IBPS PO Prelims: How to Tackle English

Dear Readers,

With IBPS Prelims around the corner, with the clock ticking away, nervousness and exam pressure at its peak, we bring to you the intelligent exam strategy that will help you not only in clearing the sectional cut off but also help you score well

As you all know that the pre exam consists of 3 sections amounting to 100 marks, which need to be solved in 1 hour. It is the time constraint that makes the examination quite challenging as every person gets a little more than 1/2 minute to solve one question. It is required that you analyze the questions beforehand and attempt for the section which is your strength at the earliest.

So lets start with the subject ENGLISH analyzing each part as we go.

This section will comprise the following types of questions:

Spend not more than 15 mins on this section, if possible do within 12 mins

• Reading Comprehension ( 1 passage) -10 marks
• Cloze Test - 5 marks
• Error Detection - 5 marks
• Para Jumbles - 5 marks
• Fill In The Blanks/Sentence Improvement - 5 marks

The above format has been seen in the SBI PO Prelims exam and the IBPS PO Prelims will be no different than the above one.

In this section we often find two types of students:

1) Those who fear this paper the most and find it very difficult to clear the individual cut off.

2) The 2nd type of students are those who find English paper both scoring and less time consuming.

There are different strategies for the two types of students-

1) Firstly for the students who are weak in English, we recommend that you start with RC and try scoring maximum marks from there.

-As there is almost a week left before the final battle, so you still have time to prepare for this section. All you need to do is to read a lot, and do it loudly if possible, especially the editorial section. Along with this write down one article from the newspaper daily till the exam. This exercise might seem futile as of now but it actually go a long way in helping you increase your reading speed and help in analyzing the data quickly.

-Learn vocabulary, as many words as you can in these 8 days. Do at least 10 words a day. Make shortcuts, tricks to make learning easy. try to use them in your daily life

- Next try attempting the para-jumbles as they do not require you to know the grammar well. Even if the para jumble question is tough, even then you can attempt 1-2 questions. So for example the 1st statement, the last statement, the 2nd statement.

So basically these exams require you to be really smart . And smartness comes from practice. 

- You can even attempt cloze tests. If at all you do get confused by the options, start by eliminating the the options. This strategy also helps sometimes in reaching the correct answer. But remember no rule applies to all. So again you need to be smart.

-Next comes fillers where you can easily attempt 2-3 questions but sometimes the words given are too difficult and the options are too close. So it is better to avoid those and rest you can decide on your own.

- Rest of the sections go through, but only attempt those in which you are 100 % sure.

Don't forget that there is negative marking, so no point losing marks by guess work especially in a subject which is not your strength.

STRATEGY FOR STUDENTS WHO SCORE WELL IN ENGLISH:

1) Do RC at the end, so as to avoid wastage of time. This strategy increases the efficiency.

Steps For Doing RC:

- There is no set rule but need to be really smart in saving your time.

If you find the Rc to be long and difficult to comprehend, then start by reading the question and then look for the answer rather than reading the whole passage.

- Do the vocabulary questions first.

- Avoid attempting questions like "view of the author", "Title of the passage", etc.

2) Again the exam is not a test of your knowledge, but a test of how efficiently you score and manage your time. So do not get attached  to any question. Attempt only those questions about which you are 100 percent sure.

Lastly for all students - give online mock exams if possible as this helps in making strategies, increases speed, and gives you experience for the real battle.

 ALL THE BEST