Analysis of Civil Services (Prelim) 2013 Paper I (GS)
“The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. . . . It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is sin…”~ Benjamin Elijah
So it is over – The Stage I of The Exam. Judging on the above parameters, we congratulate you for not aiming low, for not falling for the easy and for testing the maxima of your strength and talent – for this is no ordinary exam, which you wrote recently – it is the most demanding of all exams, the fountainhead of perseverance. Months of preparation of a subject as vast as the universe itself was put to test in two instalments of 2 hours each on 26th May 2013! TestCracker presents you the definitive analysis of this paper in the following pages (there is a separate analysis of the CSAT Paper II on our website). In the following pages, you will find the solution (we have used the actual paper to give the real feel) of the Paper I.
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The nature of the Paper
We will let go of the clichés (‘UPSC has done it again’ kind!) – This paper was not difficult to look at – but it wasn’t easy to solve either! TestCracker puts the difficulty level as moderate.
F Easy Questions came from Polity (very easy in fact!), History and Economics
- If you had a clear understanding of the very basics of Economics and Monetary Policy, you would have found such questions easy. If you only knew (or guessed by common sense) that prices rise when demand outraces supply, you would have got 4 questions!
ü While analysing this Paper, TestCracker has come to the conclusion that someone there decided – ‘let’s test the basics of economics this time’ – and the team put many similar questions there (unfairly so!).
- Polity questions were sitting ducks – period. This is why we recommended our students to revise Polity & History in the last few days. The returns on the time you invest here are always good.
- History was straight-forward. There is no reason to believe that UPSC is moving away from History. In fact there is no reason to believe that there is any trend carried forward from one year to another J
F ‘Moderate’ questions came from General Science (the paper was infected by bacteria and fungi!) and Current Events
F Tough Questions came from Geography & Indian Heritage and Culture because most of them were factual in nature
F Irritating(for lack of a better word!)Questions came from Ecology – you would surely have felt as if you are just one level below UPSC in the food chain and it is preying on you! This will remain important in the Mains too – this is how UPSC has decided to go green J
F Conspicuous by their absence were questions on the basis of current events – very few questions were asked but don’t worry if you prepared for it – the mighty Mains is coming!
We cannot help but secretly feel happy about the fact that many questions in Prelims 2013 were based on the content and tests of our Online Crash Course. Even if you were a regular reader of our popular current affairs analysis blog – “The Burning Issues” – you would have benefitted handsomely. It inspires us to carry on the cracking work. We are shamelessly promoting ourselves, aren’t we!
Talking of promotions, don’t forget to ask us about our Mains Crackerprogram – our expertise lies in creating the best content and presenting it in the best possible manner.
We know what you want to know before you start scrolling down to see the solutions. Here we go –
The Judgment
| Paper | Total Questions | Respectable Attempts | Respectable (net) Marks | Cracking
Attempts |
Cracking
(net) Marks |
| Paper I | 100 | 60+ | 80+ | 75+ | 100+ |
[Attempt = Sure knowledge of the answer or a reasonable guess – not a random answer!]
We will conclude by quoting one of our friends, Gauravi, who has written Civil Services Examination three times – attending interviews all the three times – and getting ranks twice. She told us, “It looked simple, but it had in-built mechanisms to thoroughly confuse the test taker!’ We agreeJ
In our solution we have used Series A– you may have to match your questions with this set, in case you have a different set (the chances of which are 75%).
Scroll down to download detailed solutions – don’t miss our marketing pitch in the solutions document!
Overall Cut-off
Combining our analysis of Paper II (on the website, in a separate document) with Paper I, we are in a position to predict that the cut-off for this year’s Prelims will be in the following ranges, depending on your category –
F General – 190-195
F OBC – 178-183
F SC – 172-177
F ST – 168-173
Disclaimer – We have tried our best to come up with the best possible solution to this paper. While we may go wrong sometimes, we usually don’t. So you can safely assume that this is the correct solution. The cut-off can vary within 5%, because it depends on the performance of those 5% who crack any paper so well that the cut-off is raised and those 5% who perform so bad that they cut-off is lowered
Related articles
- They all got a feel of civil services exams (thehindu.com)
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