Reasoning

Reasoning, General Intelligence (Tier 1)Just like how we did the Maths- first we’ll divide [Reasoning] into subtopics

TopicSubtopics 2010 11 12

Series1. Analogy (both word based and numerical)2. Odd pair (both word based and numerical)3. English Dictionary based word arrangements,

missing letters4. Box containing some number, you’ve to find

missing number.5. Ranking, missing characters etc.

27 26 30

Coding1. Typical coding decoding (PEAR written as

GFDN then REAP is written as..)2. Symbols (circle is greater than, square is less

than..)3. Maths operations (L=x, M=+, then value of

16L12M13 is..)

7 8 11

Arrangement1. Sitting arrangement (line, table and circular)2. Blood relations (mom-dad-father in law)3. Building, car, colour, occupations of persons.4. Schedules (lecture on Monday..etc.)5. Direction based (Mohan moves three kms

north…how far he is from home)

5 7 2

Logic1. Syllogism (2 statements and 3 statements):

shortcut techniques explained here: click ME2. Conventional Venn Diagrams (Venn diagrams

(in a class 40 students like coffee and 50 like both tea and coffee..)

3. Assumption, interference, conclusion etc.

4 2 2

Misc.1. Clock, calendar2. Permutation Combination (rare)3. Age related problems (dad is 22 older than..)4. Geometry (lolz in 2012, one question in

reasoning section was from Geometry!)

3 3 1

Image based (non-verbal)

1. Cubes-dices: predicting color, numbers in other faces

2. Sequence of figures3. Paper-cutting, folding, punching4. Mirrors and water reflection5. Configuration, fitting pieces, odd pieces etc.

4 4 4

TotalTotal 50 50 50

Breakup : Last three years’ papers

Priority order Logical Reasoning portion doesn’t have much theory/formulas as such, except for Syllogism,

clock-Calendars, Permutation combinations etc. so the only way to master Reasoning= via maximum practice at home.

Here comes the problem: You’ve to face Reasoning/General Intelligence only at the tier-I stage. (50Q) But In tier II: there is no reasoning, but only Maths +English. Besides, you don’t have to tick 200/200 questions in tier-I, to pass the exam.

So, you should have some sort of strategy about how much time and energy should be invested in Logical Reasoning portion. (like in General Awareness , the priority order was Static>>Science>>Crap.)

Task #1:Series As you can see from the topic wise breakup charts given above, majority of the questions are

asked from “series”(analogy, odd pairs, dictionary etc). Around half of the reasoning questions are based on this topic only.

In fact in every SSC- CGL paper, first 8-9 question are from analogy, next 7-8 question from “Find odd word/number” and so on.

Therefore, I suggest you first solve all the sums related to “series” from your reasoning book. And within that, more emphasis should be given to

1. Analogy (words and numbers)2. odd pair (same)3. classification4. dictionary based series5. inserting missing characters6. logical sequence of words

The word based analogy/odd pair is very easy (compared to number based or letter based).

But number based analogy/odd pair etc. can be a tough cookie.

So while in exam, keep an eye on wrist watch. Don’t spend too much time in just one question.

For example: find Missing number in the box?

5 11 126

??

9 107

Answer choice: If you’re able to solve this quickly=well and good. But sometimes the logic behind above number pairing won’t click in your mind immediately in

the exam. So there is no point in wasting 5-7 minutes in just one question here. Just leave it and move on to next question.

On the last page of your question paper (space for rough work), write down the Question number of such “time-consuming” sums and leave them for the end part of exam. (same advice for coding-decoding).

Task #2: Arrangement-Direction tests

This includes blood-relation, arrangements (circular, line, building etc.) To a new player, the arrangement questions may appear time-consuming. But once you’ve

practiced enough sums, your speed will improve. But the best thing with arrangement question= you can verify the answer (by applying the

“conditions” given in the question to your arrangement). Easiest of all arrangement is circular arrangement. I consider it “no-excuse” topic. Solve each

and every sum given in your book. Once you’re comfortable with circular, move to linear and rectangular (dining table).

Next comes, Direction based question. Mohan walks 5 km north then… Again “no-excuse”. Solve each and every sum given in your book.

Then building-car-job, lecture schedules etc. arrangements. Finally blood relations.

Task #3: Non-verbalImage based question. Again no excuse, solve all the sums and it won’t pose much difficulty during exam. But yes keep an eye on wrist-watch.

Task #4: Coding-DecodingThis involves

1. Typical coding decoding (PEAR written as GFDN then REAP is written as..)2. Symbols (circle is greater than, square is less than..)3. Maths operations (L=x, M=+, then value of 16L(12M13) is..)4. And other misc. questions.

Math operation =no excuse. Can be mastered with practice and can be solved quickly and accurately. Same for symbol.

So practice as much as you can.

Task #5 remaining stuff Here, first finish Syllogism (All cats are dogs..): use the UP-UN method to quickly solve

them. click me to learn it. Please note, in SSC, at most two questions on syllogism per year. But cost-benefit ratio is very good. So don’t avoid).

Conventional Venn Diagram questions. (50 drink coffee, 40 drink tea…) Usually just 1 question comes. Good part= answer can be verified and once you practice enough it doesn’t even take one minute to solve it (2 circle venn diagram cases).

