Understanding 2nd Paper of I.A.S. (CSAT)

In this part your ability to grasp the contents of passage in a relatively short span of time is being tested. You are expected to read the given passage, understand its contents properly and answer the questions given at the end of the passage. So you need to develop speed reading skills and at the same time to develop accurate comprehending skills of the contents of passage.

Here in the English language comprehension skills your Grammar and vocabulary ability will be tested.

2. Fill in the blanks

In the paragraph comprehension you may expect to :

Bureaucrats and Government executives must face lots of facts and figures in everyday business. Normally these facts are presented in more compact and precise forms such as: 

An Administrator must possess basic skills on deciphering the data from the above mentioned precise forms of tables, charts etc which enhances his/her administrative efficiency. This ability is known as data interpretation. So IAS Prelim/CSAT exam test the candidates ability of data interpretation.

In this section the UPSC tests the ability of the candidate to identify whether the data given are sufficient to answer the question or not. Although data sufficiency was given as a topic under Data Interpretation its scope also extends from mathematical based quantitative ability questions to non-mathematical based simple reasoning under Analytical Section.

Since these questions require candidates to identify the sufficiency of data, you must stop at the stage of determining the sufficiency of data and you are not expected to solve the problem completely.

Like Assertion and Reason which all Civil service aspirants have prior knowledge from the old question pattern, this data sufficiency questions also have set of directions?

Numeracy is the ability to reason with numbers and other mathematical concepts. To be numerically literate, a person has to be comfortable with logic and reasoning.

According to Department for Education and Skills (UK), it is a proficiency which is developed mainly in mathematics but also in other subjects. It is more than an ability to do basic arithmetic. It involves developing confidence and competence with numbers and measures. It requires understanding of the number system, a repertoire of mathematical techniques, and an inclination and ability to solve quantitative or spatial problems in a range of contexts. Numeracy also demands understanding of the ways in which data is gathered by counting and measuring, and presented in graphs, diagrams, charts and tables.

Numerical aptitude tests are increasingly becoming an essential part of the application process for graduate and professional jobs. These tests demonstrate a candidate's ability to deal with numbers quickly and accurately.

Some of the areas that are involved in numeracy include: basic numbers, orders of magnitude, geometry, algebra, probability and statistics.

Number : Calculations, orders of operation, fractions, decimals, and percentages

Algebra : Formulas, inequalities, equations, coordinates, graphs and sequences

Handling data : Recording and representing data, measures of average, probability and relative frequency

Measures : Reading and converting measurement units, perimeter, area, volume and time

Shape and space : Shapes, transformations, angles, triangles, lines, polygons, symmetry, circles, Pythagoras' theorem

Logical reasoning and analytical ability

The Logical Reasoning (LR) section of the CSAT/ IAS Prelim tests your ability to analyze the logical foundations of a given argument. 

When you are solving a problem you can use a strategy that is called LOGICAL REASONING. Logical thinking exercises help us learn the process of elimination or deductive thinking. Most problems give a variety of conditions and you must use an "if"-"then" approach. It's important that you read the whole problem, and choose the best hint or clue before starting to solve the problem. When practicing logic with reasoning making a chart or drawing a picture are good strategies. Now here is an everyday problem to solve using Logical Reasoning. 

The main idea behind LR is to be use the information and preconditions to make a conclusion. It broadly includes both Verbal and non-verbal reasoning.

Few important Topics of Logical reasoning and analytical ability includes - 

Analyzing Arguments

This section is already known to all IAS aspirants as it covers the types of problems earlier studied under General studies. So, we don’t explain this. The questions from this section would include-

Height and Distance, Time and Work, Time and Distance, Problems on Trains Boats and Streams, Simple Interest, Compound Interest, Profit and Loss, Partnership, Percentage, Problems on Ages, Calendar, Clock, Average Area, Volume and Surface Area, Numbers- Problems on Numbers, Problems on H.C.F and L.C.M, Decimal Fraction Simplification, Square Root and Cube Root Surds and Indices Ratio and Proportion, Permutation and Combination Chain Rule Pipes and Cistern, Allegation or Mixture True Discount Banker's Discount, Stocks and Shares Races and Games Logarithm Probability Odd Man Out and Series.

Generally this interpersonal skill has subjective conation and the examiners usually test candidate’s interpersonal ability during interview (known as personality test in civil services exam).

Introducing this topic in objective type questions is a new experiment in civil service exam. No MBA exams do have questions based on interpersonal skills.

The role of administrator is to bring in synergy between Talents, ability and energy which are most important factors for efficient working of organization which has been lacking in government services. To bring in this new change government machinery an administrator must possess exemplary interpersonal and communication skills. 

In Preliminary exam one may expect questions from the followings - 

Decision making and problem solving is a capacity of an individual which is dependent on his/her mathematical, logical and verbal ability. Generally decision making and problem solving in objective type exams has not been treated as a separate topic special emphasis of this topic would mean candidates can expect questions which testing their “ethical and moral dimension of decision-making”.

More clearly, it will be the test to sideline bookish candidates. The decision making ability or ability to analyze may be mostly judged from the topics of Public Administration. The moral and ethical aspects, of decision making may be judged from psychological parts like Motivation, Conflict-management, Administrative behavior, Human behavior, Psychology of individual as well as Social-psychology to understand crowd behavior, Management by objectives and so on.

Apart from the aptitude ability candidate must possess moral and ethical qualities which are most vital part in taking correct decisions.

Among other qualities understanding the context of the problems is very important quality for the correct solutions to apply. Individual perception varies according to their prejudice and biased orientation which distorts correct understanding of the context of problem itself.