My techniques of tackling precis and composition subject

[shahsamadhamadani]

Lets put first things first, i.e. synonyms and antonyms. Majority of aspirants get confused with respect to cramming vocabulary and its source (from where to prepare it). My approach was simple: I used to read newspapers, write down difficult words and meanings and cram them. Though its a time-taking method/technique but its all worth it once you pen down all the challenging words in your diary.

As a matter of fact, do not just write the meanings but jot down the synonyms of difficult words as well. Its a good method to built up your vocabulary base. Besides, it may come in handy if you also learn the proper use of those words into sentences.

Another method is to cram the entire GRE word list. Download it from the internet and cram one page on daily basis. I guess they are 1500 in number. In my opinion, it is one of the best ways to prepare synonyms and antonyms although its a hell of tedious routine. Additionally, this vocabulary will assist you in polishing your writing skills.

Moreover, you can download "Barron's High Frequency Word list". It may also prove fruitful in the long run. Likewise, install a thesaurus in your cell or computer and make it a habit of looking for the synonyms of various words in it.

Now, come towards pair of words and idioms. It is possible that you may learn some 800, 900 idioms but when you see the paper, you only know about 3,4, idioms from the given ones or even none of them. It happened to me and it may happen to everyone. So, in this regard, a sound approach to follow is to buy a 'quality' book (Yes QUALITY BOOK) and prepare idioms and pair of words from it. In my case, it was the 'Caravan publishers' and 'To the point' book. They contained about 1200 idioms in total and i was able to attempt almost all the idioms in the paper.

However, you should not forget to have a cursory look on all the idioms and pair of words in the past papers of precise and composition. Moreover, practice using these idioms in your writings. As they say, 'idioms are the pearls of writing'.

Then, we have the direct-indirect or active-passive. Simply just learn the rules of both of them from any good book of grammar and practice the sentences on your own. Do go through the past papers to have an idea about the level of difficulty of the sentences.

Another question deals with correcting the wrong sentences from different aspects: spellings, grammar, structure of sentences and singular/plural etc. Just go through the past papers of CSS, learn the rules of correct/incorrect from a grammar book and practice them. They are not that much difficult to attempt. Practice them as much as you can.

The most important questions to focus in this paper are three in number. They are precis, idea expansion and comprehension paragraph.
If you analyze the entire paper, you will come to know that these questions hold maximum marks and they are the ones to watch out for.

First comes precise. It is THE most burdensome question to attempt in this paper and according to some people, it decides your fate. It means that if you attempt it in a proper way without any mistakes, you may pass the paper and if you don't, you may flunk the whole paper. There is a proper technique to attempt precise. I will share my method in some future posts.
Anyhow, anyone can learn the rules of precise from a grammar book. The real deal is to keep practicing it. Take old papers of precis and composition from 1970's onward and begin to practice precise after learning its rules. The more you practice, the more you perfect precise. Do get it checked from a competent teacher. Remember: PRACTICE is only one thing through which you can nail the precise.

The next big thing is idea expansion. I used to love attempting and practicing it. The reason behind my inclination towards idea expansion was that I never attempted any essay at my home. I merely kept on doing idea expansion but attempting numerous idea expansions at home opened my mind. It told me how to expand a simple idea. It guided me in building my expression, vocabulary base, the right use of idioms and phrases and employing proper words at the proper place.

In addition, it also aided me in the correction of my grammatical mistakes. Go through all the past papers and attempt idea expansions as much as you can. Believe me, it can help you immensely in improving your writing skills. Just like precise, get your work checked by a teacher. Try to do it on daily basis, if not on alternate days. There is also a suitable way to attempt idea expansion. I will share it with you folks in future.

Last but not least, there is the comprehension paragraph. All of us are familiar to it since our school days. Not much practice or technique is required to deal with it. Just "read the questions first" given under the paragraph, then go through the original paragraph and sort out the answers. Try to reproduce the answers in your own words and not the original sentences from the paragraph.

Hope it helps all of you folks.

[xishan]

Well this is sort of a habit now, whenever I come across a word I don't know I note it down (If on PC my word document, if on phone -drafts).

Then write it down in my diary and revise them regularly. To commit them to memory I use them in sentences and use an online tool 'study stacks' to create flash cards.

[mazhar mehmood]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience regarding Precis Paper, hope this will be very helpful for us as well.

[sumair tariq]

By the way precis and comprehension of CSS 2015 were from the book 'Discovering the World of English'

[shahsamadhamadani]

Originally Posted by sumair tariq

By the way precis and comprehension of CSS 2015 were from the book 'Discovering the World of English'

Wrong. It was taken from a book by an Indian author.

[ayazsaleem]

Any one can explain How to crackle Precise in short exam?