(Disclaimer: I’ve compiled here some of my old writings on BCS preliminary exam preparation that were originally written for ‘Prothom Alo’. I crafted these pieces with considerable research for the 36th BCS preliminary examinees. The syllabus and question patterns have undergone significant changes since then. Consequently, the techniques outlined in this note may not be applicable for the 38th BCS and subsequent preliminary examinees—I advise reading this note with this caveat in mind. Good luck!)
Preparation Strategies for English in the 36th BCS Preliminary Examination
There are two kinds of work that never tire you: First, work you love doing. Second, work that without doing, your very existence becomes meaningless.
If I categorize studying for a job as the second type of work, I would say: if you study properly for an average of 15 hours daily during the time remaining for the BCS preliminary exam—without slacking—you will certainly pass the preliminaries. I’m writing for Prothom Alo assuming your preparation stands at zero.
During this period, put as much pressure on yourself as possible and study accordingly. Solve hundreds of English questions that have appeared in various job exams or university admission tests. Verify each answer by consulting various grammar forums online, dictionaries, grammar and usage books, and international standard grammar books. Don’t always trust guidebook answers, as their authors’ knowledge is often limited. Turn one question into a breeding ground for four questions. This means study the other three options alongside the correct answer.
Which of the following sentences is incorrect?
All the faith he had had had had no effect on the outcome of his life.
One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I’ll never know.
The complex houses married and single soldiers and their families.
The man the professor the student has studies Rome.
The rat the cat the dog chased killed ate the malt.
Don’t they all look wrong? The fascinating thing is, none of them are incorrect. Understanding this requires both grammar and common sense. And to develop common sense, there’s no alternative to extensive practice.
Here are some suggestions for BCS preliminary English:
1. Write longer Facebook statuses and comments, and chat in simple English. Daily, translate one or two newspaper editorials. This is demanding work, but extremely helpful for translation and vocabulary. Additionally, read articles on various issues and letters to the editor with understanding, writing them out carefully on paper. Solving the synonym-antonym sections from previous years’ Dhaka University IBA/EMBA admission questions will prove useful.
2. Practice extensively with grammar and usage in the language section from several guidebooks and job solutions, writing everything out.
3. The literature section contains questions that even English honors-masters graduates cannot answer. The rule of competitive exams with negative marking is that you cannot answer everything. Practice with previous BCS questions + job solutions + guidebooks, and explore English literature basics online. Study various common literary terms.
4. When studying grammar questions that cause confusion, delegate the responsibility of resolving that confusion to the dictionary. For instance, the word “Die” takes various prepositions. By examining the examples in the dictionary entry for “Die” and writing out which preposition applies in which context, you shouldn’t forget the patterns.
5. For analogies, mentally construct a simple Bengali sentence using the given word pair. Among the options, the pair that perfectly matches that sentence is the answer.
6. In English, don’t learn grammar first and then practice—learn grammar while practicing.
7. To develop grammar and language sense, read some simple English books. Try reading 15 pages of the Harry Potter series each night before bed—see what happens!
8. Learn five new words daily and write three sentences with each. At day’s end, write at least three pages in simple English about what you did that day.
To excel in English, you must fall in love with a certain ‘lady’—and that lady is the dictionary. Keep within reach: English for Competitive Exams, A Passage to the English Language, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Swan’s Practical English Usage, Barron’s Grammar, Allan’s Living English Structure, Murphy’s English Grammar in Use, Eastwood’s Oxford Practice Grammar, Fitikides’ Common Mistakes in English, among other authoritative books. Develop the habit of painstakingly searching through these books’ indexes for answers—it will serve you well. English must be learned through writing. To succeed in BCS exams, you needn’t be exceptionally good at English, but you must have the mindset to learn English through hard work without fear. For vocabulary, consider McCarthy and O’Dell’s English Vocabulary in Use (all volumes), Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made Easy, along with some local books.
This piece was published in Prothom Alo’s job section on Friday, November 13, 2015. The link is below:
Today I’ll discuss Bengali, Geography, Environment & Disaster Management, and Ethics, Values & Good Governance.
Looking at the BCS preliminary Bengali questions, you’ll feel that except for what appeared in the exam, you know everything else about Bengali. Bengali tends to have more questions that feel ‘familiar yet strange.’
Review the author introduction sections from 9th-10th and 11th-12th grade Bengali first paper textbooks. Thoroughly study Lal-Neel Dipabali, Jigyasa, Mahbubul Alam’s History of Bengali Literature, and previous BCS written Bengali literature questions. Before reading these books, mark and study as many old questions as possible from guidebooks and job solutions. This will help you understand what types of questions appear most frequently in exams. Read repeatedly rather than memorize; this aids retention. Keep in mind that you won’t be able to answer all literature questions, and prepare accordingly. For Bengali grammar, study relevant chapters from Bengali Language Grammar and Hayat Mamud’s ‘Language Learning’ following the syllabus topics. Don’t strain to memorize the most difficult, intricate grammar questions. BCS isn’t an exam where you must know everything. Difficult questions don’t carry extra marks, so instead of spending excessive time learning one difficult question, use that same time to learn ten easy questions.
