join words, phrases, or clauses.
• “Noun” is incorrect; nouns name people, places, things, or ideas.
• “Interjection” is incorrect; interjections express sudden emotion or surprise.

Understanding antonyms, words with opposite meanings, is crucial for vocabulary. The word “facilitate” means to make an action or process easier or to help bring it about.

• “Hinder” is the correct antonym. To hinder means to create difficulties for someone or something, thereby impeding progress or making something more difficult.
• “Support” is incorrect; it means to give assistance to, which is similar to facilitate.
• “Promote” is incorrect; it means to further the progress of something, also similar to facilitate.
• “Assist” is incorrect; it means to help, which is a synonym of facilitate.

Phrasal verbs combine a verb with a preposition or adverb, creating a new meaning. The context of a referee and rain suggests an action related to the match's status.

• “called off” is the correct phrasal verb. It means to cancel an event or activity. In this sentence, the referee canceled the match due to rain.
• “called on” is incorrect; it means to ask someone to do something or to visit.
• “called up” is incorrect; it means to summon, telephone, or recall.
• “called in” is incorrect; it means to summon for help or to report to work.

Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings. The word “distil” refers to the process of purifying a liquid by heating and cooling, separating its components to make it cleaner or more concentrated.

• “Pollute” is the correct antonym. To pollute means to contaminate something, making it impure or dirty, which is the direct opposite of purifying.
• “Extract” is incorrect; it means to remove or obtain something, often a component, which can be part of the distillation process.
• “Purify” is incorrect; it is a synonym of distil, meaning to make something clean or pure.
• “Refine” is incorrect; it means to remove impurities or undesirable elements, also similar to distil.

This question tests your understanding of synonyms and antonyms. You need to identify the pair where both words have similar meanings.

• Option C: Gloomy: Morose is correct because both 'gloomy' and 'morose' describe a state of being sad, sullen, or depressed. They are synonyms.
• Option A: Trepidation: Confident is incorrect. 'Trepidation' means a feeling of fear or anxiety, while 'confident' means feeling self-assured. These are antonyms.
• Option B: Impecunious: Penny is incorrect. 'Impecunious' means having little or no money. While related to money, 'penny' is a unit of currency, not a synonym for the state of being impecunious.
• Option D: Fragile: Rock is incorrect. 'Fragile' means easily broken, whereas a 'rock' is typically hard and durable. These words represent opposite qualities.

This question assesses your knowledge of verb tenses, specifically the future continuous tense.

• Option C: will be is the correct choice. The phrase "next Sunday at 7 PM" indicates a specific point in the future when an action will be ongoing. The future continuous tense (will be + verb-ing) is used to describe an action that will be in progress at a particular time in the future. Therefore, "She will be waiting" accurately conveys this meaning.
• Option A: be is incorrect as it is the base form of the verb and cannot be used directly after a pronoun in this context without an auxiliary verb.
• Option B: has been is incorrect. This is the present perfect continuous tense, used for actions that started in the past and continue up to the present, or have just finished. It does not fit the future context of the sentence.
• Option D: is is incorrect. This is the present continuous tense, used for actions happening now or definite future plans, but "will be waiting" is more precise for an action ongoing at a specific future time.

This question requires you to convert a sentence from direct speech to indirect (reported) speech.

• Option A: The speaker thanked the ladies and gentlemen for their timely help. is the correct conversion. When changing direct speech to indirect speech, the reporting verb (said) is in the past, so the tense of the reported verb usually shifts back. "I thank you" becomes "he/she thanked them." The address "Ladies and gentlemen" is incorporated as the recipients of the thanks.
• Option B: The speaker said that ladies and gentlemen thanked for timely help. is grammatically awkward and does not correctly convey the speaker's action of thanking.
• Option C: The speaker is thanking ladies and gentlemen. is incorrect because it uses the present continuous tense, whereas the original reporting verb "said" is in the past.
• Option D: The speaker says ladies and gentlemen thank... is incorrect because it uses the present tense reporting verb "says," which contradicts the past tense "said" in the original sentence.

This question tests your knowledge of relative pronouns used to introduce restrictive clauses.

• Option C: That is the most appropriate relative pronoun here. "That" is commonly used to introduce a restrictive clause that provides essential information about the noun it modifies, in this case, "all the money." It clarifies which money was given.
• Option A: Whom is incorrect. "Whom" is an object pronoun used for people, and "money" is an inanimate object.
• Option B: Which can be used for things, but "that" is generally preferred for restrictive clauses (clauses essential to the meaning of the sentence) in everyday English. While not strictly wrong, "that" is a more natural and common choice here.
• Option D: Where is incorrect. "Where" is used to refer to places, and "money" is not a place.