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The Civil Services Examination will consist of two successive stages:

1. Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination; and
2. Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts.

Candidates are required to apply online by using the website https://upsconline.nic.in.

Detailed instructions for filling up online applications are available on the above mentioned website.

LAST DATE FOR SUBMISSION AND WITHDRAWAL OF APPLICATIONS:

1. The Online Applications can be filled upto 24th August, 2021 till 6:00 PM.
2. The online Applications can be withdrawn from 31.08.2021 to 06.09.2021 till 6.00 PM.

FEE :

Candidates (excepting Female/SC/ST candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) are required to pay a fee of Rs. 200/- (Rupees Two Hundred Only) either by depositing the money in any Branch of SBI by cash, or by using net banking facility of State Bank of India or by using Visa/Master/Rupay Credit/Debit Card.

Age Limit:

A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st of August, 2021 i.e., the candidate must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1989 and not later than 1st August, 2000.

Eligibility: Graduation

Application Link                                 

Official Notification Link

Planning to go abroad for further studies or migrating to a country let's say Australia or Canada?

There is a requirement for the most important document which is to pass the IELTS exam.

IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System. This test helps to judge ones proficiency for the English language-for non native English language speakers who want to work or study in that country where English is a language of communication. There are four modules which is listening, reading, writing and speaking and it has 2 types, first is academic IELTS and the other is general training IELTS.

Academic IELTS is for students who wants to study in abroad while General IELTS is for the people who wants to migrate for job or for permanent basis.
  The speaking and listening tests are the same for both the models but the reading and writing patterns vary.
 Listed below are my observations on how to prepare for the IELTS exam.
Listening: It is obvious for non native speakers to face difficulty in understanding what they speak initially but after constant practice one can overcome and start understanding various accent and pronunciation. To understand pronunciation or accent, listen or watch English news channels like BBC, CNN, English movies, serials, interviews etc with subtitles first and later without subtitles. 
 Reading: There are a few strategies one needs to follow to attempt questions like true/false/not given, yes/ no/ not given, list of headings and summary writing etc. For example, if the statement gives the fact which is mentioned in the text then it is True statement and if it contradicts the statement then the answer is false and if the given statement information is not in the text then the option to be chosen is not given.  For yes, no, not given question type it shows the writers opinion. For list of headings options,read the passage quickly with fair understanding and then check for the options.
  For remaining question types like short answer question, fill in the blanks, summary completion look for the key word and then scan the paragraph then skim it for detailed understanding.  Time management is crucial for reading paper and if one finds it difficult then reading English news paper, various magazines and books help improving speed.
Writing: This paper is the most challenging for most of the applicants but this can be easily overcome by constant practice and one needs to evaluate this paper by someone who has good command of English language. Range of vocabulary with appropriate use, synonyms, grammar, and idea interpretation are the vital parts in this paper.  Simple method is to understand the question and then paraphrase (write in your words) the question with your opinion in the introduction. Then for the remaining paragraphs- write the statement and give reasons with examples and then write the precise conclusion. Refer online band 9 essays from mentor site because I have followed those and found it useful. 
Speaking: In this paper one needs to understand the section wise answer criteria.
Section 1: There are question & answer sessions where one needs to answer in one sentence. for example, where are you from? one can answer I am from Delhi;a beautiful place in northern India. 
Section 2: You will get a cue card where you will have to prepare answer in 1 minute and answer that question for about 4 to 6 minutes covering all the given points mentioned in the cue card. Here one needs to understand a wide range of vocabulary, synonyms, grammar, pronunciation and the flow of speech with minimum pauses plays an important role in this paper. 
Section 3: One has to Converse with the examiner but answer should be lengthy as compared to section 1 and those questions will be carried forward by section 2. Here question types are for general views and answer should be the same.

•  To improve speaking one needs to speak with friends, colleagues on a daily basis in English.
• To achieve the good band score or to pass satisfactory, descent preparation in listening, reading, writing and speaking is important by using various tools such as  watching the interviews, sitcoms, reading news, reading books  .