Therefore, no excuse must be prepared.Now once you’ve done Above things then spend remaining time in whatever topics are left. Clock, calendar etc. (based on time and mood.)

Book for Reasoning? Since Reasoning/ General Intelligence topic doesn’t have much theory, the only way to

approach it= practice maximum number of questions at home from your reasoning book. I’m going to repeat the advice given in maths article: You should simultaneously appear for

IBPS, LIC, CDS, CAPF and all such exams depending on your career taste. (because putting all eggs in one SSC basket= bad idea sir-ji).

So you want to use one reasoning book that is universally applicable to all such exams. I suggest use either one of the following books:

While content and coverage is almost the same in both these books, They differ mainly in terms of “size” (=no. of practice questions given in each book.).

BS Sijwali has less number of practice question (around 750 pages) while R.S.Agarwal’s reasoning book has about 1500 paper.

Both of them quite helpful in SSC-CGL, IBPS, LIC-ADO, AAO, CDS, and similar exams. You don’t need to use both of them, just use any one of them. And practice as many questions

as you can at home.

This concludes the discussion on How to approach Logical Reasoning/ General Intelligence for SSC-CGL exam.

Now only one topic remains: how to approach English vocabulary, grammar and comprehension. Will be discussed in a separate article.

introductionCompetitive exams are meant for real-men and women. This is no country for crybabies, kids, college teens and no0bs. So first of all, you must get rid of the following “loser” mindsets:

1. Yaar this maths is so hard, I can’t do it.2. I’m not from science/engineering background hence this is not my cup of tea.3. I’m poor in maths and I cannot improve.4. Thik hai, dekh lenge. (alright, I’ll see). Maths is not difficult. All it requires is concept clarity + lot of practice. In SSC-CGL exam,

you’ve to face Mathematics at two stages

Stage Maths-Questions Penalty

Tier-I (Prelims) 50 Qs Negative 0.25

Tier-II (Mains) Paper I: Arithmetical Ability 100 Qs worth 200 marks Negative 0.50

The Approach for Maths, stands on two pillars.

Pillars

1. Conceptual clarity

1. NCERTs (Free download links @bottom)2. Mrunal.org/aptitude3. For some topics, directly Quantitative aptitude books.

1. Lot of practice From Quantitative aptitude books. There are lot of books in market, the question is, which one to refer? It is

explained at the bottom of this article.

#1: Getting the conceptual clarity We’ll divide Maths or Quantitative Aptitude, into topics and further into subtopics. Your task is to cover one topic at a time, first get conceptual-clarity and then solve maximum

questions at home. Whenever you learn any shortcut technique, you note it down in your diary. Similarly, whenever you make any mistake while solving sums, you also note that down in

your diary. Night before the exam, you review that diary of mistakes. (why do this? Because it is the “Art of Aptitude” (Click ME)

Topic Subtopics How to approach

Number theory

1. Divisibility, remainders

2. LCM and HCF3. Unknown

NCERT Class 7 Chap 2, 9 (fraction) NCERT Class 10 Chap 1 (divisibility) Finally your Quantitative aptitude book.

numbers from given conditiofor

4. Fractions-comparisions.

Basic Maths

1. Simplification (BODMAS)

NCERT Class 8 Chap 1

1. Surds, indices NCERT Class 8 Chap 12 Then NCERT Class 9 Chap 1

1. Roots, squares, Cubes

Basics from NCERT Class 8 Chap 6 and 7.

Algebra1. Linear equation “Mother’s age was x and daughters age..”

“3 mangos and 5 bananas purchased for…” X+1/2x+3=3/8 then find X. ^This type of stuff. Just practice and you’ll get a hang of

it. Basics given in NCERT Class 8 Chap 2 and 9. Then NCERT Class 9 Chap 4 Lastly NCERT Class 10 Chap 3.

1. Quadratic equations, Polynomials

Factorization and roots. Heavily asked in Tier-II. NCERT Class 8 Chap 14 And then NCERT Class 9 Chap 2 Lastly NCERT Class 10 Chap 4

Avg and Ratios

1. Wine-Water mixture (Alligations)

Can be solved without formula. Go through http://mrunal.org/2012/03/aptitude-alligationsmixturesalloys.html

1. Simple Average Lolz

1. Ratio-Proportion-variations

For ratio-proportion NCERT Class 8 Chap 13.

1. Partnership http://mrunal.org/2012/05/aptitude-partnership-and-profit-sharing.html

1. Time speed distance

2. Trains, platforms

3. Boats-streams4. Time and Work5. Pipes and

Cisterns

All of them can be solved with just one Universal STD formula. Explained in www.Mrunal.org/aptitude

Geometry1. Angles, sides,

bisectors, circles etc

NCERT Class 9 Chap 6, 7, 8 and 10. Quantitative aptitude book.

1. Mensuration (area and volume).

Basics explained in NCERT Class 8 Chap 3, 11. Then NCERT Class 9 Chap 9, 12, 13. Lastly Lastly NCERT Class 10 Chap 13

1. Trigonometry Understand basics from NCERT Class 10 Chap 8 and 9. Then exam-oriented concepts from your Quantitative Aptitude book.

Basic % (increase, decrease in consumption, population)

Also do NCERT Class 8 Chap 8.

Data-interpretation cases.

