Strategy and Recommended books for SSC CGL 2014

SSC CGL Mathematics or Quantitative Aptitude

SSC CGL Tier-1 2014 exam is not far away now. If you really want to score good marks in this exam, you must follow a proper plan for that. As you all know, SSC CGL Tier-1 Paper contains 200 Questions each of one mark. Mathematics Section has 50 Questions in CGL TIER I Exam. Mathematics is not too difficult. It requires the concept clarity and practice. In SSC-CGL exam, Mathematics is the part of both Tier I and Tier II.So you need more focus
on Maths.

Stage	Questions	Negative Marking
Tier I	50 Questions (01 marks each)	- 0.25 marks each
Tier II Quantitative aptitude	100 Questions (02 marks each)	- 0.50 marks each

Approach

First see the topics of Quantitative aptitude in SSC notification, and divide it into topics, and try to practice one topic a day. Please don’t try to do topic of another chapter before completing a particular chapter. 

  Learn all the basic formulas, learn conceptual clarity and try to solve maximum questions of each topic.

Try to learn short cut of each topic, otherwise you will not able to solve all question during your examination quickly. Always jot down the short cuts so you will not forget them.

  Please give at least one to two hours daily to mathematics.

  Try to solve mock practice paper (all 04 sections) of Tier I on daily basis. 

Recommended book Arihant Fast Track Objective Arithmetic by Rajesh Verma.

	Author
Quantitative Aptitude For Competitive Examinations (S.Chand)	R.S.Agarwal
Quantum CAT (Arihant)	Sarvesh Kumar
Fast Track Objective Arithmetic (Arihant)	Rajesh Verma

• The point is, both books of Arihant Publication (Sarvesh or Rajesh) are way better than R.S.Agarwal, in terms of content, presentation, language and coverage, without being too expensive than R.S.Agarwal’s book.
• And both of them have universal application for almost all of the competitive exams in India (for maths segment).
• My advice, go with either Rajesh Verma or Sarvesh Kumar. Then the question, which one to pick up?

Chapters and Topics for SSC CGL TIER I Exam

Chapter	Topics	Strategy
Number System	1. Divisibility & Remainders 2. LCM and HCF 3. Unknown numbers from given conditions. 4. Fractions comparisons.	NCERT Class 7 Chap 2, 9 NCERT Class 10 Chap 1 Quantitative aptitude book
Basic Mathematics	1. Simplification (BODMAS)	NCERT Class 8 Chap 1
	2. Surds and indices	NCERT Class 8 Chap 12 NCERT Class 9 Chap 1
	3. Roots, squares & Cubes	NCERT Class 8 Chap 6 and 7. Quant book & short tricks
Algebra	1. Linear equation	NCERT Class 8 Chap 2 and 9. NCERT Class 9 Chap 4 NCERT Class 10 Chap 3. Quantitative aptitude book
	2. Quadratic equations and Polynomials	NCERT Class 8 Chap 14 NCERT Class 9 Chap 2 NCERT Class 10 Chap 4 Quantitative aptitude book
Average & Ratio	Allegation & mixture
	Simple Average	Quantitative aptitude book
	Ratio & proportion	NCERT Class 8 Chap 13
	Partnership	Quantitative aptitude book
Time & Distance	1. Time, speed & distance 2. Problem on trains 3. Boat & stream 4. Time and Work 5. Pipes and Cisterns	To clear the concept, solve first by using STD formula from your aptitude book, Then use Short tricks. All question based on these topics can be solved by trick within few seconds.
Geometry	1. Angles, sides, bisectors & circles etc	NCERT Class 9 Chap 6, 7, 8 and 10. Quantitative aptitude book.
	2. Mensuration (Area and Volume)	NCERT Class 8 Chap 3 & 11. NCERT Class 9 Chap 9, 12, 13. NCERT Class 10 Chap 13
	3. Trigonometry	NCERT Class 10 Chap 8 and 9 Quantitative Aptitude book Our Website Study Material Notes
Percentage	(increase, decrease in consumption, population)	NCERT Class 8 Chap 8
Data interpretation	DI	Quantitative Aptitude book & DI notes from our study material section
Profit & Loss	1. Profit & Loss 2. Discount & Marked Price 3. SI & CI	Quantitative Aptitude book & Notes from our study material section
Miscellaneous	1. Coordinate Geometry	Asked in SSC 2012, Can be solved through formulas given in Quantitative Aptitude book.
	2. Progression (AP + GP)	NCERT Class 10 Chap 5 Quantitative Aptitude book

Question Breakup: SSC-CGL Tier I (2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013)

Chapter	2010	2011	2012	2013
Number System	06	05	02	02
Basic Mathematics	11	11	05	01
Algebra	06	00	05	05
Ratio & Partnership	03	03	01	03
Average & Allegation	03	03	02	02
Time & Distance	06	05	02	05
Geometry	03	05	12	09
Trigonometry	00	00	09	08
Percentage + Profit & loss	06	14	05	06
Data Interpretation	03	04	05	07
Miscellaneous	03	00	02	02
Total	50	50	50	50

