Compulsary English UPSC CSE 2013 mains paper analysia

2 2013
300 marks | 3
hours same
allowed
candidates to take
question paper
home
yes
attempt any one
out of five essays
(100 marks)
Two essays given and both
compulsory. No options. (50 x 2
=100 marks)
One essay of 300
words
300 x 2= 600 words= lengthier
paper
reading
comprehension
passage worth 75
marks
just 50 marks
Comprehension
passage just ~380
words to read.
~530 words= more time spent in
reading= lengthier paper.
One précis worth
75 marks.
two precise 60+40=100 marks.in
other words, reduced
comprehension by 25 marks and
shifted them précis portion.
Précis specifically
said: write 200
words.
Asked you to reduce length to
1/3 rd of the original passage.
1 st passage=537=>reduce to 179
words.
2 nd passage=541=>reduce to
180 words.
Meaning, overall you had to
write ~360 words=again
lengthier paper. and its not just
about writing 360 words, you’ve
to read two original passages
with patience, before
compressing them=even more
lengthier paper.
total grammar
worth 50 marks same
fill in the blanks
15 just 10
sentence
correction 10 same
antonym 5 same
insert suitable
article none
passive voice 5 only 2
direct/indirect
speech 5 only 3
rewrite sentence
with “it” 5m same
–
new type of “Do as directed”
question e.g. combine sentence
with had, combine with had,
make exclamatory sentence with
“how” etc.
Anyways, let’s check the paper
itself (Thanks Kartik for sharing
this paper.)
2013: Compulsory English
Paper
Instructions:
1. All questions are to be
attempted.
2. The number of marks carried by
a question is indicated against
it. Answers must be written in
ENGLISH only.
3. Word limit in questions,
wherever specified, should be
adhered to and if answered in
much longer or shorter than the
prescribed length, marks will be
deducted.
4. Any page or portion of the page
left blank in the answer book
must be clearly struck off.
Essay (100m)
Q. Write short essays in about
300 words on each of the
following (50 x 2 =100 marks)
1. We Indians are hypocrites.
2. Fitness and healthcare — latest
fad in urban India.
Comprehension (50m)
Q2. Read carefully the passage
given below and write your
answers to the questions that
follow in clear, correct, and
concise language of your own.
50 marks
In barely one generation, we’ve
moved from exulting in the time-
saving devices that have so
expanded our lives, to trying to
get away from them — often, in
order to make more time. The
more ways we have to connect,
the more many of us seem
desperate to unplug. Like a
teenager, we appear to have
gone from knowing nothing
about the world to knowing too
much, all but overnight.
The average person spends at
least eight and a half hours a
day in front of the screen. The
average teenager spends or
receives 75 text messages a day.
Since luxury, as any economist
will tell you, is a function of
scarcity, the children of
tomorrow will crave nothing
more than freedom, if only for a
short while, from all the blinking
machines, streaming videos and
scrolling headlines that leave
them feeling empty, and too full
all at once. The urgency of
slowing down — to find the time
and space to think — is nothing
new, of course, and wiser souls
have always reminded us that
the more attention we pay to the
moment, the less time and
energy we have to place it in
some larger context. Even half a
century ago, Marshall McLuhan
warned, “When things come at
you very fast, naturally you lose
touch with yourself.”
Yet few of those voices can be
heard these days, precisely
because `breaking news’ is
coming through perpetually on
the news channels, and Meena is
posting images of her summer
vacation and the phone is
ringing. We barely have enough
time to see how little time we
have. And the more that floods
in on us, the less of ourselves
we have to give to every snippet.
We have more and more ways to
communicate, as Thoreau noted,
but less and less to say. Partly
because we are so busy
communicating. And — as he
might also have said — we are
rushing to meet so many
deadlines that we hardly register
that what we need most are
lifelines. So what to do ? The
central paradox of the machines
that have made our lives so
much brighter, quicker, longer
and healthier is that they cannot
teach us how to make the best
use of them; the information
revolution came without an
instruction manual. All the data
in the world cannot teach us
how to sift through data; images
don’t show us how to process
images. The only way to do
justice to our onscreen lives is
by summoning exactly the
emotional and moral clarity that
cannot be found on any screen.