For Geography, Environment & Disaster Management, thoroughly study the relevant chapters from the 9th-10th grade Social Science textbook, along with 3-4 market guidebooks.
The Ethics, Values & Good Governance section requires common sense above all. Alongside 3-4 guidebooks, you might also consult Muhammad Habibur Rahman’s ‘Good for Citizens to Know.’ Answering all questions in this section essentially invites negative marking.
I’ll conclude today’s writing with some general tips.
1. Spend 4 hours planning how to organize the next 40 days for studying 6 subjects. Complete each day’s work that day. If previous work remains unfinished, don’t reduce that day’s workload; instead, reduce sleep time and increase study time.
2. Before sitting to study, write down on paper what you’ll study that day and how much. Always think on paper!
36th BCS Preliminary Exam Strategies: Bangladesh Studies + International Affairs
When I was taking the BCS exam, general knowledge was my weakest area (I could barely manage it, to be honest). If I only had one month left for the preliminary exam, with the test scheduled for January 5th, here’s what I would have done based on my current thinking:
1. Instead of reading entire newspapers, I would focus only on essential headlines. There’s no time for columns and articles during this period.
2. I would take at least 3-4 model test sets daily from various guidebooks.
3. I would repeatedly review question-answers with explanations from Job Solution and preliminary digests.
4. I would buy and read special preliminary editions of Current Affairs, Current World, Current News, and similar books.
5. I would definitely stop discussing general knowledge with friends who were better than me at it.
6. Rather than worrying about what I didn’t know, I would focus on reviewing other subjects well. The BCS exam isn’t a test of scholarly expertise in general knowledge.
7. Studying an average of 15 hours daily would allow at most 70 hours for general knowledge over 30 days. With such limited time, it’s better not to read reference books.
8. While studying, I would keep only one thing in mind: will what I’m reading be useful for the exam or not? This certainly isn’t the time for knowledge acquisition.
9. The more you can skip unnecessary material, the better. This allows multiple revisions of essential content.
10. It’s better to quickly cover most material than to read slowly and miss some essential topics. This builds confidence.
11. Reading question-answers from 3 guidebooks is far more useful than reading 4 reference books.
12. There’s no time now to study general knowledge according to the BCS preliminary syllabus. I would read as many question-answers as possible from question banks, guidebooks, and digests.
13. There are many difficult questions that don’t stick in memory even after repeated reading. Instead of trying to memorize them, I would focus on remembering 20 easy questions in the same time it takes to struggle with 5 difficult ones. Unnecessary stubbornness ruins exam preparation.
14. I would repeatedly read and try to memorize years, dates, numbers, treaties, various theories, organizations, and meetings.
15. Many old exam questions in general knowledge have lost relevance over time. I would skip those.
16. Many questions can be easily answered by searching in English on Google or in Bengali using Avro. This saves considerable time.
17. To learn about recent events, treaties, various awards, international organizations, headquarters, place names, international wars and treaties, I would regularly scan the international pages of different newspapers.
18. This is not the time for memorizing maps, remembering trivia through rhymes-songs-poems-stories, learning world capitals and currencies by heart, forcibly memorizing the constitution, or cramming economic survey statistics. Such foolish, self-satisfying study methods have no place now. “This is not a day for playing with flowers!”
19. I would break the habit of being shocked by surprising questions. The notion that “I must study everything everyone else is studying” is particularly harmful for competitive exam preparation.
20. Wandering around outside might feel good, but it reduces study time. Every hour spent roaming outside instead of studying properly at home during these 30 days is another nail in your coffin—you’ll understand this clearly after the results come out!
I believe game results always come after the game ends—not before, not during. Until results are announced, I’m no less capable than anyone else. Just as good preparation doesn’t guarantee passing, poor preparation doesn’t guarantee failure. Taking a good exam is more important than having good preparation. If you give your maximum effort during these few days, studying wisely and diligently, you will definitely pass the preliminary exam. What matters isn’t what you haven’t studied before, but what you study in this one month—this will determine your pass or fail. The next month’s devotion will write the account of your life! Good luck!
This article was published in Prothom Alo’s career section on Friday, December 4, 2015. The link is below:
With ’emotional intelligence’—that is, combining an intense desire to join the civil service with some practical wisdom—make excellent use of the next few days. Rather than sitting in front of the public library from morning to evening, feeling pleased about reading many things but not studying what’s actually needed, it’s better to study properly at home for 12 hours and rest for the remaining time. I believe success is a selfish game! ‘Together we will build our dreams’ doesn’t apply to every aspect of life.
About General Science & Technology:
Remember, your basic science knowledge won’t give you much extra advantage.
The more questions you read, the better.
Read all questions from at least 3 guidebooks/digests.
It’s actually better not to read reference books at this time.
There’s nothing to understand deeply—just read repeatedly. One extra revision of a topic means at least 5 more marks.
Keep a regular eye on the computer and technology sections of newspapers.
About Mathematics:
When practicing, solve problems in the small space beside questions in the guide, not on separate paper.
For some questions, instead of doing the math, eliminate 2 of the 4 given options and think through the remaining 2—this saves considerable time.
