CSAT : READINGS

Friends, as you are all aware, UPSC has recently announced the new Syllabus for CSAT. Many candidates are in a confused state of mind. I am suggesting here a Tentative Book List to start with. I will update it as and when I receive inputs from my Batchmates. Here the edge will be with people who are smart in English Language, Quick Mathematics & Reasoning Skills & Good Grounding in Current Events & General Knowledge. Both papers are of equal weightage, so EQUAL ATTENTION must be given. Practice of simple maths, verbal & non-verbal reasoning of Bank PO Standard will help as Social Science students are generally poor in these things (me included). Don’t go for CAT standard as they will not help & that kind of brain is not needed in Civil Services. The Approach for CSAT will be different & it will depend on HOW MUCH INTEREST YOU CAN GENERATE TO REPETEDLY PRACTISE PAPER 2 sample questions. Read the text books in both papers & only then solve MCQs. Don’t jump on the MCQs the moment you see them. Basic ground rules must be known before you start practising …
Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) 2011 would consist Paper I and Paper II. Applicants having full knowledge of the English will have better chance to succeed in CSAT 2011.
Paper 1
Pattern:
Total Marks: 200
Duration: 2 Hours
Syllabus:-
• Current events of national and international importance >>>>
1. THE HINDU
2. WIZARD CURRENT EVENTS FOR PRELIMS
3. VAJIRAM CURRENT EVENTS BOOKLETS (OPTIONAL,IF YOU HAVE TIME)

• History of India and Indian national movement
1. SPECTRUM MODERN INDIA
2. MEDIEVAL & ANCIENT – NCERT or WIZARD BOOKLETS (In 20-25 pages)

• Indian and World Geography- physical, social, economic geography of India and the world >>>> NCERT 11TH & 12TH 4 BOOKS
1. FUNDAMENTAL OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
2. INDIA PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
3. FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
4. INDIA – PEOPLE & ECONOMY

• Indian Polity and governance – constitution, political system, panchayati raj, public policy, Rights issues, etc. >>>>> NCERT POLITICAL SCIENCE BOOKS 11TH & 12TH
1. INDIAN CONSTITUTION AT WORK (IMPORTANT)
2. OUR CONSTITUTION By SUBHASH KASHYAP or D D BASU (BETTER)
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD NCERT TEXTBOOKS FROM NCERT WEBSITE. http://www.ncert.nic.in/index1.html

• Economic and social development – sustainable development, poverty, inclusion, demographics, social sector initiatives etc.
1. NCERT INDIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (CLASS XI)
2. ECONOMIC SURVEY 2010-11
3. UMA KAPILA (OPTIONAL)

• General issues on environmental ecology, bio-diversity and climate change-that donot require subject specialization >>>>>
1. YOJANA (will help)
2. THE HINDU (articles on these topics)
3. INDIA YEAR BOOK 2011 & MANORAMA YEAR BOOK 2011 (OCCASSIONAL READING)

• General science
1. NCERT 9TH,10TH
2. TATA McGRAW HILL GUIDE (SCIENCE,MENTAL ABILITY & GENERAL KNOWLEDGE SECTIONS)


Paper 2
Pattern:
Total Marks: 200
Duration : 2 Hours
This paper holds the key as many will not be comfortable with the pattern of questions & the surprise elements. Still, we can hope that UPSC will ask simple questions this year, at least. Be prepared for it. Plan a nice strategy to deal this paper. Read thoroughly all BASIC TEXT BOOKS & then solve MCQs. Be meticulous as you were with the optional paper in earlier Preliminary.

Syllabus :-

• Comprehension
1. Comprehension 1, 2 and 3 Student Books (with Keys) by D'Arcy Adrian-Vallance, Lewis Lansford
Pearson Longman Publication (May be helpful. Not needed for those whose command over English is good.)
See the link for download: - http://www.ebook3000.com/Comprehension-1--2-and-3-Student-Books--with-Keys-_82408.html
2. You can also search Scribd for books on Comprehension & other subjects like Decision Making & Problem Solving.

