English and General Awareness
This section tests correctness and currency - grammar rules applied to short sentences, vocabulary in context, and static/current facts about Indian agriculture, polity, science and awards.
English
- Subject–verb agreement: the verb agrees with the subject, not the nearest noun - 'One of my friends is coming.'
- Articles: 'a' before consonant sounds (a university, a one-rupee coin), 'an' before vowel sounds (an hour, an MLA).
- Tenses: 'since/for' with present perfect; 'yesterday' with simple past; no future tense after if/when/unless.
- Prepositions: 'comprise' takes no 'of'; 'superior to', 'prefer to', 'consist of'.
- Vocabulary: one-word substitutions (altruist, misanthrope, epicure), idioms and synonyms/antonyms.
General Awareness
Indian agriculture: ICAR, established in 1929 as the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research and renamed in 1949, headquartered at New Delhi; the Green Revolution is linked to M. S. Swaminathan and Norman Borlaug's dwarf wheat; the National Food Security Mission and Soil Health Card are flagship schemes. Polity: Article 48 (Directive Principles) covers organisation of agriculture and animal husbandry, while Article 51A(g) makes protection of the environment a fundamental duty. Revise national symbols, space and defence missions, and major awards.
Worked example
Spot the error: 'One of my friend is working in the field.' The phrase 'one of' must be followed by a plural noun, so 'friend' becomes 'friends'; the verb stays singular because the subject is 'one'. Correct sentence: 'One of my friends is working in the field.'
Traps
Pluralising uncountables ('informations', 'furnitures'); confusing 'its' and 'it's'; 'affect' (verb) versus 'effect' (noun); mixing up the founding years of major institutions; answering current-affairs items from last year's news.