 Practice lots of tests with timed version and refer IELTS CAMBRIDGE SERIES 1-14 books. This is my conclusion on how to prepare and approach the IELTS EXAM.

IELTS scores are reported as band scores on a scale from 1 (the lowest) to 9 (the highest) for each section of the test – Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. We also get an overall band score - average of four individual test section band scores. An overall IELTS band score of 6.5 with atleast a 6.0 in each section is required while applying to majority of the foreign universities. 

$\textbf{Overall Band Score}$

$$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|}\hline \textbf{IELTS score}&\textbf{Skill Level}\\\hline 9&\text{Expert}\\\hline  8&\text{Very Good}\\\hline  7&\text{Good}\\\hline 6&\text{Competent}\\\hline5&\text{Modest}\\\hline\end{array}$$

The tables below indicate the average number of marks required to achieve a particular band score in Listening, Academic Reading and General Training Reading.

$\textbf{Listening}$

$$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|}\hline \textbf{Band score}&\textbf{Raw score out of 40}\\\hline 5&16\\\hline  6&23\\\hline  7&30\\\hline 8&35\\\hline\end{array}$$

$\textbf{Academic Reading}$

$$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|}\hline \textbf{Band score}&\textbf{Raw score out of 40}\\\hline 5&15\\\hline  6&23\\\hline  7&30\\\hline 8&35\\\hline\end{array}$$

$\textbf{General Training Reading}$

$$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|}\hline \textbf{Band score}&\textbf{Raw score out of 40}\\\hline 4&15\\\hline  5&23\\\hline  6&30\\\hline 7&34\\\hline 8&38\\\hline\end{array}$$

Many universities and colleges in the US, Canada, UK, and other countries use Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores as a criterion for admissions to their graduate-level courses. The ETS GRE (revised) General Test evaluates the test-taker’s overall knowledge and skills in three main segments—analytical writing, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning. The scores indicate the candidate’s aptitude for taking up graduate studies in various disciplines.

The GRE offers the General Test in two formats—computer-based and paper-based. The computer-based test lasts about three hours and 45 minutes overall, and consists of six sections, or “measures,” as they are officially known: one section on analytical writing, two sections each on verbal and quantitative reasoning, and an additional section that may contain questions on either verbal or quantitative reasoning, but is not taken into account for scoring nor timed. The test always starts with the analytical writing section; the other sections may follow in any order.

The analytical writing segment comprises two tasks (“analyze an issue” and “analyze an argument”) to be completed in 30 minutes each. The verbal and quantitative segments contain 20 questions each, but while 30 minutes are available for each of the two verbal sections, 35 minutes are given for each of the two quantitative sections. The order of the sections is not announced, so the test-taker does not know which section is unscored and meant only for research. However, a research section may sometimes be identified as such, and may follow the five scored sections. The Educational Testing Service (ETS), which conducts the GRE, offers software that allows the candidate to experience the test firsthand.

As mentioned, GRE is also offered in a paper-based format. The main segments are the same—analytical writing, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning. Each of these three segments has two sections. While 30 minutes are available for each section on analytical reasoning, 35 minutes are given for each section on verbal reasoning, and 40 minutes for each section on quantitative reasoning. The test lasts about three hours and 30 minutes overall.

GRE Syllabus: Three main segments

Analytical writing

The two-task analytical writing segment appraises the test-taker’s ability to critically examine complex issues and arguments and put forth his or her ideas clearly and logically. In the first task, called the “analyze an issue task,” a viewpoint on a topic of popular interest is presented, and the candidates are asked to analyze the issue and express their own opinions. In the second task, “analyze an argument task,” an argument is presented, and the candidates have to analyze the logical strength of the argument and point out its pluses and minuses. The objective is not to test the test-takers’ knowledge in a particular topic but rather their analytical capability and power of expression.

