Preparation Strategy for CSS Exam

[Man Jaanbazam]

Hi Everyone! Asslam-o-Alaikum
I go through a lot of queries here on CSS Forum daily regarding preparation, subject selection, books, best academy e.t.c. I want to start this thread regarding preparation strategy. I will try to share the preparation strategy, study plan and recommended books for every subject time to time insha ALLAH. Everyone is welcome here.
About Me: I gave my last attempt of C.E 2015 and waiting for the result.

Let's start from English:

1. English Essay

Essay writing was a nightmare for me like everyone else. However I am sharing things, what I learned.
1. Start from English Newspaper. Dawn Newspaper is the best choice in this regard. Start reading on daily basis. Go through from your areas of interest. Read headlines and editorials. And note down difficult words. Check there meaning from dictionary and use them in your own sentences. Reading is the pre-requisite to learn English. You can read books, novels e.t.c based on your interest.

2. Grammar is the backbone of English writing. The most recommended book in this regard is Wren and Martin English Grammar. It's key is also available on book stores. You can do exercises from this book on daily basis.

3. Start writing from your daily routine. At the end of the day try to write everything you have done. Move on gradually to paragraph writing. Read articles from English Newspapers or some paragraph from any book and try to describe that in your own words.

4. For Essay Topics, go through past papers of at-least 15 years. Start writing on simple topics first like Education in Pakistan, Women Empowerment, Terrorism, Role of Media in our daily lives e.t.c. Once you are able to write on these topics, move towards actual topics from the past papers.

5. Once you have selected a topic for essay writing, do some brainstorming on that topic. Note down all the points and aspects w.r.t that topic. Now re-arrange and organize your points. Make an outline. Describe those headings in outline in one paragraph for each. Again I would say that extensive study can be much helpful in this regard. Read articles, books, paragraphs regarding that topic.

6. Generally the format of an Essay should include a. Introduction b. Thesis Statement c. Causes d. Effects d. Remedies e. Conclusion
Among all these thesis statement is the most important thing. Once you are able to develop your thesis statement, rest is easy. So practice to learn Thesis Statement of different topic from the past papers.

7. Read different sample Essays to get a better understanding of what an Essay should be look like.

8. Do not spend all the time on Essay writing. Make a schedule for week or for month whatever suits you. Choose a topic on weekly basis. Fix weekend days Saturday and Sunday for writing practice and read and collect material for that essay in other days. You can assign say two to three hours daily for this thing.

9. Get your work checked by some good teacher or you can post that on Forum as well. I hope other members will help you out also.

That's briefly all about Essay.

Here comes the next subject.

English Precise and Composition

1. Precise Writing:
Precise is the one third of original paragraph given in paper. It is the most important question in the Precise Paper. To learn and command over precise writing skills, following things should be considered:
a. Do Precise exercises from Wren and Martin Book for English Grammar. They are easy to understand and you will get used to the skills of Precise Writing. Do at-least 10 to 15 exercises from that book.
b. You can also practice this question by reading editorials of Dawn Newspaper and doing Precise of those Editorials. This practice will benefit you both in English Precise Paper and Current Affairs.
c. Practice the precise writing questions from past papers. It is necessary thing to do. I would recommend to start from the most recent past paper (CE-2015 to CE-2000) and then from (CE-1971 to CE-1985). Once you practice these thirty papers, It is enough.
d. You can easily practice one exercise on daily basis leaving weekend days. It will take your two hours daily.

Now How to do Precise :
1. Read the paragraph carefully once and underline difficult words.
2. Write meaning and synonyms of those difficult words.
3. Locate the main idea discussed in the paragraph.
4. Remove repeated sentences and ideas, unnecessary details, examples and quotes from the paragraph.
5. Locate topic sentence of the paragraph.
6. Make rough drafts. In draft one re-phrase every single line in your own words. In the second draft remove unnecessary things (mentioned above) and count words. The third draft should be your final draft.
7. Count the totals words and divide them by three. The answer is your required words of final draft.
8. Give the Precise Paragraph some suitable title.

Read precise rules from some good book first before preparing this question and then follow the above strategy. Your question is completed now. In examination, reserve at-least one hour for this question. Do not stop practicing this question. Once you leave, you will forget. There is another recommended book for Precise Writing Practice. You can also consult that one. That is easily available online in PDF format. Precis Writing By R.Dhillon

2. The next question is about Reading Comprehension.
A carefully selected passage shall be given, followed by five questions, each carrying 4 marks.

1. Again I would recommend to practice this question from the past papers. (Almost 30 Exercises CE-2015 to CE-1985) and that is enough. No other book no other exercises.
2. You can do this practice on daily basis (leaving weekend days). It would take your one hour daily.

