SSC CGL Tier II: Tips & Strategy for English Paper

SSC CGL TIER -II Exam 2017 will be conducted from 21.12.2017 to 24.12.2017 and the aspiring candidates who are going to appear for the exam would be looking for some useful advice and tips to score well in order to score well. So today  I will discuss the strategy that one should follow for the English section for SSC CGL Tier -II Exam.

Many students have the phobia of English, they gave up also easily stating that it is not their cup of tea. But the fact is that it is one of the most scoring subject in SSC CGL as it stands for 200 marks in SSC CGL Tier II. If you have right strategy & tips with the proper approach, then you crack this easily. 

In this article, we have discussed Syllabus, Topic wise distribution of topics, Tips & Strategy of English Section.

                        Topic & Year-wise distribution of SSC CGL Tier 2 English Section

Topics	2016	2015	2014	2013
Vocabulary
Antonyms	3	3	3	3
Synonyms	3	3	3	3
Idioms & Phrases	10	10	10	10
One Word Substitution	12	12	12	12
Spelling Errors	3	3	3	3
Sub-total	31	31	31	31
Grammar
Spotting Error	20	20	20	20
Sentence Improvement	22	22	22	22
Sentence Arrangement	20	20	20	20
Fill in the Blanks	5	5	5	5
Direct/Indirect	27	27	27	27
Active/Passive	20	20	20	20
Sub-total	114	114	114	114
Reading Comprehension
Cloze Test	25	25	25	25
Passage	30	30	30	30
Sub-total	55	55	55	55

As per the above Table, I have divided the syllabus of English into three parts.

• Vocabulary

• Grammar

• Reading Ability

Now, let's try to discuss all the parts in details and will learn “how can we study these without any hurdle”. First You have to keep in mind English is not something you can expect to master in a day`s time. But from an exam point of view, if you spend time consistently, you can perform well in it in relatively less time as compared to Quantitative Aptitude.

Part-I: Vocabulary

This part plays a vital role in SSC CGL Tier II English (Paper II). But it is not an easy task to get decent marks in this part. For this part, one has to learn & practice daily.

Idioms and Phrases

An idiom is a phrase or fixed expression that sometimes has meanings. A figurative meaning can be different from logical meaning.

One Word Substitution

Sum up all the one-word substitutions from the previous yearbooks and learn them to score well in English section.

Spelling Mistakes

From this topic, you can easily score marks for yourself. You just need to learn some rules for spelling errors which is very important to have an understanding of the usage of spellings in English Grammar.

Part-II: Grammar

Direct-Indirect & Active Passive

Aspirants find this topic in the English Language to be very confusing and mostly try to escape this topic while preparing. This is an important topic from the exam point of view and can fetch you good score if practiced well.

Sentence Correction

In this topic, you have to find the correct alternatives which may improve the sentence. Sometimes there is no correction required then your answer will be no improvement.

Tips to solve Sentence Correction in Exam

(i) Read the original sentence carefully and try to spot grammatical errors by identifying whether something “sounds” wrong.

(ii) Always look at every choice.

(iii) Even when the original sentence seems fine, pay attention to the grammar that it tests and look through the choices systematically to see if any option provides a better alternative.

(iv) As you locate each error, eliminate all of the choices that contain that error

(v) Do not read each answer choice back into the sentence individually; that wastes time and invites inaccuracy.

(vi) Instead, identify the differences among the choices and eliminate those that offer less effective or grammatically incorrect alternatives.

Spotting Error

Here One have to find the grammatical error in the sentence. This type of questions requires good grammatical sense.

Tips to solve Spotting Error in exam

(i) In order to solve questions on spotting errors the first step you should take is to read the complete sentence carefully. In most of the cases, you will be able to detect the error in the first go itself.

(ii) While reading the entire sentence, you must carefully check the subject-verb agreement.

(iii) If you can still not detect the error or you are still unsure of the correct answer, then you must read each individual part of the sentence and closely examine which part consists of an error.

Cloze Test

As you all know that Cloze Test is the most important part of the SSC Exams. It is an exercise where the candidates are provided with a passage which has certain words missing from it. It is very important for the candidates to understand the flow and context of the passage.

How to Crack English for SSC CGL Tier II?

1. First of all, go through the complete passage and get a rough idea about the content and the message it conveys. Also, note down the unknown words.
2. In a passage mostly all the sentences are logically related to each other. This logic’s will give you an idea about the appropriate word for the blank space.
3. Sometimes you can easily spot the correct answer. If not, then eliminate the improbable options one by one and get the right answer.
4. Find a logical relation between all the provided options.
5. Practice at least 4-5 Cloze tests to check your performance.

Fill in the blanks

In this Exam, it is expected that there will be questions with only single fill in the blank.

Tips to solve this type of Question in the exam.

(i) Read the statement carefully and choose the word from the options which is suitable for the answer.

(ii) Use the method of elimination by simultaneously checking which of the options best satisfies both the entries.

(iii) Also, you must ensure that the word you have inserted in the blank enables to read the sentence smoothly and correctly.

Part III - Reading Comprehension

Reading Comprehension is the ability to read the text, process it and understand its meaning. In addition, RCs are aimed at testing a candidates Knowledge of two elements i.e. Vocabulary and Text Comprehension.

How one should attempt RC questions in the Exam. Generally, there are 2 ways in which a Reading Comprehension can be attempted which are given below:

PQ Approach (passage first, then the questions)

• Read the entire passage thoroughly first and then read the questions
• Skim & Scan through the passage and keep going back and forth with questions and passage
• Read the first 2 paragraphs, scan all the questions and see what you can answer, then read Para 3 & 4, scan the questions and see what you can answer, then read Para 5& 6!!

QP approach (questions first, then the passage)

• Read all the questions with their answer options first and then the passage
• Read question 1 with all the options, then go through the entire passage to answer it. Then read question 2, go through the entire passage. Then question 3!
• Just read all the question stems, without reading the answer options. Then read the passage and try answering the questions by reading them with the options.

After practicing all above strategy and approach, here is a list of tips you must follow while doing an RC.

• Eliminate and not select: In most cases, elimination of choices work better than the selection of choices. Here is an approach to eliminate which is ‘BANE’. Eliminate choices that are too broad, too narrow, that are alien (Strange) and too extreme.
• Never apply your own knowledge to the given passage. Confine your understanding to the given passage only.

Time Management Tips While Studying

Practice with Stopwatch on your side: For any aspiring SSC candidate, it is a must to keep a stopwatch by their side while preparing. Apart from the tenacity of the questions, what matters is the time allotted for solving those questions. One needs to practice well enough so that in the paper, he/she can answer most number of questions while keeping the accuracy factor in mind. This also helps you improve your time and boosts your confidence just before the examination.

Go through Practice Sets and Mock Question Papers: Mock question papers and practice sets can help the candidates to prepare for the examination effectively. By solving these sets you can get an idea about how many questions you are solving in the given time and try to improve that by applying and innovating newer techniques through constant practice.