Tips on Reading Comprehension of IAS Main Exam’s English Compulsory Paper

Reading Comprehension in the Compulsory English Paper of the UPSC Civil Services Main Exam is to evaluate your understanding and grasp on English language. You would be given a passage; and a number of questions will follow that passage. You are supposed to read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow it. Your answers to the questions should be in clear, correct and concise language. Be careful about the grammar and sentence structure of your answers.

Here are some important tips on the Civil Services Main Exam’s Comprehension section:

•    Read the passage carefully
•    Before you start reading the passage, read the questions that follow it; this will help you knowing where to emphasise while reading the passage
•    Keep underlining and marking the points, sentences and words as soon as you come across those which occurred in the questions
•    Read the passage thoroughly once and then start answering the questions
•    Include only those information which have been furnished in the passage by the author; do not give extra information even if you know about something that has been asked in the question
•    Use simple and concise language while answering; do not copy the language of the author used in the passage
•    Present your answers in a much simpler way’ so that the examiner gets the impression that you had a fair understanding on the passage and you haven’t merely copied the texts found in the passage and included in your answers
•    If the question is based on facts then give only factual details found in the passage; and if the question seems analytical then write your answers giving an analytical angle to it
•    Give precise answers; do not stretch your answers’ length deliberately as it will not fetch you more marks
•    Your answers should be clear, crisp and to the point