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GUIDELINES TO CLEAR PRELIMS EXAMINATION: 

This section should start, in our opinion, in only one way, by mentioning: Preliminary exam preparation should be such that you should have no doubts about clearing the examination. The moment you come out of the examination hall, you should be able to find yourself certainly on one side, whichever it is. Your preparation should guide you to find yourself well above the cut-off, and not dilly-dallying near around the cut-off mark.

Tip: Never even spend a single minute worrying about the rumors on cut-off, results date etc., and your preparation should provide such confidence to you that you already know what’s going to happen with your result!

Paper I: General Studies

Preliminary is a test of recognition. It would be sufficient, most of the times, if you can recognize the correct answer(s) from the given choices, though it is not as easy as said.

If your basics in the various subjects (that are a part of the GS paper) were strong, one would find identifying the right answer easy. Do not try to memorize facts from the beginning. That’s the last thing to be done. Before memorizing should come the understanding of the concept(s).

So, if you start understanding the concepts, for each of the subjects, the preparation for prelims would more or less be the preparation for mains as well! That’s where I want to drive each of you. There is no separate preparation for prelims as such. It is all a singular conscious preparation for the Civil Services Examination!

The only difference comes in when you start doing/solving multiple-choice questions or mock/previous papers. This is the application part of what you read and understood. For mains, it will be answer writing, which we will discuss in the later sections of this book.

One should solve as many questions as possible (multiple choice questions). The more you do, the better would be your grasp on the subject as well as on the examination overall.

Please solve all the previous question papers of prelims as well as any mock exam papers that you come across. In fact, try and make a good collection of all the mock papers, objective type questions, solve them one by one. Use Internet extensively in this regard, there are very good sources (which are increasing day by day) which provide excellent multiple-choice questions (with trustworthy answers and explanations) that you all could spend time on. There has to be a change in mindset of preparation, to believe that solving questions is as important as reading books/syllabus.

This whole process of solving objective type questions has lot of plus points on its side (whether solving mock papers or just a set of questions)

• You would be able to manage time better. A better idea of how much time each question takes to solve, depending on its complexity, and how much time you are taking for coming to a confirmed answer would all come out for you to observe.
• It gives a better idea of what questions to attempt and which questions to leave, essentially you would get judiciousness in your attempts. Very good remedy for tackling negative marking, isn’t it?
• One would not feel any sort of tension or anxiety. Your prelims would just be another set of 100 questions or just another mock. You won’t get carried away with the significance of the ‘big day’, and your mind would in fact work more effectively. Even if you were unable to do some 10 continuous questions, you would be confident that you should be able to do the rest of them.
• It is better to do all the mistakes before the exam by solving questions, instead of making in the exam!

You don't need to revise the topics before starting to answer or solve any of these questions or mock papers, just start them right away. You will recollect all topics slowly yourself. (This article has been published without any modifications and taken from the book Preparing for civil Services Examination written by Nikhil Pavan Kalyan - IAS officer)