Mere extention of % concept. Just practice.For long division, use this approximation method: http://mrunal.org/2012/11/aptitude-long-division-two-digit-division-calculation-without-tears-and-without-boring-vedic-speed-maths.html

Profit, loss, discount, marked price.

http://mrunal.org/2012/11/aptitude-concepts-of-marked-price-and-successive-discounts-profit-loss-without-stupid-formulas.html

Simple and compound interest rate

http://mrunal.org/2012/04/aptitude-compound-interest-rate.html

1. Permutation2. Combination3. Probability

Not asked as such. But Sometimes a question or two comes in the

“Reasoning” portion of Tier-I. Hence not much attention necessary.

But again, they too can be solved without mugging up formulas: go through various articles on www.Mrunal.org/aptitude

Misc.1. Coordinate

Geometry Lately SSC has started asking 1-2 question in each of

Tier I and II. But they can be solved by merely plugging numbers in the readymade formulas given in your Quantitative Aptitude book.

1. Progression: Arithmetic+ Geometry

Again, rarely asked in SSC. Sometimes a question or two comes in the “Reasoning” portion of Tier-I.

Basically you just have to plug in the values in formulas. Basics of Arithmetic progression explained in NCERT Class 10 Chap 5.

1. Logerithms Not asked.

Breakup: SSC-CGL Tier I (2010, 2011, 2012)

Topic 2010 2011 2012

Ratio+Partnership 3 3 1

number theory 6 5 2

Avg+alligation 3 3 2

TSD 6 5 2

Misc. 3 0 2

basic math 11 11 5

algebra 6 0 5

DI 3 4 5

% 6 14 5

Trigonometry 0 0 9

Geometry 3 5 12

Total 50 50 50

The 2012’s Tier-I paper, is “trend-breaker”. Because

1. The conventional questions from ratio-proportion, basic maths, time-speed-work are asked for namesake only.

2. Otherwise, Out of 50 Maths questions in tier-I, almost 30 questions are from just Geometry+Trig+Percentage application.

3. Earlier, they used to ask mostly area-volume-perimeter type questions from Geometry segment. You just had to plug-in values into the formulas and get the answer.

4. But This 2012’s paper has mostly theory based geometry (angle, bisector, tangent, inequality of triangles etc.)

5. Similarly the difficulty level of algebra, number theory based questions is bit raised.Or perhaps SSC too decided to employ the Backbreaking move of UPSC! Anyways, jokes apart, the lesson here is, “adapt.”

Breakup: SSC-CGL Tier II (2010, 2011, 2012)

Type 2010 2011 2012

basic math 11 4 3

Misc. 2 2 3

number theory 8 7 5

DI 10 20 5

Ratio+Partnership 6 4 6

Avg+alligation 5 6 7

TSD 7 12 7

Trigonometry 0 4 8

Algebra 10 13 10

% 27 18 19

Geometry 14 10 27

Total 100 100 100

Here too, Geometry+Trigonometry have been given emphasis like never before. Almost 65% of the paper is made up of Geometry, Trig, Percentage and Algebra (and in that

too, mostly Quadratic equations.)

#2: Practice Merely knowing the concepts or formulas won’t help. Because unless you practice different

variety of questions, you won’t become proficient in applying those concepts flawlessly in the actual-exam.

Second, despite knowing concept and formulas, people make silly mistakes either in calculation or in pluging the values.

Third reason- Tier I has 200 questions in 120 limits. =not even 2 minutes per question. Plus, questions reasoning and comprehension might take more than 5 minutes! Therefore speed is essential. Since there is negative marking system, accuracy also matters.

So it is beyond doubt that you have to practice excimer number of questions at home. The question is where to get the practice? Which book should be used for SSC exam?

Choice of Quantitative Aptitude Book?

In all competitive exams, “uncertainity factor” is involved. Despite your best preparation, you might lose the success-train by 2-3 marks.

Therefore you must never put all eggs in one basket.

While you are preparing for SSC, you should also keep open mind and apply for other competitive exams, such as IBPS, ACIO, ONGC, Railways, LIC, CDS, Coast Guard etc. (Depending on your career-taste).

Publication houses will come up with new books for each and every of ^these exams, but we have neither the time nor the money to buy a new book for every new exam.

Such readymade books are only skimmed down version of original topicbooks. For example, if there is SSC-FCI exam, or ACIO exam, these people will combine a few topics of GK, maths, reasoning and english. And present you a book.

Problem= you don’t get comprehensive understanding or coverage. Besides, given the population of India, competition level is always high, irrespective of exam. So half-hearted preparations with readymade “condensed” books don’t help much.

Almost all of these exams follow same structure:

1. General awareness2. Maths3. Reasoning (Verbal, Non-Verbal)4. English vocabularly, grammar and comprehension. How do they differ from each other?= number of questions, difficulty level and inclusion /

exclusion of particular subtopics. So when you’re picking up books for the first time, you should choose the books, that have

universal usefulness for similar exams. That way your time, effort and money will be saved.

Books for Maths/Quantitative AptitudeDONOT use Quantitative Aptitude by R.S.Agarwal for SSC-CGL.