Practice many similar math problems to remember shortcut formulas.
Practice math continuously. The more you follow the principle ‘in your head, not on paper,’ the better!
Decide beforehand how much time you’ll spend on each section in the preliminary exam. During model tests, check with your watch how quickly you can solve all math problems. Gradually reduce this time.
Rather than textbooks, solve all math problems from at least 2 good guidebooks using shortcuts.
About Mental Ability:
Leave a few confusing questions unanswered.
Marks in this section depend on keeping a cool head and quick thinking ability, not preparation.
Solve 4 sets of guidebooks and, if possible, analytical questions from Dhaka University Evening MBA admission tests.
Take model tests daily—from guides and, when possible, from various Indian websites online.
Accept beforehand that questions will be easy, but you’ll make silly mistakes.
You’ll study for the preliminary exam and forget, then read again and keep reading repeatedly; this will create a mental ‘image’ of the question-answers. Control your natural urge to read everything. Suppose you want
5. What is the square root of 15.6025? This question was deliberately set to make some people waste time foolishly trying to solve it. What’s the point, friend? The easiest question in the 36th BCS exam was “What is the current government of Bangladesh’s greatest achievement?” That too carried only 1 mark! Yet without knowing the simple technique, calculating that square root to earn the same 1 mark would take at least 20 times longer! But difficult questions still carry the same 1 mark!
6. At how many points do two parallel lines intersect? This question has no answer. Which is the correct spelling? Same story!
7. Credit Tk 5000 _ my account. Anyone who checks mobile banking messages should be able to answer this in less than a second.
8. Verb of ‘Number’ is— This question has two answers; both ‘number’ and ‘enumerate’ work. So this question is also confusing.
9. ‘Gitanjali’ of Rabindranath Tagore was translated by— This question also has no proper answer, but PSC accepts W.B. Yeats as the answer. Well, who said they have to accept it? They might not! Yeats didn’t even know Bengali! So how could he have translated Gitanjali? ……. No point arguing too much. Simply put, this is another confusing question.
The wise approach is this: there’s no need to answer confusing questions! Talking about wrong questions? Well, whether you answer wrong questions or not, it’s the same. Everyone gets average marks for those.
Five. With the difficult questions in the 35th BCS exam, PSC gave this hint to 36th BCS candidates: “Study tremendously hard to strengthen your basics, otherwise you’ll fail the preliminary! Just reading market books won’t help much.” With the easy questions in the 36th BCS exam, PSC has given this hint to 37th BCS candidates: “Study tremendously hard to strengthen your basics, otherwise when the 35th BCS exam pattern ‘returns’ after a ‘gap,’ you’ll fail the preliminary! But not reading market books won’t help much either.”
From the day before yesterday until writing this note, I’ve received at least 1500+ inbox messages and phone calls asking “What might be the cut-off marks for the 36th BCS exam?” Among those who contacted me were candidates from ‘good, average, poor’ — all three types of educational institutions. After silently studying various Facebook groups on this topic, some insights have come to mind.
One. Easy questions mean even 0.5 marks matter a lot here!
Two. Questions are easy, so let’s quickly mark everything in joy! — In this excitement and nervous pressure, many have marked wrong answers to many questions. (I would have done the same if I had taken the exam.)
Three. If PSC gives 10,000 candidates a chance for the written exam, the cut-off marks will be 105-109.
If PSC gives 12-15,000 candidates a chance for the written exam, the cut-off marks will be 99-102.
If PSC gives 20-22,000 candidates a chance for the written exam, the cut-off marks will be 91-98.
Now let me conclude this writing with some final words.
One. None of us know how many candidates PSC will give a chance for the written exam this time. However, my personal opinion is that this time’s cut-off marks will be between 93-100.
Two. You’re not the only one who marked known things wrong; even whoever will top the 36th BCS combined merit list has marked them wrong too. So there’s nothing to be so upset about.
Three. Most of those big claimers and big scholars who boast about getting huge marks will fail hugely and provide us all with huge entertainment. Let the results come out and see what happens! Just wait & see!!
Four. After the preliminary results are announced, you won’t have much time to prepare for the written exam. The BCS exam is mainly about performing well in the written test. I can challenge and say that if someone properly studies tremendously hard for the written exam, there’s a 95% chance they’ll be among the top 10 in the merit list. The remaining 5% depends on luck. Don’t believe in luck? Fine, just try taking the BCS exam with proper preparation once!
I’ll write later about how to start studying for the written exam. (Interested readers can check my Facebook notes on written exam preparation strategies. I have at least 15+ Facebook notes on the written exam.) That’s all for now! May God bless you all.
Best wishes
Sushanta Paul
A senior colleague of yours
Awesome words sir
Thank you….
Learning is a continues process….
Namoskar Sir,I would like to special thanks for kind information sharing with us. I have a question for you,Sir. That is, which publications is the best for guide book?
Can you tell me please sir. Best wishes for you &your family. I’m not good in English. But trying my best to write in English. Thank you dear sir.
Absolutely informative to a fresher like me. Thanks a lot.
nice
ALHAMDULILLAH
valo laglo sir
Sir, give some suggestions for 45 BCS