3. How to do Comprehension

a. Read Questions first given at the end of paragraph. It would help you that what exactly you have to find in the paragraph.
b. Read Paragraph two times, grasp the main idea and underline difficult word. Write their meanings.
c. Answer the given questions in your own words. Do not use words from the paragraph.
d. Be very precise in answer and write only what is asked. Do not write unnecessary things.
e. Re-read your answers. Check for grammar mistake and spellings.
f. Make a habit of reading the choices that are provided to you before answering the questions to be sure you aren't fooled by nearly correct choices. If you are unsure of the answer, eliminate any answers that you are certain are incorrect, and then select your answer from the remaining choices.
g.Practice a lot and improve your vocabulary.
h.Don’t make conclusions which are not in the comprehension. Though you are well aware of the topic mentioned in the Passage, You should not bring your own knowledge into the answers. Just stick to the Information given in the comprehension.

That is all about Comprehension Reading. I ll move on to the other questions (Vocabulary, Sentence Correction, Grouping of Words, Pair of Words and Translation) for this very Paper in the next post insha ALLAH.
Good Luck

[Nazish Hina]

Awesome tips, when did you appear?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Man Jaanbazam]

Originally Posted by Nazish Hina

Awesome tips, when did you appear?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

CE-2015 was my last attempt and before that in CE-2014.

[misbah62]

thanks a lot
All points are practical and anyone can get benefit from them but last point is difficult for me . everyone says that you should get check your daily writing practice from a good teacher.. but those who can't access to a good teacher then what to do ? i am fed up now seriously mostly i posted work on here but did not get much response and sometimes very delayed. it seems now even guilty when i ask to anyone ( whose grammar is good ) would you please t evaluate my writing ? and get reply of " busy schedule " or can't promise ...
sorry it makes me emotional but now seriously thinking to quit just because of this problem.

[Man Jaanbazam]

Originally Posted by misbah62

thanks a lot
All points are practical and anyone can get benefit from them but last point is difficult for me . everyone says that you should get check your daily writing practice from a good teacher.. but those who can't access to a good teacher then what to do ? i am fed up now seriously mostly i posted work on here but did not get much response and sometimes very delayed. it seems now even guilty when i ask to anyone ( whose grammar is good ) would you please t evaluate my writing ? and get reply of " busy schedule " or can't promise ...
sorry it makes me emotional but now seriously thinking to quit just because of this problem.

You cannot blame anybody for not checking and evaluating. But this should not be the reason to quit. Well there are some teachers (I know some of them) who check your work by post. I mean send your work by post to them and they will point out your mistakes. Suggest guidelines and send it back to you. You can do it on weekly basis. If you even cannot do so, then you have to work hard but its not impossible. Keep on posting here and nothing is guilt. You need something so you have to ask. You will get response soon Insha ALLAH but never quit. Good Luck !

[sincere khan]

Originally Posted by misbah62

thanks a lot
All points are practical and anyone can get benefit from them but last point is difficult for me . everyone says that you should get check your daily writing practice from a good teacher.. but those who can't access to a good teacher then what to do ? i am fed up now seriously mostly i posted work on here but did not get much response and sometimes very delayed. it seems now even guilty when i ask to anyone ( whose grammar is good ) would you please t evaluate my writing ? and get reply of " busy schedule " or can't promise ...
sorry it makes me emotional but now seriously thinking to quit just because of this problem.

Dear if you didn't find any good teacher then you can post your essay in css forum, css aspirant, senior will check your essay, mistake, essay direction, and topic

[misbah62]

Originally Posted by Man Jaanbazam

You cannot blame anybody for not checking and evaluating. But this should not be the reason to quit. Well there are some teachers (I know some of them) who check your work by post. I mean send your work by post to them and they will point out your mistakes. Suggest guidelines and send it back to you. You can do it on weekly basis. If you even cannot do so, then you have to work hard but its not impossible. Keep on posting here and nothing is guilt. You need something so you have to ask. You will get response soon Insha ALLAH but never quit. Good Luck !

i am not blaming anyone but just sharing my feelings. please tell me about those teachers .

[usman jamal ch]

Awsum
4 month is enough for new aspirabt?

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[Zarinoor]

MY question is same 4 month i enough for preparation?

[ximon]

you sharedawesome tips,thanks alot....
kindly suggest mehow to prepare pakistan affairs and sociology? i mean is one book enough to cope with them... im having medical backgroud and all subjects arenew to me.... no one related to my field. i'll be greatfull to you.