Problems with RS Agarwal’s Math book:1. The way SSC-CGL question pattern is transforming, R.S.Agarwal’s book on Quantitative

aptitude, is just not ‘upto the mark’ to match this changing environment.2. Its chapter on Trigonometry (Height and Distance) is simply insufficient to handle SSC-CGL

level bombarding.3. Similarly coverage of algebra, quadratic equations and number theory is either absent or just

for namesake.4. Geometry coverage is mostly confined to area-volume-perimeter (=mensuration). But SSC-

CGL is moving towards Non-mensuration geometry (angle, bisectors, midpoint, circles, triangles etc.)

5. The printing and presentation is very “ cluttered”. He has written the book assuming that you were already good at maths from school level.

6. If you’re already good at basic concepts, use this book for practicing and improving your speed, else don’t bother, there are better books in market.

Pricing factor The point is, both books of Arihant Publication (Sarvesh or Rajesh) are way better than

R.S.Agarwal, in terms of content, presentation, language and coverage, without being too expensive than R.S.Agarwal’s book.

And both of them have universal application for almost all of the competitive exams in India (for maths segment).

My advice, go with either Rajesh Verma or Sarvesh Kumar. Then the question, which one to pick up?

Fast Track Objective Arithmetic by Rajesh Verma.

Quantam CAT by Sarvesh Kumar

The size and price factor goes in favor of this book.

Concepts, techqniues, readymade formulas given here and there. Language, presentation is lucid.

Algebra, quadratic equation and Trigonometry specific chapters are given for exclusively for SSC.

If you solve all the sums of this book, then mathematics portion of SSC-CGL (Tier-I and II) will be as easy as a walk in the park.

Although book is written for CAT and Management exams, he starts explaining everything from basics. Then exercises are divided into “Introductory<level 1<Level 2<Final round”, based on difficulty level.

Thus it becomes ideal choice for any aptitude exam. So for lower level exams (SSC/IBPS), you should

solve all his solved examples, then introductory exercises, finally level 1.

That’ll be quite sufficient.

While it is excellent for SSC, IBPS, UGC, LIC, CDS etc. level exams, its utility starts diminishing as you move towards higher-end exams.

Function, graphs, Quadratic equations, Geometry, Permutation-Combination-Probability coverage is “Thorough”. (Hell even more sums than Arun Sharma’s).

This make it ideal “text-book” for CAT/CMAT and other higher end exams.

^But merely getting either of these books, is not going to make you a topper.

If you want to become truly “invincible” for the maths portion of any competitive exam, then you must practice maximum numbers of questions at home and maintain a “diary of mistakes”.

This concludes how to approach Mathematics/Quantiative Aptitude for SSC-CGL exam.

Now only two topics remain (will be discussed later, in separate articles):

1. How to approach Logical Reasoning2. How to approach English vocabulary, grammar and comprehension

Download: NCERT Maths Textbooks

Mathematics Class 8 Download



Download: Blank answersheethttps://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9AJvFSzIyiwVGZBbHMtUWEwV2M

Studyplans for other topics of SSC-CGLClick on following articles to know strategy, booklist for General Awareness, Reasoning and English.

General Awareness for Tier I Click me

Reasoning / General Intelligence for Tier I Click me

English Grammar, Vocabulary, Comprehension for Tier I and II Click me

[Studyplan] SSC CGL 2013 (General Awareness) Tier-1: Booklist, approach, free study material for Combined Graduate Level examThis article only deals with General Awareness part. The approach to Maths, English and reasoning, covered in separate articles.

Introduction

Notification for SSC-Combined Graduate Level exam was released on 19 Jan 2013. Click ME to read itSSC-CGL exam is made up of three stages: Tier 1, 2 and 3.

Tier I (prelims)Subject

General Awareness

50

Reasoning 50

Maths 50

English 50

Total 200

Time-2 hours. No. of question =200 Negative marking: 0.25 marks

Tier II (mains)Those who qualify in the Tier-I, have to appear for Tier-II. But unlike the UPSC mains, the SSC tier-II doesn’t have descriptive paper. You just have to face Multichoie Questions (MCQ).

Total Duration Negative marking?

Paper I (Maths) 200 marks 2 hrs - 0.50

Paper II (English)

200 marks 2 hrs - 0.25

Total 400 marks

These two papers are compulsory for all candidates. But If you’re applying for Statistical Investigator Grade-II, then you’ve to appear for one more

paper, that is Paper III for Statistics, worth 200 marks.

Tier III (interview/CPT)Those who qualify in Tier II (Mains), are called up for third stage (Tier III)

For some posts you’ve to appear for Interview worth 100 marks. For some posts, you’ve to give computer proficiency test or Skill Test. For example, Candidate for Tax Assistant job, will have to give test for data entry speed.

What’s the reform/change?candidates qualifying in Tier-II of the Examination, will be subjected to a short descriptive paper of not more than one hour’s duration, with questions drawn from

1. English Language and Comprehension2. Quantitative Abilities3. General Awareness Please note: The main objective of above “Descriptive-Paper” reform is to prevent cheaters

and dummy candidates. So there is no need “fear” the descriptive paper. If you’ve the guts and brains to clear Tier II

(Mains), then you can handle this descriptive paper without much trouble. And SSC chairman says if possible, they’ll conduct this descriptive paper via computer.

Anyways, let’s start. The studyplan is divided into four articles.

General Awareness Tier I Explained here in this article.

