Cat e gori e s Stra te gy for Civil S er vic es(IAS ) P re limi na ry Ex aminati on 2012 Article Category: IAS Exam Preparation Tips, Tip s and Strategy f or CSAT, Tips for IAS Prelim s, Civil Services, CSAT 0 The civil services preliminary examin ation for 2012 would be held on 20 May based on the new pattern introduced by UPSC in 2011. The preliminary examination would consist of two papers of two hours duration carrying 200 marks each. Paper-I is General Studies and Paper-II is the A ptitu de Test. It would be worthwhile to clarify at the very outset that the number of questions for both the papers have not been mentioned by the UPSC and thus subject to change. Preliminary examination 2011 consisted of 100 questions for Paper-I and 80 questions for Paper-II. Paper-I Paper-I being the General Studies consists of familiar areas like Current events of national and international importance, History of India and Indian National Movement, Indian and World Geography, Indian Polity and Governance, Economic and Social Development, General Science and General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change. The students should pay special attention to the Environment topic as this is a newly added topic and the number of questions from this section will increase in the coming years. Students would do well by going through the class XI and XII NCERT biology books which has some of the chapters on Environment. Radical Shift in Pattern Last two years have seen a drastic change in the nature of questions asked in this paper. The questions now being asked are very conceptual and not factual in nature. Students would do well by keeping last ten years question papers with them while preparing for this paper. A close comparison of the question papers will reveal this difference to the students. The students should always keep this difference in mind while preparing and should not be tempted to memorize too many facts as it used to be in the case of prelims preparation earlier. Any disregard for this cr itical difference will render the preparation futile and counterprodu ctive. Paper-II Paper-II is the aptitude paper having topics like Comprehension, Logical reasoning and analytical ability, Interpersonal skills including communication skills, Decision making and problem solving, General mental ability, Basic numeracy, Data interpretation, and English Language Comprehension skills. Here it is important to make a distinction between Comprehension and English Language Comprehension. Comprehension section tests the comprehension kn owledge of the student so it will be both in English and Hindi. Questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills of Class X level (last item in the Syllabus of Paper-II) will be tested through passages from English language only without providing Hindi translation thereof in the question paper. This passage is relatively easier than the passage falling under the comprehension section as it merely intends to check the basic English language skill. The students should in no case leave or miss these passages in a hurry to complete any o ther section as it is easier to score w ell in these passages. A general and sound advice for Paper-II is regular practice even if it is only two hours every day. P opular A rti cl es 1. Solved Bank Exam Model Question Paper 2011: General Awareness 2. IBPS CWE Clerical Cadre Solved Sample Questions 2011: General Awarenes 3. Download IBPS CWE Clerical Cadre Written Examination Call Letter 2011 4. 5. Join Jagran Josh Fill these details and be amongst the first few to get access to exclusive material on JagranJosh.com All Fields Mandatory Name Location Indi a State Ci ty Date of Birth Date Mont Year Mobile Sex Mal e Femal e Email Receive NewsLetter Y es No Competitive Exams Please select By clicking on Submit button, you agree to our terms of use Submit Quicklinks: UPSC, Bank Jobs, UGC NET, Sarkari Naukri, CMAT 2012, SSC, UP Board Result 2012 , Hindi News, IBPS JagranJosh Magazine Search All Like 0 Most Read Most Commented 42 47 ShareThis 1 Email 2 All Admission Alerts Ba nk Recruitmen t Board Exams Career Gui dance Civil Services College Ra nkings Current Affairs Prep Di stance Learning Education General Knowledge Qui z Interview with Toppers Judicial Services Exam Loans and Sch olarships MBA SS C Recruitme nt Sarkari Naukri (Governme nt Jobs) State Public Service Commissions Teacher Eligi bility Test UPSC Banking IAS | PCS SSC MBA Curr ent Affairs GK Resour ces QnA Insti tutes BookShop Car ee r s Classifieds 18-05-2012 Strategy for Civil Services(IAS) Prelimin… agranjosh.com/…/strategy-for-civil-ser… 1/3