—Mudit Gupta

(Are you preparing for UPSC CSE 2025? You must not ignore the CSAT paper. UPSC Prelims 2024 had a clear message for students that CSAT practice has to be a constant part of preparation. So, UPSC Essentials’ special series ‘UPSC CSAT Simplified’ presents some important topics from the qualifying CSAT paper of UPSC prelims or answers your general queries.)

A veteran aspirant will tell you how a qualifying paper – CSAT – can make or break your dream of Civil Services. Among different sections of CSAT, ‘Reading Comprehension’ is an area where the challenges are many. Are there strategies that can equip you to convert this low-scoring area into a high-scoring one? 

English Reading Comprehension is an integral part of the UPSC CSAT examination, accounting for almost one-third of the paper’s weightage in the last five years. In this article, we will discuss five strategic ways and techniques aspirants can employ to ensure accuracy in English Reading Comprehension.

At the outset, as soon as you see the paragraph, your first task is to identify the theme of the passage. You should be clear about the topic that the author is talking about. Sometimes, the topic may be direct and you can identify it easily. However, if the UPSC decides to make the paragraph tough, the topic may not be directly visible to you.

Let us try and understand this argument with the help of a comprehension passage asked by UPSC in CSAT 2024.

“Not every voice on the internet commands the same kind of audience. When anonymous private entities with high capital can pay for more space for their opinions, they are effectively buying a louder voice. If political discourse in the digital sphere is a matter of outshining one’s opponent till the election is won, then the quality of politics suffers. The focus of social media is restricted to the promotion of content that generates more user engagement, regardless of how inflammatory the content may be.”

At first look, the passage appears to be a passage on social media as a tool of communication that can be used to exchange ideas and election manifestos. However, a deeper understanding of the last line conveys a different meaning implying the use of social media websites as a business tool to generate engagement, click, and ad sense revenue.

Based on the passage, you can be asked direct questions to identify the theme of the passage. The question associated with the above passage in CSAT 2024 was as follows:

Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea of the above passage?

A. Constructed as a marketplace of views, social media ensures instant access to information.

B. Social media are not ideal or moral institutions but the products built by companies to make profits.

C. Social media have been created to strengthen democracies.

D. In today’s world, social media is inevitable for a well-informed social life.

The above question asked by UPSC in CSAT 2024 highlights the importance of theme identification. Direct questions can be asked based on the theme of the passage.

While reading the passage, once you are done identifying the theme, you have to understand the subtle tone and intent of the article. To put it simply, you have to identify whether the author is supporting an argument or is against the underlying theme.

Let us understand this strategy with the help of a passage asked by UPSC in CSAT 2024.

“As inflation rises, even governments previously committed to budget discipline are spending freely to help households. Higher interest rates announced by central banks are supposed to help produce modest fiscal austerity because to maintain stable debts while paying more to borrow, governments must cut spending or raise taxes. Without the fiscal backup, monetary policy eventually loses traction. Higher interest rates become inflationary, not disinflationary because they simply lead governments to borrow more to pay rising debt-service costs. The risk of monetary unmooring is greater when public debt rises because interest rates become more important to budget deficits.”

A careful reading of the passage tells us that the central idea of the above passage is the linkage between monetary and fiscal policy. By identifying the central idea, we have implemented our strategy #1. Now let us try and understand the tone of the article.

The article might have two tones:

1. The linkage between monetary and fiscal policy is not important for the economy.

2. The linkage between monetary and fiscal policy is necessary for an economy.

Once you have understood that the author is trying to project a constructive link between the two policies, it will be easier for you to attempt the question.

The question corresponding to the above passage is as follows:

Which of the following statements best reflects/reflect the most logical and rational inference/inferences that can be made from the passage?

