2012 General Studies paper of Civil Services Exam of UPSC.

Get the *.pdf from this url .

Note that Examiner will pay special attention to the candidate’s grasp of his material, it’s relevant to the subject chosen and to his ability to think constructed and present his ideas concisely, logically and effectively.

“The main Examination is intended to assess the overall intellectual traits and depth of understanding of candidates rather than merely the range of their information and memory”. -Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).


Also, got this list from VisionIAS document. It says, they check for following competencies :

• Alignment Competence:

- Writing the answer according to the actual requirement of the questions
- Focus on Key words & Tail words effectively ( Elucidate – Explain, Comment , Examine , Critically examine , Discuss , Analyze , Illustrate , Review , Argue , Justify etc.)

• Context Competence:

- Contextual understanding of the Questions
- Present relevant information , choice of words and proper statement

• Content Competence :

- Content of the answer in the contextual framework

• Language Competence :

- Optional Subject Specific Language not used general words in the optional paper ( but In General Studies language should be simple and clear )
- Appropriate words at proper place , Word limits

• Structure – Presentation Competence:

- Proper systematization in the structure of the answer , Proper consideration of priority and focus of given ideas.

- Logical structure of sentence and their connectivity

- proper visibility of idea through facts, data , diagram , figure , illustration according to the requirement of the question

• Introduction – Conclusion Competence:

- Impressive beginning and Ending of the answer , Give your opinion only when asked for it.

- Incorporate your opinion from different perspective in a balance manner.

And as most of the people feel difficult to score high marks in GS paper of CSE, your strategy should be to get as many marks as possible in it, say 400 on 600. 

I am focusing on paper I. Whats your favorite of all the contents in both the GS papers put together ? 

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