Candidates who take the General Test on the computer-based format will have no advantage over those who opt for the paper-based format: only a basic word-processor, with options to insert and delete text and copy and paste material, is made available to them, and the test-takers cannot correct their spellings or grammar.

Here is a typical example of an issue-task question that one might see on the test.

Issue statement: The comforts of life available today are making people “soft,” and they are gradually losing their strength of character and becoming weaklings.

Task instruction: Discuss your response, giving logical reasons to support your opinion. Also say under what circumstances the statement might or might not stand. Explain your position taking into consideration those circumstances, too.

 Verbal Reasoning

The verbal reasoning segment measures the test-taker’s capacity to read and understand written material of the kind that is commonly used in academia. Three types of questions have been devised: (i) Reading comprehension; (ii) Text completion; and (iii) Sentence equivalence. To be able to comprehend texts in graduate school, a student will be required to identify the relationships between parts of a sentence, and associations between words and concepts. The verbal reasoning segment tests whether the test-taker has the talent and ability necessary. About 50 percent of the questions are on reading comprehension, and the rest expect the candidate to read, understand, and complete sentences or passages.

In order to score high in reading comprehension, the candidate has to understand the meaning of words and the purport of paragraphs and passages; understand how parts of a text relate to one another; be able to pick out important points from unimportant ones; infer stated and unstated information from passages; and grasp the author’s opinion and position on the issue. The passages may be drawn from any of the sciences, humanities, or business topics published in academic or non-academic journals.

Under text completion, the candidate is asked to supply missing words or phrases in a passage, given the overall context. Again, what is tested is the ability to comprehend the text and make the correct inferences.

The third type of questions—sentence equivalence—requires the test-taker to fill in the blank in each sentence with the most appropriate word and also select an alternative word from six choices. The task is not limited to picking out a word that appears suitable, but includes intuiting the context and selecting the two best options from among the possible answers.

 Quantitative Reasoning

The main objective of the GRE quantitative segment is to assess the test-takers grasp of the basic math concepts of algebra, arithmetic, geometry, and data analysis, and skills for solving problems based on these concepts. There are various topics under each of the main concepts.

The questions on mathematics and statics are of the high-school level. Trigonometry or calculus or other areas that come under higher level mathematics are not included. Knowledge of high-school mathematics concepts, such as “prime numbers are greater than one” and “numbers increase towards the right of the number line,” is sufficient.

Four types of questions can be found as part of quantitative reasoning: quantitative comparison, multiple-choice with one correct answer; multiple-choice with one or more correct answers; and numeric entry (computation) questions. Among these types of questions, quantitative comparison questions perhaps demand a short explanation: they ask the test-taker to compare two quantities and select one statement from four that best describes the comparison.

Candidates taking the computer-based test are provided with on-screen calculators, and those taking the paper-based test are provided handheld calculators. However, the GRE website contains some guidelines that advise against the use of the calculator for some type of questions. It points out that the powers of reasoning and estimating may be more effective and less time-consuming in these cases.

Did you know that the number of GRE test takers indicating plans for business study nearly doubled in three years? To maximize your applicant pool, be sure that GRE test takers ready for business school know you accept and welcome GRE scores. Here's how. When you accept GRE scores for your MBA, specialized master's in business programs or doctoral programs, you have access to an even bigger, more diversified pool of highly qualified applicants.

Promote Your GRE Scores Acceptance Policy and Convey “No Preference”

Update your website, brochures, view books, presentations, emails and other communications to be sure your published admission requirements consistently reflect that you welcome GRE scores and weigh them equally against scores from other business school admission tests. You can program this graphic to link to the GRE website. And don’t forget to mention your official GRE Institution Code. If you don’t have one, become an official GRE score user now so you can start sharing it with future applicants.

Communicate your GRE scores acceptance policy to staff and alumni who answer questions on the telephone, online or in the field.

