Then, you are at the right place. By following the given tips and tricks you will be able to score 90+ in English exam. The individual paper has their own cut off of 20 marks each for all three paper but the actual cut-off range between 125-130 marks for IMA and INA, 145+ for Indian Air Force and 85-90 marks for OTA. Therefore, for scoring such high scores. It becomes a necessity to score 90+ in CDS English to have your name in that list.
Source: amar ujala
Let’s go simultaneously through the pattern of the English paper and the strategy for scoring well. In the rat race, we follow what others are doing and is going for years. Everybody runs after qualifying General Knowledge and Mathematics paper and in this we totally neglect the English exam considering it as an easy subject, eventually lagging because of this only in the last.
So, let’s start our journey:
- Cloze test: this accounts for around 15-20 marks in the exam. To perform well in this, you need good grammar knowledge. Also, carefully read the sentences and choose the right option among all the give options. One more way to increase the probability of scoring good is by regularly reading the newspaper, this will make you understand which word is used in which context and will help you opt for the correct answer in the exam.
- Editing and Sentence Rearrangement: editing is a very important aspect of the paper and is a little difficult also and most of the candidates end up losing their marks in this section. Grammar plays a crucial role here also, and have good concentration to find out the faults. Whereas, sentence rearrangement is comparatively easier. Just read the sentences carefully and follow the rhythm of their meaning.
- Passage: for attempting the passage in smallest time, follow these steps. First, read the passage , then understand it’s meaning and then answer the questions. Note: whilelooking for answer do not use that trick of matching words from questions and the passage. The right answer can be selected only by understanding the meaning of the question.
- Sample papers and previous year papers
- Novels and Periodicals
- Newspaper
English paper accounts for 100 marks with 120 questions, i.e. one question for 0.833 mark with one third of negative marking. So, this gives us quite a clear idea about the number of questions to be attempted in order to score 90+. The only mantra is to have good grammar knowledge, ample of practice and choose best sources to study.
Most of us is thinking that getting more than 100 questions correct is a difficult task but with practice everything is possible. There are aspirants who show high accuracy. All this depends on the choice of your question which you want to solve in 120 minutes.
Practice real CDS English questions from best sources such as: Previous Year English question papers and Latest CDS Pathfinder Book. CDS Pathfinder book is specially designed for CDS English study. Take previous year question papers as a test i.e. CDS English Mock Test. We should start doing it one month before the actual exam date. The test series comprises of 7-8 papers and the improvement can be noticed as you will score 15-20 marks more with each passing test. You can download the papers from the UPSC site and take one test a day within the time constraints and create examination room like atmosphere. Analyse each test very minutely and try to improve your weak points. This is the best way to practice as its totally free of cost and will train your mind accordingly.
For many aspirants this is the gateway for entering into the Armed Forces. So, to fulfil your dream of getting into it do lot of hard-work and be consistent in your preparation.