Maths / Quantitative Aptitude for Tier I and II Click me

Reasoning / General Intelligence for Tier I Click me

English Grammar, Vocabulary, Comprehension for Tier I and II

Click me

Job profiles of various posts offered under SSC-CGL Click me

Tier I (Prelims) Here you’ve to face Multichoice questions on General Awareness, English, Maths and

Reasoning. (50 questions each). This article only deals with how approach General Awareness. How to approach Maths, Reasoning and English= will be explained later, in separate articles.

General Awareness (Tier I)First of all, throw away Manorama Yearbook from your study-desk. That book doesn’t have much use for competitive exams.

Topicwise Analysis: 2010, 11, 12Topic 201

02011 2012

Static Polity 7 5 8

Indian History+Culture 5 6 5

Geograhpy (Physical+Indian)+Biodiversity 6 11 6

Economy 11 7 4

Subtotal (Static) 29 29 23

Science Biology 6 4 8

Chemistry 4 4 3

Physics+Space 7 6 4

Computer 1 2 2

Subtotal (Science) 18 16 17

Crap Misc.GK, Sports, PIN, Books, Current Affairs

3 3 6

Yearbook (institutes, schemes, dates etc.) 0 2 4

Subtotal (Crap) 3 5 10

Grand Total 50 50 50

I’ve divided the General awareness portion of SSC-CGL exam, into“S+S+C”= Static + Science + Crap.(^in decreasing order of priority and importance.)

In the SSC exams, new players tend to pay too much attention to the ‘crap’ part. They keep buying books and magazines all the time as if there is nothing else to prepare except current-affairs.

But you must keep in mind that the Cost-benefit ratio is not really great for crap questions = “no. of data entries to be mugged up vs probability of getting a question vs probability of recalling the correct answer in actual exam.”

I’m not saying ignore current affairs, all I’m saying is, “don’t invest too much time and energy in them”.

On the other hand, If you look at “bigger picture”, almost 80% of General awareness questions come from Static + Science portion alone. Hence they should form the priority.

The “Action-Plan” of SSC General awareness, rests on three pillars

1. NCERT+NIOS Static + Science.

1. Lucent General Knowledge Filling up any missing details in Static + Science Part

1. Competitionmaster.com OR Pratiyogita Darpan

For crap current affairs.

Indian Polity If you’re simultaneously preparing for UPSC or State PSC exams, then just go with Indian

Polity by M.Laxmikanth. Same book available in Hindi, under the name “Bharat Ki Rajya Vyavastha” So, if you’ve Laxmikanth, don’t bother much with NCERT/NIOS/Lucent etc. But If you don’t have Laxmikanth there is no need to specifically buy/borrow Laxmikanth for

SSC Exam alone, because the questions are very rudimentary in nature and can be solved via NIOS zip files (given @Bottom), in combination with Lucent.

Also prepare current affairs associated with polity. But “major” current affairs only. For example Shree-Krishna Committee =Telengana. Who is the chairman of new Finance

Commission, who is the new CJI etc.etc.etc.

Indian History + Culture In SSC exam, History means Indian History only. So donot waste time preparing World History. Sometimes one question may comes, but that is not worth the Cost-benefit.

Approach Indian History?Indian History is subdivided into three parts

Ancient Harappa, Vedic Age, Maurya, Sangam etc.

Medieval Delhi Sultanate, Mughals etc.

Modern 1857 Sepoy Mutiny + Freedom struggle.

Start with TN State education board books class 11 and 12 (they’re better than NCERT for the history portion, free download at bottom).

Then use Lucent to fill up the missing details. SSC questions on History, are mostly from the important personalities and events. So,

Please donot waste too much time in mugging up trivial names, dates etc.

Approach Culture? Culture= art, painting, dances, temples, mosques, Architecture etc. Most of the “Culture” happened during Ancient + medieval. So, you’ll simultaneously prepare it

while going through NCERT Textbooks. Also use the NIOS ZIP file. Given @Bottom of this article. Lastly Lucent to fill up the missing details. +Winner of Gyanpith award, Sangeet Natak etc. (ONLY IF you’ve time, else don’t bother

much.) That pretty much sums up History + culture. Although revision =essential.

Geography+Biodiversity+Environment For SSC exam, we’ve to prepare only Physical Geography + Indian Geography. World Geography doesn’t come into picture. (sometimes a question or two, but that’s again

not worth our trouble, remember the “Cost-benefit”.) Lately SSC too has started asking questions on Biodiversity and environment. Although they

overlap with biology/science portion.

Source?1. NCERT textbooks: Social Science Class 7 to 102. NCERT Geography Class 11, 12.3. Environment and biodiversity ZIP file of NIOS.

(^free download links given @bottom of this article)

Finally Lucent to fill up any missing details, such as names of multipurpose river valley projects. But here again, don’t waste time with numbers.

Hirakud=Mahanadi River in Odisha=important. Hirakud=4800m long = useless.

Economy Generally very straightforward questions based on definition and concepts of Economy.

NCERT Economy book Class 11. (India’s economy and Development.) NIOS Zip file given @bottom. Only major “current affairs”. Usually SSC’s Economy questions are based on budget. (if at all

they ask from current affairs.)This concludes reading sources for “Static.” Moving to the next important portion for SSC-General Awareness.

SciencePhysics Chem Bio

1. Gravity2. Motion3. Pressure4. Units of

measurement5. Sound6. Eletronics7. Magnetism

1. uses, common names and composition of various chemicals.