Communicate your GRE scores acceptance policy to the undergraduate Career Services Center on your campus and to faculty and others who may advise undergraduates about graduate or business school. Also, let them know about the official GRE Advisor Kit and encourage them to print and display the GRE flyers or posters in their offices!

You can go to this website to link up for more information: https://www.ets.org/gre/institutions/about/mba/

The GRE Program brings you the GRE Search Service — a powerful, one-of-a-kind database of individuals from around the world who have taken a decisive step toward pursuing an advanced degree. GRE score users can use this cost-effective service to reach prospective applicants who have demonstrated graduate-level readiness through their GRE test performance and create a more powerful recruitment strategy. So what are you waiting for? To start using the GRE Search Service, create an account today!

Here you will also get a lot of assistants to your preparation. It's easy to start receiving official GRE scores for your business school programs, and even easier if your institution already accepts GRE scores for master's and doctoral programs in other disciplines. Simply complete this online application. If you have questions, a GRE Academic Advisor can assist you. Why should my MBA program accept GRE scores?

Hi students, now you have next turn ups to know. These are the next two segments during the actual exam, each Quantitative Reasoning section will include several questions in this format, mixed with questions in three other basic formats.

TEST DIRECTIONS — NUMERIC ENTRY

Enter your answer in the answer box(es).

Unless a question asks you to round your answer, enter the exact answer. Equivalent forms of a correct answer, such as 1.2 and 1.20, are all correct. You do not need to reduce fractions to lowest terms.

ADDITIONAL TEST DIRECTIONS

All numbers used are real numbers.

All figures lie on a plane unless otherwise indicated.

All lines shown as straight are straight.

All angle measures are positive.

Figures are intended to provide useful information for answering the questions. However, unless a figure is accompanied by a "Note" stating that it is drawn to scale, answer the question using your knowledge of mathematics and not by visual measurement or estimation. Check out this link for your practice:

http://www.west.net/~stewart/gre/gre-ne1.htm

 

Quantitative Comparison Format

TEST DIRECTIONS — QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON

Compare Quantity A and Quantity B. Use additional, centered information (if any) to make the comparison. Select one of four answer choices:

A. Quantity A is greater.

B. Quantity B is greater.

C. The quantities are equal.

D. The relationship cannot be determined from the

      information given.

ADDITIONAL TEST DIRECTIONS

All numbers used are real numbers.

All figures lie on a plane unless otherwise indicated.

All lines shown as straight are straight.

All angle measures are positive.

Figures are intended to provide useful information for answering the questions. However, unless a figure is accompanied by a "Note" stating that it is drawn to scale, answer the question using your knowledge of mathematics and not by visual measurement or estimation. Follow the links:

http://www.west.net/~stewart/gre/gre-qc1.htm

 

Hi guys, I hope my blogs are getting useful to you. And I am trying to make them easy to you. Today I am writing about two parts of Quantitative reasoning. In this section, GRE practice questions covering all four question formats you'll encounter during the Quantitative Reasoning sections of the GRE Revised Test: conventional multiple-choice, complex multiple-choice, Numeric Entry and Quantitative Comparison.

These four question sets cover all four knowledge areas of math that GRE Quantitative Reasoning questions embrace: arithmetic, number theory, algebra and geometry.

These are not timed or interactive tests. You can go at your own pace, reading the analysis of each question as you go.

Multiple choice—select one answer choice (4 questions)

Multiple choice—select one or more answer choices (4 questions)

Numeric Entry (4 questions)

Quantitative Comparison (4 questions)

TEST DIRECTIONS — STANDARD MULTIPLE-CHOICE

Solve the problem and select a single answer choice.

ADDITIONAL TEST DIRECTIONS

All numbers used are real numbers.

All figures lie on a plane unless otherwise indicated.

All lines shown as straight are straight.

All angle measures are positive.

Figures are intended to provide useful information for answering the questions. However, unless a figure is accompanied by a "Note" stating that it is drawn to scale, answer the question using your knowledge of mathematics and not by visual measurement or estimation.