1. Central banks cannot bring down inflation without budgetary backing.

2. The effects of monetary policy depend on the fiscal policies pursued by the government.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

A. 1 only

B. 2 only

C. Both 1 and 2

D. Neither 1 nor 2

In both the statements given above, we see a positive correlation between monetary and fiscal policy and hence, there is a very high likelihood that both statements might be true.

Remember, had the tone of any of the statements depicted a negative correlation between fiscal and monetary policy that statement might have been wrong because the author is trying to portray the positive convergence between the two policies. 

One single paragraph doesn’t need to have only one trend. There can be two diverging trends within the same paragraph. The best way to identify a shift in the trend is to identify the trend-shifting words such as: however, on the contrary, nevertheless, nonetheless, even though, despite, in contrast, and conversely.

Let us illustrate this with the help of a passage asked by UPSC in CSAT 2024.

“When a child reaches adolescence, there is apt to be a conflict between the parents and the child, since the latter considers himself to be by now quite capable of managing his own affairs, while the former are filled with parental solicitude, which is often a disguise for love of power. Parents consider, usually, that the various moral problems which arise in adolescence are peculiarly their province. The options they express, however, are so dogmatic that the young seldom confide in them, and usually go their own way in secret.”

In the last portion of the above passage, the author depicts two contrasting viewpoints. Parents think that solving the problems of their children is the territory of the parents. ‘HOWEVER’ children don’t find the opinion of their parents comfortable and they rather try and solve their problems on their own. The word ‘HOWEVER’ depicts a shift in the trend and tone of the passage. 

Often UPSC would give paragraphs wherein certain difficult words would be used that would be unknown and unfamiliar to you. However, there is no need to panic. We will understand a strategy that will help us understand the meaning of the word in a broader context.

Whenever you encounter an unknown word, never focus on that one word. Rather, focus on the entire line and try to decipher the meaning that the author is trying to convey in that sentence.

Let us understand the application of this premise with the help of an example asked by UPSC in CSAT 2024.

“Only with long experience and opening of his wares on many a beach where his language is not spoken, will the merchant come to know the worth of what he carries, and what is parochial and what is universal in his choice. Such delicate goods as justice, love and honour, courtesy, and indeed all the things we care for, are valid everywhere but they are variously moulded and often differently handled, and sometimes nearly unrecognizable if you meet them in a foreign land, and the art of learning fundamental common values is perhaps the greatest gain of travel to those who wish to live at ease among their fellows.”

The first line uses the word “parochial”. Many of us might not know the meaning of this word because it is not usually used in daily life. However, even if you don’t know the meaning of this word still we can arrive at the approximate meaning that this word is trying to convey.

The line “Only with long experience… will the merchant know …….. what is parochial and what is universal”. The tone of the statement suggests that the author is trying to draw a contrast between two things. The author is trying to convey that with traveling, a merchant will get to know about things that are universal and that are parochial. Or in other words, it is with travelling that a merchant will know about bigger and smaller things in life. The word universal depicts the bigger values of life and the word parochial probably depicts the smaller values of life.

Hence, even if you don’t know the exact meaning of a word, there is nothing to panic about. You just need to understand the broad meaning and the context of the word. 

The pattern of CSAT is such that you have to solve 80 questions in 120 minutes, which brings the average to 1.5 minutes per question. However, since CSAT is qualifying in nature, we don’t need to attempt all 80 questions. 

Keeping this in mind, we can devote 2.5 to 3 minutes to every reading comprehension. It is important to attempt as many questions as we can, however, if you are unable to solve a comprehension within 2.5 to 3 minutes, it is better to skip to the next scoring question.

If you are stuck in understanding the language or trend of the passage, it is always appreciable to skip it rather than scoring 1/3 negative marks or ending up wasting precious time in the exam hall.

(About our Expert: Mudit Gupta has been a mentor and faculty for the UPSC Civil Services exam for 8 years with expertise in CSAT, Polity, International Relations, and Current Affairs. He is known to break complex concepts into simpler ones that allow UPSC aspirants to develop a grip over the subject matter.)

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