• Interpersonal skills including communication skills
1. The Seven Challenges Workbook A Guide to Cooperative Communication Skills for Success at Home and at Work by Dennis Rivers. DOWNLOAD LINK - http://www.newconversations.net/communication_skills_workbook_summary_and_toc.htm
THE QUESTIONS MAY NOT COME DIRECTLY FROM THIS BOOK. BUT IT WILL GIVE YOU AN IDEA ABOUT WHAT TO READ & SOME THEMES & ISSUES IN COMMUNICATION.
2. YOU CAN ALSO READ “COMMUNICATION” CHAPTER FROM BOOKS LIKE ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR by STEPHEN P. ROBBINS, ESSENTIALS OF MANAGEMENT by KOONTZ & WEIRICH TO GET SOME THEORETICAL CONCEPTS. THEY WILL HELP & QUESTIONS MAY COME FROM THEM.

• Logical reasoning and analytical ability
1. VERBAL & NON-VERBAL REASONING by R S AGARWAL
2. ANALYTICAL REASONING by R S AGARWAL

• Decision making and problem solving
1. SEARCH “PROBLEM SOLVING”, “TECHNIQUES OF PROBLEM SOLVING”, “DECISION MAKING”, “TECHNIQUES OF DECISION MAKING” ETC IN GOOGLE & WIKIPEDIA & READ SOME 30-50 PAGES ON THEM.YOU CAN ALSO READ CHAPTERS LIKE DECISION MAKING FROM ROBBINS,KOONTZ WEIRICH TO HAVE THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE.
THEY MAY ASK: -

What is the technique of Problem Solving in which we solve the problem in a model of the system before applying it to the real system?
Ans: - Abstraction (Source: - Wikipedia)

2. VERBAL & NON-VERBAL REASONING by R S AGARWAL
3. ANALYTICAL REASONING by R S AGARWAL

• General mental ability
1. GENERAL MENTAL ABILITY SECTION OF TATA McGRAW HILL GUIDE
2. FOCUS SHOULD BE ON PROBABILITY, PERMUTATIONS & COMBINATIONS & OTHER AREAS WHICH HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY ASKED BY UPSC IN PRELIMINARY EXAM LAST 3 YEARS 2008,09 & 10.
3. VERBAL & NON-VERBAL REASONING by R S AGARWAL or ANALYTICAL REASONING by R S AGARWAL

• Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc. (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. –Class X level)
1. Quantitative Aptitude by R S Agarwal(MUST BE READ THOROUGHLY)
2. QUICKER MATHS (MAGICAL BOOK SERIES) by M. Tyra(SHOULD BE READ THOROUGHLY)

• English language comprehension skills (Class X level)
READ ANY TWO BOOKS.OCCASSIONAL READING OF 1-2 CHAPTERS IN FREE TIME WILL HELP.
1. A Practical English Grammar (Thomson & Martinet )
2. A University Grammar of English by Quirk and Greenbaum (Better.But don't know whether it is available with Sood or Jawahar Book Depo.,Ber Sarai)
3. High School English Grammar & Composition by Wren and Martin

YOU NEED NOT READ ALL THESE BOOKS IN DETAIL. BUT, SOME BASIC STUDY OF THESE TEXTS WILL CERTAINLY HELP IN INCREASING YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL TO HANDLE PAPER 2 IN CSAT.YOU CAN READ LIKE THIS :-
ONE CHAPTER FROM THOMSON & MARTINET
ONE CHAPTER FROM QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE BY R S AGARWAL
COMMUNICATIONS CHAPTER FROM ROBBINS
ONE CHAPTER FROM M TYRA
& THEN SOLVE ALL MCQS FROM THE CHAPTERS U HAVE READ.

THE IDEA IS TO GAIN EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE IN A SPAN OF 6-8 MONTHS.DON'T GO TOO DEEP.JUST 1 CM DEEP,BUT 1O KM WIDE ...IN PAPER 2 REMEMBER SOME FORMULAE,WRITE THEM DOWN IN XEROX PAPERS & PASTE NEAR UR STUDY TABLE SO THAT U CAN REVISE THEM MANY TIMES ...

BON VOYAGE!