 

TEST DIRECTIONS — COMPLEX MULTIPLE-CHOICE FORMAT

Select one or more of the answer choices according to the directions for each specific question.

The correct answer may be just one choice or as many as all choices. To earn credit for a correct answer you must select all correct choices and no others.

If the question specifies the number of answer choices to select, select exactly that number of choices. Otherwise, select all answer choices that apply.

ADDITIONAL TEST DIRECTIONS

All numbers used are real numbers.

All figures lie on a plane unless otherwise indicated.

All lines shown as straight are straight.

All angle measures are positive.

Figures are intended to provide useful information for answering the questions. However, unless a figure is accompanied by a "Note" stating that it is drawn to scale, answer the question using your knowledge of mathematics and not by visual measurement or estimation. See the below link to practice more:

http://gre.graduateshotline.com/quantitative_reasoning_test.html#.V6Vlxrh97IU

 

Like Text Completion questions, Sentence Equivalence questions test the ability to reach a conclusion about how a passage should be completed on the basis of partial information, but to a greater extent they focus on the meaning of the completed whole. Sentence Equivalence questions consist of a single sentence with just one blank, and they ask you to find two choices that lead to a complete, coherent sentence while producing sentences that mean the same thing.

Question Structure

Consists of:

a single sentence

one blank

six answer choices

Requires you to select two of the answer choices; no credit for partially correct answers.

Tips for Answering

Do not simply look among the answer choices for two words that mean the same thing. This can be misleading for two reasons. First, the answer choices may contain pairs of words that mean the same thing but do not fit coherently into the sentence. Second, the pair of words that do constitute the correct answer may not mean exactly the same thing, since all that matters is that the resultant sentences mean the same thing.

Read the sentence to get an overall sense of it.

Identify words or phrases that seem particularly significant, either because they emphasize the structure of the sentence (words like although or moreover) or because they are central to understanding what the sentence is about.

Try to fill in the blank with a word that seems appropriate to you and then see if two similar words are offered among the answer choices. If you find some word that is similar to what you are expecting but cannot find a second one, do not become fixated on your interpretation; instead, see whether there are other words among the answer choices that can be used to fill the blank coherently.

When you have selected your pair of answer choices, check to make sure that each one produces a sentence that is logically, grammatically and stylistically coherent, and that the two sentences mean the same thing. See belowthe link:

https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/verbal_reasoning/sentence_equivalence/sample_questions

 

Skilled readers do not simply absorb the information presented on the page; instead, they maintain a constant attitude of interpretation and evaluation, reasoning from what they have read so far to create a picture of the whole and revising that picture as they go. Text Completion questions test this ability by omitting crucial words from short passages and asking the test taker to use the remaining information in the passage as a basis for selecting words or short phrases to fill the blanks and create a coherent, meaningful whole.

These questions consist of a short passage that contains one, two, or three blanks; each blank represents a word or short phrase that is missing from the passage. Students must select exactly one correct answer choice from among the three to five provided for each blank. A student does not receive credit for a Text Completion question unless he or she selects the correct answer choice for every blank in the passage.

Students must use contextual clues within the passage to determine which answer choice contains the word or words that most logically complete each blank. This question category tests the ability to recognize an author’s overall meaning or tone from the syntax of the written material. Success on these questions requires an understanding of the subtle shades of meaning that differentiate similar words.

Question Structure

Passage composed of one to five sentences

One to three blanks

Three answer choices per blank (five answer choices in the case of a single blank)

The answer choices for different blanks function independently; i.e., selecting one answer choice for one blank does not affect what answer choices you can select for another blank

Single correct answer, consisting of one choice for each blank; no credit for partially correct answers

Tips for Answering

Do not merely try to consider each possible combination of answers; doing so will take too long and is open to error. Instead, try to analyze the passage in the following way:

Read through the passage to get an overall sense of it.

Identify words or phrases that seem particularly significant, either because they emphasize the structure of the passage (words like although or moreover) or because they are central to understanding what the passage is about.

