UPSC Mains-2014: Compulsory
English language paper
Please read each of the following instructions carefully
before attempting questions:
All questions are to be attempted.
The number of marks carried by a question is
indicated against it.
Answers must be written in ENGLISH only.
Word limit in questions, wherever specified, should
be adhered to.
Any page or portion of the page left blank in the
Question-cum-Answer Booklet must be clearly struck off
Essay 100 marks
Write an essay in about 600 words on any one topic
(01) What kind of crisis is India
(02) Participating in sports helps develop good
character.
(03) Should students be allowed to grade their
teachers?
(04) Not everything that can be counted counts, and
not everything that
counts can be counted.
Comprehension 75 marks
Read carefully the passage below and write your
answers to the questions that follow in clear, correct and concise language: 5×15=75
A complete reading program,
therefore, should include four factors : at least one good book each week, a
newspaper or news magazine, magazines of comment and interpretation, and book
reviews. If you keep feeding your intelligence with these four foods, you can
be sure that your brain cells will be properly nourished. To this must be added
the digestive process that comes from your own thinking and from discussion
with individuals or groups.
It is often desirable to make
books that you own personally part of your mind by underlining or by marking in
the margin the more important statements. This will help you to understand the
book as you first read it, because out of the mass of details you must have
selected the essential ideas. It will help you to remember better the gist of
the book, since the physical act of underlining, with your eyes on the page,
tends to put the thought more firmly into your brain cells. It will save time
whenever you need to refer to the book.
Above all, never forget that
creative intelligence is correlation of facts and ideas, not mere memorizing.
What counts is what you can do with your knowledge, by linking it with other
things you have studied or observed. If you read Plutarch’s life of Julius
Caeser, think how his rise to political power paralleled the technique of Adolf
Hitler, or that of your local political boss. If you read a play by
Shakespeare, think how his portrayal of the characters helps you to understand
someone you know. In everything you read, keep at the back of your mind what it
means to your life here and now, how it supports or challenges the things you
were taught in school, in church and at home, and how the wisdom you get from
books can guide you in your thinking, in your career, in your voting as a
citizen and in your personal morals.
Questions from the passage:
(01) What are the four things required for a complete
reading program and why?
(02) What else is required to feed your intelligence?
(03) Why does the writer recommend underlining or
marking in the margin the more important statements?
(04) What use can you put your knowledge to?
(05) How can what you learn from books help you in
your life?
Précis 75 marks
Make a precis of the following passage in about
one-third of its length. Please do no give a title to it. Précis should be
written in your own language.
If this century has, in the famous phrase, made the
world safe for democracy, the next challenge is to make a world safe for
diversity. It is in India’s interest to ensure that the world as a whole must
reflect the idea that is already familiar to all Indians — that it shouldn’t
matter what the colour of your skin is, the kind of food you eat, the sounds
you make when you speak, the God you choose to worship (or not), so long as you
want to play by the same rules as everybody else, and dream the same dreams. It
is not essential in a democratic world to agree all the time, as long as we
agree on the ground rules of how we will disagree. These are the global
principles we must strive to uphold if we are to be able to continue to uphold
them securely at home.
We want a world that gives us the conditions of peace
and security that will permit us to grow and flourish, safe from foreign
depredations but open to external opportunities. Whether global institutions
adapt and revive will be determined by whether those in charge are capable of
showing the necessary leadership. Right now many of us would suggest that there
is a global governance deficit. Reversing it would require strong leadership in
the international community by a number of powers, including the emerging ones.
India India
This is a huge challenge, and one to which India India India
So India India
is turning increasingly outward as a result of our new economic profile on the
global stage, our more dispersed interests around the world, and the reality
that other countries, in our neighbourhood as well as in Africa ,
are looking to us for support and security. India
The world economic crisis should give us an
opportunity to promote economic integration with our neighbours in the
subcontinent who look to the growing Indian market to sell their goods and
maintain their own growth. But as long as South Asia
remains divided by futile rivalries, and some continue to believe that
terrorism can be a useful instrument of their strategic doctrines that is bound
to remain a distant prospect. We in South Asia
need to look to the future, to an interrelated future on our subcontinent,
where geography becomes an instrument of opportunity in a mutual growth story,
where history binds rather than divides, where trade and cross-border links
flourish and bring prosperity to all our people. (603 words)
Sentence Correction 10m
Rewrite the following sentences after making
necessary corrections. Please do not make unnecessary changes in the original
sentence.
(01) School is very near my home.
(02) They never fail who die in great cause.
(03) It rained an hour before.
(04) He wrote a most complete account of his travels.
(05) He is seldom or ever absent from school.
(06) The colours so passed off one another that she
could not distinguish them.
(07) The general as well as his soldiers were killed
in the battle.
(08) The boat was drowned.
(09) Either of these three answers is incorrect.
(10) You will be late until you hurry.
Fill in the blanks 15m
Type-A: Supply the missing word
(01) If you see him give him __ message.
(02) I hope to reach the station __ an hour at the
outside.
(03) __ Rustam and Sohrab, there were three other
boys present.
(04) Invalids are not capable __ continued exertion.
(05) __ he had not paid his bills, his electricity
was cutoff.
Type-B: Use the correct forms of the verbs in
brackets
(01) His company is greatly __ after. (seek)
(02) His courage __ him. (forsake)
(03) The terrified people __ to the mountains. (flee)
(04) The police __ no stone unturned to trace the
culprits. (leave)
(05) The robber __ him a blow on the head. (strike)
Type-C: Choose the appropriate word to fill in the
blank:
(01) He got a __ blow from his enemy.
(deadly/deathly)
(02) The __ of his speech was very lucid and natural.
(delivery/deliverance)
(03) I do not know how to express my gratitude; you
have been __ to me. (beneficial/beneficent)
(04) My friend will __ me to the hospital. (accompany/escort)
(05) We sat in the __ of a tree and relaxed a while.
(shadow/shade)
Antonyms 5m
(01) Ability
(02) Precise
(03) Constructive
(04) Extravagant
(05) Pretentious
Sentence re-writing 10m
Rewrite each of the following sentences as directed
without changing the meaning. 1 x 10 = 10 marks
(01) He finished his exercise and put away his books.
(Change into simple)
(02) In the event of his being late, he will be
punished. (Change into compound)
(03) He said to me, “I have often told you not to
play with fire.” (Change into indirect speech)
(04) He said that he had come to see them. (Change
into direct speech)
(05) He drove too fast for the police to catch.
(Remove ‘too’)
(06) The audience loudly cheered the Mayor’s speech.
(Change into passive voice)
(07) A reward was given to him by the Governor.
(Change into active voice)
(08) Sita is not one of the cleverest girls in the
class. (Change into comparative degree)
(09) I was doubtful whether it was you. (Change into
negative form)
(10) It is sad to think that youth should pass away.
(Change into exclamatory sentence)
Sentence formation 10m
Type-A: Use each of the following words to make a
sentence that brings out their meaning clearly. Do not change the form of the
words. (No marks will be given for vague and ambiguous sentences) 1 x 5 =5
marks
(01) gratitude
(02) flavour
(03) explosion
(04) dismal
(05) clumsy
Type-B: Use these phrases in sentences of your own to
bring out their meaning clearly. Do not change the form of the words. 1×5=5
(01) According to
(02) All of a sudden
(03) Ready money
(04) A burning question
(05) Ins and outs
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