2. Alloys3. Definition based questions. (heat, oxidation,

reduction etc)

1. Parts of plant and their functions

2. Parts of body, their functions

3. Basics of animal kingdom.4. Disease

By and large the science questions come from ^above topics. (it doesn’t mean other topics are not important though!)

Best way to prepare science=NCERTs. Science tech related current affairs are usually not asked in SSC exam. At most sometimes current-affairs question on NASA satellite launch etc. So just keep an eye

on major events, without doing any Ph.D. Candidates from science background shouldnot ride with overconfidence. Because whatever

you have learned in college = not asked here. And whatever you had prepared in highschool= long evaporated from your memory.

Hence start with the basic NCERT Science textbooks of Class 7 to 10, irrespective of graduation.

Source1. NCERT Science Text books from Class 7 to 102. NIOS material almost overlaps with whatever science is discussed in NCERTs. So not much

point in doing “double-majoori”, unless you’ve time and mood.3. Finally Lucent to fill up any missing details Big inventions/inventors, applications of various

chemicals, computer related terms etc. (again don’t go in trivial details, for example Lucent has even given long chemical reaction formulas= useless.)

This concludes science. Now the final part

CRAP (Misc.GK, Sports, PIN etc.)“Duration”

Based on SSC-CGL Tier I conducted in July 2012.

1. They had asked question on Shree Krishna Committee report. (which was released somewhere in Jan 2011)

2. Author of book Kurukshetra to Kargil. (again launched in Jan 2011)3. Santosh Football trophy (somewhere in May 2011)

So, Duration of Current affairs for SSC-CGL, is last one calendar year. (i.e. if you’re preparing for 2013, then prepare major events starting from Jan 2012.)

PIN=persons in news, like xyz person won ICC cricketer of the year award, new CJI, new army chief, sports winners etc. There is no dearth of magazines and books circulating this garbage.

But always remember, your mind has a limited memory capacity. So prepare the big personas, major events, avoid the small timers.

Same for books and authors. Same for places in news. Same for [Yearbook]: Government schemes, location of various Government institutes etc.

(you’ll find them in Lucent.) Most importantly: these things don’t stay in long term memory. Hence frequent revision

essential.

Source?Competitionmaster.com (they release monthly updates) OR Pratiyogita Darpan (PD).

Extra-preparation Once you’ve sufficiently prepared Maths+English+Reasoning+General Awareness, solve the

as many old question papers of SSC exam as you can. (Blank answersheets given @bottom)

Why should you practice old papers?1. SSC recycles questions. You solve 10 papers, then 11 paper has hardly anything new,

surprizing or challanging for you.2. Trains Your Brain For Negative Marking3. Improves Your Speed. Google search will lead you to many download links for SSC papersets. Problem? 1) scanned PDF files are in very poor quality. + the half mile long watermark only blocks the

view= very tiresome for the eyes to read.

2) most of the time, they don’t contain solutions. Hence makes the whole exercise frustrating. Because you can’t evaluate your performance without going wasting another hour and so in searching the answers manually (for GK etc.)

So if you can afford, just go for the Paperset of Kiran Prakashan. Good thing: they give detailed solution of each and every question. Same way, if you can afford, buy the NCERT textbooks from market (even second hand-used

books will work).

Summary: Plan for SSC-CGL (GK) Priority order for General Awareness preparation= static >> science >> crap Essential booklist/reading list for SSC-CGL (GA)1. NCERT, NIOS (free download links @bottom)2. Lucent’s General Knowledge book 3. competitionmaster.com OR Pratiyogita Darpan (from Jan 2012)

Revise minimum three times, practice a few old papers. General awareness shouldn’t give much trouble.

This concludes how to approach General Awareness for SSC-CGL Exam. In the upcoming articles, we’ll see how to approach

1. English vocabulary, Grammar and Comprehension (Tier I and II)2. Maths (Tier I and II) (update: article published-CLICK ME)3. Reasoning (Tier-I)

Free Download material for SSC General AwarenessNCERTs (English) Free downloadTN State edu Books (for History) https://files.secureserver.net/0fnzZYT7SDNuC9NIOS (for Culture) https://files.secureserver.net/0fdAWETp4sONW5NCERT files: topicwise: https://files.secureserver.net/0fHCh0CLd6Az63NCERT file: classwise (they’ve same pdfs as above)

Science Class 7 Download

Our Pasts Part 2 – Class 7 Download

Social and Political Life Part 2 – Class 7 Download

Our Environment Class 7 Download


Our Pasts Part 3 – Class 8 Download

Resource and Development Class 8 Download

Social and Political Life – Class 8 Download


Contemporary India Social Science for Class 9 Download

Economics for Class 9 Download

India and Contemporary World 1 for Class 9 Download

Science Class X Download

India and the Contemporary World 2 Class X Social Science Download

Democratic Politics Part 2 for Class X Social Science Download

Contemporary India Part 2 for Class X Social Science Download

Understanding Economic Development Class X Social Science

Download

Fundamentals of Physical Geography Class 11 Download

India Physical Environment Geography Class 11 Download

Indian Economic Development Economics Class 11 Download

Themes in World History Class 11 Download

India People and Economy Class 12 Download

Introductory Microeconomics Class 12 Download

Macroeconomics Class 12 Download

Fundamentals of Human Geography Class 12 Download

Themes in India History 1 Class 12 Download



If it doesn’t work visit (or you want Hindi version): http://www.ncert.nic.in/ncerts/textbook/textbook.htm

Description Download Link

NIOS study Material

Economy, Environment n Biodiversity, Polity etc.Many zip files on various subjects. Download as per your requirements.

click ME

Blank Answersheets

For practicing mock questions @home click ME

SSC CGL Tier 1 Cutoffs (2011, 2012)Out of 200 marks.

