Strategy for General Studies Preliminary Examination 2014 The UPSC notification of 2011 for the Civil Services preliminary examination has made changes in the pattern of Preliminary examination. The Preliminary Examination consists of two papers of objective type (multiple-choice questions) carrying a maximum of 200 marks each. There are 100 questions for the Paper I and 80 questions for Paper II. The Question Papers are set in English & Hindi. Strategy for General Studies Paper 1: There are some basic tips to handle General Studies Paper 1 for the Prelims examination. An in-depth understanding of subjects given in the syllabus can help candidates to prepare for the prelim exams in a much better way. General Studies Paper-I Syllabus comprises of Eight subjects. 1.History of India and Indian National Movement; 2.Indian and World Geography; 3.Indian Polity and Governance; 4.Economic and Social Development; 5.Environmental Ecology; 6.Bio-diversity and Climate Change; 7.General Science; 8.General Knowledge and Current Events. Since the syllabus does not give much detail of the topics to be studied under each subject it is expected to gain knowledge of them that should be slightly below the graduation level but definitely above the high school level. Exam Pattern: There are 100 questions to be answered in two hours, each question carries two marks. It means there is about 80 seconds to answer each question. So speed and accuracy is essential to tackle this examination. While the correct answer will fetch 2 marks, a wrong answer means a loss of 0.66 marks. The 100 questions can be grouped into three categories: i.Multiple Choice Questions - single response correct ii.Multiple Choice Questions - multiple response correct iii.Multiple Choice Questions - Matching type Strategy: The number of questions asked from different sections varies each time and there is no fixed rule for this. The nature of questions asked are generally on basic principles, their application, factual information and current affairs. Some questions are based on applied aspects of principles and factual information. It has been found that many of the questions overlap with more than one section of the syllabus. The answer to the question require analytical bend of mind. So mere reading NCERT high school texts books is now insufficient for the preparation of the prelim examination and in depth reading is required to handle such questions. The best way should be to adopt an integrated approach for preparation combining it with Mains, and one should make efforts to understand the principles and then strive to find their applications in daily life. The new addition in the syllabus since 2011 is on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change. So it is wise to prepare these areas from the view-point of the Main Examination. Considering the nature of the examination the tactics must be to focus on greater rather than intensive coverage. One is expected to know everything at the same time. However, only basics of each of the discipline are needed, so one master as many basic facts as possible, avoiding the element of over-kill in the preparations at Prelims stage. Reading Material: The best way would be to have the NCERT books for conceptual clarity and do in depth study of relevant topics from graduation level text books. One should have a good general studies book at its sides for reference because here most of the reading material is available at one source. Regular reading of newspapers and magazines and periodicals is essential to master over current developments in economic, political and social issues and policy changes. Paper II Paper-II Syllabus comprises of SEVEN subjects and is in the nature of Aptitude Test. 1.Comprehension 2.Interpersonal skills including communication skills; 3.Logical reasoning and analytical ability 4.Decision making and problem solving 5.General mental ability 6.Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) 7.Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. S
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 05:43:08 +0000