ANALYSIS & KEY: CIVIL SERVICES (PRELIMS) 2014 PAPER - II

Civil Services (Prelims) 2014 - Paper II had 80 questions. Each of the 80 questions carried equal marks of 2.5. For each of the questions, 0.833 marks was deducted for any wrong answer marked. This time, there were NO questions from test area -Decision Making & Problem Solving. Besides this, there were six questions(from 2 passages) from the test area of English Language Comprehension Skills, which as per by UPSC will not be evaluated for computing total net score. That implies, in this exam, evaluation will be done out of a total of 74 qs worth 185 marks (from paper II). Out of a total of these 74 questions, there were 26 English questions (from 8 passages), 30 Reasoning, 18 Maths. These questions, however, were placed in a random order. In English part, all the questions were pertaining to the passages. The number of qs ranged from 2 to 4 per passage. One does not require any prior knowledge of any particular topic to be able to answer these questions. However, many of these questions demanded good application of logic, and inference and hence clearly were more analytical. The questions pertaining to Maths & Reasoning were such that in order to crack them, the candidate needs to be good in reasoning & elementary mathematical skills. Overall, the difficulty level of the paper was MODERATE. For a well prepared candidate, it wouldnot be difficult to score at least 115 marks(out of a maximum possible 185) from this Paper II alone.

Out of 74 questions, there were 51 easy, 10 medium while 13 difficult. Even if one does a total of 62 questions, with an overall accuracy of 80%, one can get to a net score of 115 marks, considered as a very good score. The questions can be classified area-wise. The table below gives the broad overview of the questions which were there related to each of the test areas. The last but one column in the table gives an illustration of how at least 115 marks could have been obtained in this paper.

The table below gives the number of questions (difficulty level wise) with respect to each test area.

Test Area	Number of Questions (Level of Difficulty wise)
	Easy	Medium	Difficult	Total
Comprehension	14	3	9	26
Basic Numeracy	15	3	0	18
Analytical Ability & Logical Reasoning	22	4	4	30
General Mental Ability
Decision Making & Problem Solving	-	-	-	-
English Language Comprehension Skills	N.A	N.A	N.A	N.A
Total	51	10	13	74

Let us analyze the different types of questions from each of the test area, number of doable questions in each of the test area, and a good net score.

COMPREHENSION

No. of Questions: 26

The paper had 26 questions from a total of eight passages. The subject areas of the passages were dominated by economics and environment. Some of the questions demanded deeper understanding of the concept, extending beyond the passage. While none of the questions could be answered without a thorough reading of the passages, there were a few questions, the answers to which were direct references. Overall, the Comprehension passages were more difficult than last year. The length of the passages were more or less on the similar lines as the previous year. One of the key highlights, here, was that out of 26 questions, there were 12 questions (as indicated in the last column in the table below), where each of these questions was followed by two to four statements. In such questions, you have to identify the correct/incorrect statement(s)/assumption(s)/inference(s). This format is exactly in line with the question types as given by UPSC in the earlier years exam-CSAT2011, 2012, 2013 -Paper II. In 40 mins, a well prepared candidate can attempt at least 17 questions with at least 80% accuracy. Thus, a good score in this test area, alone, will be 33+ marks.

BASIC NUMERACY

No. of Questions: 19

The number of questions pertaining to Basic Numeracy was 18. The questions were from different topics (Numbers, Equations, Time & Distance, Data Interpretation). A candidate, well prepared, can answer at least 15 questions, with at least 80% accuracy in less than 30 minutes.

ANALYTICAL ABILITY & LOGICAL REASONING, GENERAL MENTAL ABILITY

No. of Questions:30

This test area comprises questions from topics like Number Series, Sequencing, Arrangement, Comparison, Non-Verbal Reasoning, Distribution, Routes & Networks, Venn diagrams, Clocks, Calendars, etc. Most of these questions were easy in nature and a good student would not have faced much difficulty in marking the right answers for a majority of these questions. There were at least 22 doable questions (out of 30). By doing these questions with at least 80% accuracy, one can score 47+ marks. A good time allocation strategy will be 35 minutes for these questions.

S No	Topic/Area	Number of Qs	Nature of Qs	Number of doable Qs
1	Missing Number in the series (Figure based)	1	Easy-Moderate	1
2	Routes & Networks	1	Easy-Moderate	1
3	Directions	3	Easy-Moderate	2
4	Distribution	4	Easy-Moderate	3
5	Sequencing, Seating Arrangement	3	Moderate	2
6	Venn diagrams	2	Easy-Moderate	2
7	Comparison	2	Easy	2
8	Non Verbal Reasoning	3	Moderate	1
9	Critical Reasoning ( Inferences, Conclusions, Assumptions)	5	Moderate -Difficult	3
10	Blood Relations	3	Moderate	3
11	Clocks, Calendars	2	Moderate	1
12	Miscellaneous	1	Moderate	1
Total		30	Moderate	22

ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION SKILLS

No. of Questions: 6

The passages are small (on an average 100-150 words), as compared to the passages pertaining to Comprehension. A total of two passages were there. However, these six questions will not be evaluated for computing the overall net score.