Year 2011 2012

General

86.75 82

SC 63.5 64

ST 63.25 62

OBC 70.25 70

EXS 60 25

OH 50 60

HH 50 25

VH 50 25

(excluding Statistical Investigator/Compiler.)

SSC CGL Tier-2 Cutoffs (2011, 2012)category 2011 2012

Interview posts Non-Interview posts Interview posts Non-Interview posts

General 354.75 315.25 349 313.5

SC 281.25 247.25 284 251

ST 295.75 251.75 282 242

OBC 323.75 283.75 319 281.5

EXS 293 180 308 211

OH 246.5 208 274 227

HH 200 150 191 123

VH 246.5 150 261 225

(excluding Statistical Investigator/Compiler.)

[Studyplan] SSC-CGL English Vocabulary, Grammar and Comprehension: preparation strategy, tips, booklist, analysisIntroductionIn the previous articles we saw how to approach

General Awareness for Tier I Click me

Maths / Quantitative Aptitude for Tier I and II

Click me

Reasoning/ General Intelligence for Tier I Click me

In this article, we’ll see how to approach English for SSC-CGL exam.

In the SSC exam, you have to face English at two stages

Tier I (prelims) 50 questions(other 150 question will come from GK, Maths and Reasoning)

2 hours

Tier II (mains)Paper II

200 questions 2 hours

Negative marking: Yes

Topic-wise breakup for SSC-English (tier I and II)Vocabulary

Tier I Tier II

2010 2011 2010 2011

2010 2011

Antonym 5 5 5 5 5 3

Synonym/Substitution 10 5 10 10 10 15

Idioms 0 5 5 5 5 10

Spelling 5 5 5 5 5 3

Fill In Blanks 0 15 5 30 20 10

Vocab Subtotal 20 35 30 55 45 41

GrammarTier I Tier II

2010 2011 2012

2010 2011 2012

Sentence Correction 5 5 5 20 20 20

Sentence Improvement

5 5 5 20 20 22

Direct-Indirect 5 5 0 25 25 27

Active-Passive 5 0 0 20 20 20

Grammar Subtotal 20 15 10 85 85 89

Sentence Arrangement + ComprehensionTier I Tier II

2010 2011

2012 2010 2011

2012

Sentence Arrangement

5 0 0 10 20 20

Comprehension 5 0 10 50 50 50

Subtotal 10 0 10 60 70 70

Overall: SSC-English (Tier 1 And 2)Tier I Tier II

2010 2011

2012 2010 2011 2012

Vocabulary1. Synonyms2. Antonyms3. Fill in the blanks (single

statement)4. Fill in the blank (huge

paragraph)5. Spelling mistake6. Idioms and phrases7. One word substitution (similar

to synonyms)

20 35 30 55 45 41

Grammar1. Sentence improvement2. sentence correction3. Active passive4. Direct-indirect

20 15 10 85 85 89

Comprehension1. Comprehension2. Sentence Arrangement

10 0 10 60 70 70

Total Grand Total 50 50 50 200 200 200

The SSC exams, the English questions usually come in the multiple of “fives” e.g. 5 question on synonyms, then 5 on antonyms and so on. (tier 1)

Similarly in tier-ii, 10 questions on fill in the blanks, 20 questions on active passive and so on. Please do not live in overconfidence that “SSC is a “pappu” exam and I’m a master of English.

so I don’t need to prepare anything for vocabulary or grammar.“ If you observe the previous SSC papers particularly the tier-II papers of English, the

vocabulary portion is not “pappu” at times, they ask meaning of words that are not used in the day to day English.

Similarly, a lot of things that we say and write in English in our day-to-day life, are not grammatically correct. So you may not be able to tick the right choice in sentence correct/ improvement question.

First of all, get a fullscape notebook / diary. Divide it into two parts

1. Grammar2. Vocabulary. (last 50 pages)

Vocabulary?Vocabulary is of critical importance in SSC exam because of following reasons

1. There are direct questions on synonyms, antonyms, idioms and phrases.2. You can read the passage faster, if your vocabulary is good, else you’ll have to pause and

think.3. In comprehension passages, some questions are in the format of “what is the meaning of XYZ

word in the sentence”Apart from SSC, if you’re planning to appear for CAPF , LIC or PSU exams – they usually have a descriptive paper (précis, letter writing, essay etc.)

If you’re planning for UPSC, or State PSC, both have compulsory English paper during Mains. Again (précis, letter writing, essay etc.)

So, you’ll have to write English essay someday and without good vocabulary you can’t write a decent essay.

How to improve vocabulary? There is no dearth of ready-made books in the market for “vocabulary”. Any Tom Dick or Harry can download a list of synonyms, antonyms, idioms and phrases from

Google search and publish a book. But such books are useless because unfamiliar words don’t stay long-term memory.