Maybe that is why more and
more people, even if they have
no religious commitment, seem
to be turning to yoga or
meditation, or tai chi; these are
not New Age fads so much as
ways to connect with what could
be called the wisdom of old age.
A series of tests in recent years
has shown that after spending
time in a quiet rural setting,
subjects “exhibit greater
attentiveness, stronger memory
and generally improved
cognition. Their brains become
both calmer and sharper.” More
than that, empathy, as well as
deep thought, depends on
neural processes that are
“inherently slow”. The very ones
our high-speed lives have little
time for.
QUESTIONS: (10 x 5 = 50 Marks)
1. According to the author, what is
likely to become a scarcity in the
future?
2. What ability have people lost
thanks to the constant inflow of
data?
3. Why does the author say, “We
have more and more ways to
communicate, but less and less
to say?
4. Why are people taking an active
interest in old-age fads?
5. Why is modern man unable to
empathise with others?
Précis #1 (60m)
Make a précis of the following
passage in about one-third of
its length. Please do not
suggest a title. 60 marks.
Honesty in business dealings or
in other areas are not the only
measures of morals and values.
The strength of character of a
person is also measured by
uncompromising aversion to
cowardice, intrigue, envy,
ambiguity, falsehood, disloyalty,
treachery, in short, all
undignified actions. There are, in
reality, few human beings
endowed with a truly spotless
character. This is because an
almost immaculate character
does not exist until the last lives
in human form. Educated
individuals are not necessarily
endowed with good morals and
values. In fact, some of them
use education and their intellect
as a tool for deceit. However,
the advantages and the need for
education and culture cannot be
denied. They contribute largely
for the development of
intellectual ability and the power
to reason, which are the means
by which the spirit analyses,
compares, infers and arrives at
conclusions in the search for
truth about the meaning of life.
The most precious assets of the
soul are its morals and values,
but they are not easy to build.
The character of each person
requires longer periods of
thoughtfulness, reasoning and
the practice of those values,
during many reincarnations, in
the course of which, ideas sink
in under life experiences. It is
only after enduring much
disillusionment, grief, injustice
and ingratitude for many
successive corporeal lives, that a
person will be able to measure,
in the innermost recesses of his
soul, the extent of human moral
misery. Then, disgusted, he
rebels against it and opens the
door to a more ethical and
honourable life. Thus, having
known and experienced
suffering, the spirit, in countless
reincarnations, gradually frees
itself from evil actions and,
through enlightenment and
conviction follows the rigid
tracks of a flawless conduct. It is
of great significance to talk
about morals and values but it is
also crucial to define the lines of
character that everyone should
consider in their lives. Some of
the most important ones are:
good judgement, fairness,
common sense, punctuality,
loyalty, courage, magnanimity,
dignity, gratitude, politeness,
faithfulness, moderation,
truthfulness, self-respect,
respect for others, etc. All these
qualities, if properly cultivated,
compose a prime set of
dignifying virtues which accounts
for a refined character. For
example, we all make mistakes
and to err is human. However,
once an honest person is
advised and becomes convinced
of his mistake, he should admit
it and try not to repeat it.
Unfortunately it is common
practice to conceal one’s
mistakes, instead of avoiding
them. This is very detrimental to
spiritual growth. Most people
seldom use impartiality and
justice in the innermost
evaluation of their own actions.
Even those who are too harsh in
the judgement of other people’s
actions, for whom they always
have words of criticism and
reproach, do not escape the
usual tendency. When their own
faults are concerned, they find a
full, lenient, absolvent
justification. In this way, not
only it denotes lack of character,
but mistakes often end up
incorporated to human habits.
By acting this way, an individual
loses his self-respect and his
sense of character and dignity
and becomes corrupted. What
everyone should do, is to face
up his mistakes and avoid new
mistakes, by improving his sens