UPSC CDS 1 2022: Top 7 Preparation Tips for English Language Section (100 Marks)

UPSC CDS 2022 English Language Top 7 Preparation Tips: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will be conducting the UPSC Combined Defence Services 1, 2022 Exam on 10th April 2022 for admission of 341 vacancies in the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Naval Academy (INA), Air Force Academy (AFA), Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) (both Men & Women). The eligible candidates shall be issued an e-Admit Card three weeks before the commencement of the examination.  The UPSC CDS 1 2022 Written Exam Admit Card is available for download till 10th April 2022. In the UPSC CDS Written Exam, candidates will be asked questions from three sections - General Knowledge, Elementary Maths, and English Language. Shortlisted candidates in the written exam will be called for SSB Interview. In this article, we have shared UPSC CDS 1 2022 Top 7 Preparation Tips for English Language Section along with the recommended list of books and previous years’ question papers PDF.

UPSC CDS 1 2022 Important Dates

UPSC CDS Exam Pattern 2022

The UPSC CDS 1 2022 Selection Process comprises two stages:

(i) Written Examination

(ii) Interview for Intelligence and Personality Test

Admission to the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Naval Academy (INA), Air Force Academy (AFA), and Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) will be made on the results of the written examination followed by intelligence and personality test by the Services Selection Board of candidates who qualify in the written examination.

NOTE: The maximum marks allotted to the written exam and the interview will be equal for each course. This means the maximum allotted to the written exam and the interviews will be 300, 300, 300, and 200 each for admission to the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Naval Academy (INA), Air Force Academy (AFA), Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) (both Men & Women).

For Admission to Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy and Air Force Academy

For Admission to Officers’ Training Academy

UPSC CDS 2022: Top 7 Important Prep Tips: English Language

Having the right productive study plan and effective preparation strategies are a boon to preparing any section in the most efficient manner. Candidates preparing for the UPSC CDS 1 2022 Written Exam are advised to start foremost with going through the syllabus, important topics, cut-offs, subject-wise topics, mark their strong & weak areas. Practicing everyday in a systematic and timely manner helps not only covering all topics but also in improving your skills. Solve previous years' question papers, mock tests, quizzes, etc with a timer to adapt to the real time exam settings. Always remember to give yourself much needed breaks in between preparation.

How to prepare English Language for UPSC CDS 2022?

Syllabus: Reading Comprehension, Spotting Errors, Sentence Rearrangement, Idioms & Phrases, Ordering of Sentences, Cloze Test (Fill in the Blanks), Synonyms & Antonyms, Grammar, Vocabulary.

1. Revise through the syllabus, exam pattern, cut-offs

Candidates are advised to go through the syllabus, exam pattern, cut-offs, previous years' question papers, important topics, and other important exam guidelines for preparing for the exam. The English Language section in the UPSC CDS 1 2022 will be for a total of 100 Marks and for a duration of 2 Hours. The papers in all the subjects will consist of objective-type questions only. The question papers (Test Booklets) of General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics will be set bilingually in Hindi as well as English.

2. Penalty for Wrong Answers, Avoid Guesswork

Candidates should note that there will be penalty (Negative Marking) for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the Objective Type Question Papers. There are four alternatives for the answer to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate. One third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty. If a candidate given more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong answer even if one of the given answers happens to be correct and there will be same penalty as above for that question. If a question is left blank i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question.

3. Check Topic-wise Preparation Strategies

The question paper will be designed to test the candidates’ understanding of English and workmanlike use of words. Good command over English Grammar and Vocabulary is the key to scoring high in the English Language section in the UPSC CDS 2022. Candidates will be assessed for their skills in English Grammar, Vocabulary, and Comprehension. Read the newspapers, magazines, editorials, and books. Mark new words and look up their meaning in the dictionary. Solve as many previous years’ question papers, mock tests, quizzes as possible to boost your performance.

Reading Comprehension: Regular practice is crucial to developing your speed, understanding tones of RCs. Read the passage carefully and examine the theme to spot keywords & answers easily. Aim to attempt 4 to 5 RCs every day, build the habit to note important points, solve data-driven questions. Most importantly, RCs are to be solved calmly so that you do not have to keep revisiting the passage repeatedly.

Spotting Errors: A strong understanding of grammar and vocabulary is a MUST for spotting grammatically incorrect sentences. Brush up basic rules of grammar, tenses, verbs, adverbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, prepositions, conjunction, articles, singular & plural rules, vocabulary to spot errors in the sentence. Regular reading practice will also aid in solving Error Detection questions.

Sentence Rearrangement: These questions include rearranging jumbled lines to form a sensible sentence. Strong vocabulary and grammar aid in finding the logical sequence of the lines. Look at the connectors to spot the flow. Look at the articles, adverbs, definers, connectors, pronouns, etc to take cues while arranging the lines of the sentences.

Idioms & Phrases: One should have the knowledge and aim at expanding their knowledge bank of most common Idioms & Phrases in English. Practice at least 10 Idioms & Phrases every day throughout the preparation time.

Ordering of Sentences: This requires a basic understanding of the Grammar for the construction of sentences. The sentence order can only be right when one understands Clauses (subject-object-verb), Modifiers, adverbs, auxiliary verbs, indirect objects, prepositional phrases, etc. Always place the Subject first. After completing the sentence order, re-read it in order to get the proper flow of the sentence.

Cloze Test (Fill in the Blanks): A good command over English Grammar, Vocabulary, Nouns, pronouns, tenses, prepositions, conjunctions, adjectives, subject-verb, and agreement rule, etc, Idioms & Phrases, and Clauses are the key to solving Cloze Test (Fill in the Blanks) questions in CDS English. The questions usually have a clue hence it is advised to re-read the sentences twice or thrice carefully.

Synonyms & Antonyms: Candidates must be well versed that synonyms are words or phrases that carry the identical meaning as the word in question while antonyms are words or phrases that are the opposites of the word in question. Scoring high in Synonyms & Antonyms questions requires a good hold of vocabulary. Learn at least 10 -20 new words every day.

4. Best Books to prepare for CDS English Language – Recommended List

5. Do not take up new topics; Solve mock test papers, previous years’ question papers, quizzes

Candidates should take this time to strengthen speed and accuracy. Expand your solving skills by developing effective tricks to solve quick and correct. Candidates will have only 2 Hours for English Language section, so it is crucial to get into the practice of solving papers with a timer.

6. Solve UPSC CDS (I) Previous Year Question Papers (2016 - 2021)

7. Eat good mood-lifting food, get good sleep & keep calm

Rest and Recharge yourself in between your preparation routine. Stick to the Weekly Study Plan. Give yourself enough credit and believe in your skills. Consume healthy food, take a good sleep every night, stay away from any stressful environment, meditate, and remain calm.

WISH YOU GOOD LUCK!

UPSC CDS 1 Admit Card 2022 

UPSC CDS 1 2022 Weekly Study Plan: Preparation Booster to Crack Defence Exam