Try to fill in the blanks with words or phrases that seem to complete the sentence, then see if similar words are offered among the answer choices.

Do not assume that the first blank is the one that should be filled first; perhaps one of the other blanks is easier to fill first. Select your choice for that blank, and then see whether you can complete another blank. If none of the choices for the other blank seem to make sense, go back and reconsider your first selection.

When you have made your selection for each blank, check to make sure the passage is logically, grammatically and stylistically coherent.

 

Reading Comprehension questions are designed to test a wide range of abilities that are required in order to read and understand the kinds of prose commonly encountered in graduate school. Those abilities include:

understanding the meaning of individual words and sentences

understanding the meaning of paragraphs and larger bodies of text

distinguishing between minor and major points

summarizing a passage

drawing conclusions from the information provided

reasoning from incomplete data to infer missing information

understanding the structure of a text in terms of how the parts relate to one another

identifying the author's assumptions and perspective

analyzing a text and reaching conclusions about it

identifying strengths and weaknesses of a position

developing and considering alternative explanations

As this list implies, reading and understanding a piece of text requires far more than a passive understanding of the words and sentences it contains; it requires active engagement with the text, asking questions, formulating and evaluating hypotheses and reflecting on the relationship of the particular text to other texts and information.

Each Reading Comprehension question is based on a passage that may range in length from one paragraph to several paragraphs. The test contains approximately 10 passages, the majority of which are one paragraph in length and only one or two of which are several paragraphs long. Passages are drawn from the physical sciences, biological sciences, social sciences, business, arts and humanities and everyday topics and are based on material found in books and periodicals, both academic and nonacademic.

Typically, about half of the questions on the test will be based on passages, and the number of questions based on a given passage can range from one to six. Questions can cover any of the topics listed above, from the meaning of a particular word to assessing evidence that might support or weaken points made in the passage. Many, but not all, of the questions are standard multiple-choice questions, in which you are required to select a single correct answer; others ask you to select multiple correct answers; and still others ask you to select a sentence from the passage.

The Verbal Reasoning measure of the GRE General Test assesses your ability to analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it, analyze relationships among component parts of sentences and recognize relationships among words and concepts.

Verbal Reasoning questions appear in several formats, each of which is discussed in detail in the corresponding sections linked to below. About half of the measure requires you to read passages and answer questions on those passages. The other half requires you to read, interpret and complete existing sentences, groups of sentences or paragraphs.

Verbal Reasoning Question Types

The Verbal Reasoning measure contains three types of questions. Click on the links below to get a closer look at each, including sample questions with rationales.

Reading Comprehension

Text Completion

Sentence Equivalence

Analyze and draw conclusions from discourse; reason from incomplete data; identify author's assumptions and/or perspective; understand multiple levels of meaning such as literal, figurative and author's intent.

Select important points; distinguish major from minor or relevant points; summarize text; understand the structure of a text.

Understand the meanings of words, sentences and entire texts; understand relationships among words and among concepts. But when you are worrying about your vocabulary I can give you some tips to memorize them:

Make it relevant to you. Create a backstory for the vocab words that are frequently tested on the GRE Verbal section, or associate them with something meaningful to you. This will make them easy to learn and fun to study. Do you have a brother who is pugnacious or an ex who is pusillanimous? Associate these descriptive GRE vocabulary words with people in your mind. Creating mental connections will help you master new vocab.

Learn word groups. Think like a thesaurus, not like a dictionary. Knowing detailed definitions for 100 GRE vocabulary words is not as useful as knowing approximate synonyms for 200-300.

Create a support system. Get friends and family involved. Send out daily emails or texts using your GRE vocabulary word of the day, and ask your study partners and supporters to use these new words with you—they’re likely to appreciate both the initiative and the study help. Besides, who wouldn’t want to incorporate the word nugatory into their day?

 You can practice your test on this site: http://www.greguide.com/gre-sample-tests.html