Expert Advice on how to crack SSC CPO (SI) Paper II 2015

The Staff Selection Commission CPO (SI) Paper II 2015 will take place on 30th August 2015. With just three days to go it’s unadvisable to think of doing something new regarding one’s preparation for the exam. Now is the time to consolidate one’s strengths and remember to avoid the common pitfalls. Below are some tips to help you as D-Day dawns.

On the run up to the exam

• Revise and Refresh: Remember, a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Thus, rather than chasing after a particular question type that you have always found difficult, you would do well now to focus on your strong areas and revise the concepts thoroughly. Now is also be the time to analyze and revise your strategy for solving the exam.
• De-stress: You have been worked hard for the past few months. You have studied, practiced and revised. Now is not the time to get unnecessarily tensed. Take a little break to enjoy something that you like. The human mind works best when it is not clenched and wound up with worry.

On the day of the exam

• Be adequately rested, watered and fed: Make sure you get a good night’s rest before the day of your exam. Also, do not rush in for the exam on an empty stomach. The last thing you’d want is hunger pangs to take away from your concentration. Then again, do not breakfast like there’s no tomorrow as that could make you sluggish.
• Leave nothing to chance: Leave for your exam center with ample time to spare to provide for unexpected glitches like traffic snarls or delayed metro services. Also, ensure that you are carrying your admit card and the required identification proof.

In the exam hall

• Time Management: In this test, the key to a good percentile is accuracy and speed. There is no room for making silly mistakes. Therefore it’s of utmost importance that you manage your time well during the exam. Do not get bogged down with a question that is taking too long to solve. Leave it and move on and you could come back to it later if time permits.
• Read the options carefully: Never make the mistake of attempting a question without reading all the options. You can safely eliminate some of the options based on pure logic and common sense.

The right RC strategy

Read the passage once quickly in order to understand the central idea. In case certain areas of the passage elude your understanding at first, do not worry. Now read the questions and come back to the relevant portion of the passage in order to eliminate options. Look for Key words in the question stem in order to identify the part of the passage where you are most likely to find the answer.

Elimination: Instead of picking your answer and then checking with the options; start eliminating the options once you’ve scanned the passage. This will improve your accuracy in RCs. Some students prefer to read the passage first and then go to the questions while some tend to read the questions and scan the passage for answers. This might work with questions that are factual .For inference based questions this may prove fatal as you need understanding of the entire passage. While there is no right strategy, your modus operandi can be the one that works better (and faster) for you.

Sentence-Jumbles

These questions can be very scoring if attempted correctly. In these questions, you must try and look for keywords that help you make pairs in the given sentences. Find words that show comparison or contrast. Words like ‘hence’ and ‘therefore’ show consequence whereas ‘but’, ‘rather’, ‘nevertheless’ show contrast. Some other words like ‘furthermore’ and ‘along with’ are a dead give-away when it comes to furthering an argument. You can use these key words to determine which sentence will come next. Make the right pairs: As a rule, make pairs when you’re solving the Para jumbles. It will make your life easier and you will discover that they don’t take very long, after all!

Having said that, remember that you only have control over what you do in the exam hall. The outcome, once you are out of the hall, is dependent on various factors. So do not obsess about what happened or did not happen in the exam. Just breathe easy and prepare for the next exam that may be lined up for you.

CL extends its best wishes to all SSC CPO aspirants
All the very best!