Vocab: Basics Most of the “so-called” books on English vocabulary, written by Indian authors, and merely rephrasing the

concept of Norman Lewis’s book “Word Power made easy”+ copy pasting some synonyms-antonym list from google search.

This book does not merely contain meaning of words but also helps you “guestimate” answers and probable meanings of unfamiliar words.

Because Norman Lewis explains how English vocabulary has evolved from certain roots. He has also explained the spelling rules.

Once you’re selected in some exam, gift this book to your siblings, friends or cousin. Really helpful for everyone, irrespective whether he/she is appearing in some competitive exam / not.

How-to approach Norman Lewis?From outside, the book looks very thick and heavy just like Manorama yearbook. But actually this book is written in a very lucid, easy, reader friendly language. You can read it like a storybook after-dinner.

Structure of the book

Basics of vocabulary

This is subdivided into About 40 sessions (mini-chapters). Try to finish 3-4 sessions per day. Complete all the exercises given at the

end of each session.

Appendix In the appendix, he has given meaning of all the words you learned in

above sessions. I suggest you go through this list at least three times. Why? Because while going through old papers of SSC, I realized that

sometimes they’ve directly lifted words from this book in synonyms question!

Vocabulary: Advanced

Download free software called “WordWeb”: http://wordweb.info/free/ It is also available for android phones, tablets etc. for free (links on the same site). Keep a habit of reading in English on daily basis- be it English-newspaper, magazine or some

web-article. While reading such things, whenever you come across any difficult word- note down in your

diary, along with the sentence in which it appeared. (please keep in mind that absolute words do not stay long-term memory. You have to connect them with a sentence or context.)

Then lookup for its meaning in the Wordweb software, and write down the meaning back in your diary/notebook.

Repeat this exercise, until you’re selected in some exam.This pretty concludes the approach for Vocabulary.

Moving to the next topic:

English Grammar: ApproachIn the SSC exam, you have to face English grammar in following areas

1. Sentence correction2. Sentence improvement.3. Active passive4. direct indirect speech

Approaching GrammarTask #1: Active Passive (voice) and Direct-Indirect (speech)

This is no-excuse topic. Because it relies on a set of simple rules, almost like math formulas. And usually Tier I has 10 questions on Voice+speech and tier-II has almost 40-45 questions on these two topics alone. Understand the grammar rules and practice maximum questions. In your “diary” note down any special/odd rules you come across- including example

sentences.

Task #2: Sentence Correction+ImprovementTo master sentence correction, you’ve to master two subtopics:

1. Grammar rules2. Phrasal verbs

Grammar Rules First of all you need to know the grammar rules. But you don’t need to know all grammar rules! Because in competitive exam, sentence correction relies on certain specific mistakes only.

For example: The topic “verb” has lot of theory and classifications.

But for “sentence correction”, it boils down to very few rules for example

1. Either, Neither, none, each and every is singular.

Wron Each of the soldiers are disciplined

g

Right Each of the soldiers is disciplined.

Your task = first go through your grammar book, and note down such rules with example statements, in your note book. Revise these rules often (along with example sentences).

Phrasal Verbs Grammar rules are like maths. Universal valid. But Phrasal verbs are different game altogether. You need to know memorize the correct

usage- case to case basis. For example:

Correct phrasal verb Wrong Usage

Dispose of= sell. He has decided to dispose off his property.

Dispose to= willing, interested.

He is disposed in discussing that business proposition.

Both statements are wrong because phrasal verbs are incorrectly used. Many a times, candidates know the grammar rules very well, but they fail to detect the error in

sentence because they’ve not prepared the phrasal verbs. Standard English has truckload of phrasal verbs. But you should at least know the

top/common 200 of them. (can be goggled and also available in various grammar books). You next task: revise the list often and write down the very confusing ones into your diary: with

example sentence.Once this is done, try to solve as many practice questions as you can.

Comprehension + Sentence Arrangement

Just one word: Practice. The best source for practice= old papers of SSC, IBPS.

Recommended Book for English Grammar

There is no dearth of books on in English-grammar in the market. Some people might even advise you to use “Wren and Martin” etc. but such books are written from board

exams/ academic point of view. And for the competitive exams, we don’t need to study everything of English grammar, we just need a set of rules and practice questions.

If you already have some IBPS Manual/ some English grammar book (R.S.Agarwal, A.P.Bhardwaj) etc. use it.

If you don’t have any book, I suggest you go for objective general English by SP Bakshi (Arihant Publication).

He has given direct “rules” and example-sentences from competitive exam point of view. =makes it easy to handle sentence correction.

Plus, the book also contains good list of phrasal verbs, idioms and vocabulary. While most English grammar books cost for around Rs.300, SP Bakshi is half that price. (Around 150) and

yet coverage is same, including number of pages. And it has Universal application for all exams: IBPS,

LIC, PSU, CDS etc.

Note: Arihant publication has released multiple books on English grammar and two of them have similar sounding names. So please donot mixup.

Author Pages (approx.)

Comment

General English for All Competitive Examinations by S.C.Gupta

S.C.Gupta 370 Not recommended because it contains mostly practice tests and very few rules on grammar= not comprehensive enough.

Objective general English by SP Bakshi.

S.P.Bakshi 730 This is the recommended book.

Reasoning

Documents

Transcript of Reasoning