Download: Free NCERT Mathematics Textbooks

è Mathematics Class 8 Download 

è Mathematics Class 9 Download 

è Mathematics Class 10 Download 

In the SSC exam, you have to face English at two stages

Tier I (prelims)	50 questions (other 150 question will come from GK, Maths and Reasoning)	2 hours
Tier II (mains) Paper II	200 questions	2 hours

• Negative marking: Yes

Topic-wise breakup for SSC-English (tier I and II)

Vocabulary

	Tier I			Tier II
	2010	2011	2010	2011	2010	2011
Antonym	5	5	5	5	5	3
Synonym/Substitution	10	5	10	10	10	15
Idioms	0	5	5	5	5	10
Spelling	5	5	5	5	5	3
Fill In Blanks	0	15	5	30	20	10
Vocab Subtotal	20	35	30	55	45	41

Grammar

	Tier I			Tier II
	2010	2011	2012	2010	2011	2012
Sentence Correction	5	5	5	20	20	20
Sentence Improvement	5	5	5	20	20	22
Direct-Indirect	5	5	0	25	25	27
Active-Passive	5	0	0	20	20	20
Grammar Subtotal	20	15	10	85	85	89

Sentence Arrangement + Comprehension

	Tier I			Tier II
	2010	2011	2012	2010	2011	2012
Sentence Arrangement	5	0	0	10	20	20
Comprehension	5	0	10	50	50	50
Subtotal	10	0	10	60	70	70

Overall: SSC-English  (Tier 1 And 2)

		Tier I			Tier II
		2010	2011	2012	2010	2011	2012
Vocabulary	Synonyms Antonyms Fill in the blanks (single statement) Fill in the blank (huge paragraph) Spelling mistake Idioms and phrases One word substitution (similar to synonyms)	20	35	30	55	45	41
Grammar	Sentence improvement sentence correction Active passive Direct-indirect	20	15	10	85	85	89
Comprehension	Comprehension Sentence Arrangement	10	0	10	60	70	70
Total	Grand Total	50	50	50	200	200	200

• The SSC exams, the English questions usually come in the multiple of “fives” e.g. 5 question on synonyms,  then 5 on antonyms and so on. (tier 1)
• Similarly in tier-ii, 10 questions on fill in the blanks, 20 questions on active passive and so on.
• Please do not live in overconfidence that “SSC is a “pappu” exam and I’m a master of English. so I don’t need to prepare anything for vocabulary or grammar.“
• If you observe the previous SSC papers particularly the tier-II papers of English, the vocabulary portion is not “pappu” at times, they ask  meaning of words that are not used in the day to day English.
• Similarly, a lot of things that we say and write in English in our day-to-day life, are not grammatically correct. So you may not be able to tick the right choice in sentence correct/ improvement question.

First of all, get a fullscape notebook / diary. Divide it into two parts

1. Grammar
2. Vocabulary. (last 50 pages)

Vocabulary?

Vocabulary is of critical importance in SSC exam because of following reasons

1. There are direct questions on synonyms, antonyms, idioms and phrases.
2. You can read the passage faster, if your vocabulary is good, else you’ll have to pause and think.
3. In comprehension passages, some questions are in the format of “what is the meaning of XYZ word in the sentence”

Apart from SSC, if you’re planning to appear for CAPF , LIC or PSU exams – they usually have a descriptive paper (précis, letter writing, essay etc.)

• If you’re planning for UPSC, or State PSC, both have compulsory English paper during Mains. Again (précis, letter writing, essay etc.)
• So, you’ll have to write English essay someday and without good vocabulary you can’t write a decent essay.

How to improve vocabulary?

• There is no dearth of ready-made books in the market for “vocabulary”.
• Any Tom Dick or Harry can download a list of synonyms, antonyms, idioms and phrases from Google search and publish a book.
• But such books are useless because unfamiliar words don’t stay long-term memory.

Vocab: Basics

Most of the “so-called” books on English vocabulary, written by Indian authors, and merely rephrasing the concept of Norman Lewis’s book “Word Power made easy”+ copy pasting some synonyms-antonym list from google search. My advice: Use this book called Word Power made easy by    Norman Lewis   This book does not merely contain meaning of words but also helps you “guestimate” answers and probable meanings of unfamiliar words. Because Norman Lewis explains how English vocabulary has evolved from certain roots. He has also explained the spelling rules. Once you’re selected in some exam, gift this book to your siblings, friends or cousin. Really helpful for everyone, irrespective whether he/she is appearing in some competitive exam / not.

How-to approach Norman Lewis?

From outside, the book looks very thick and heavy just like Manorama yearbook. But actually this book is written in a very lucid, easy, reader friendly language. You can read it like a storybook after-dinner.

Structure of the book

Basics of vocabulary	This is subdivided into About 40 sessions (mini-chapters). Try to finish 3-4 sessions per day. Complete all the exercises given at the end of each session.
Appendix	In the appendix, he has given meaning of all the words you learned in above sessions. I suggest you go through this list at least three times. Why? Because while going through old papers of SSC, I realized that sometimes they’ve directly lifted words from this book in synonyms question!

Vocabulary: Advanced

• Download free software called “WordWeb”: http://wordweb.info/free/
• It is also available for android phones, tablets etc. for free (links on the same site).
• Keep a habit of reading in English on daily basis- be it English-newspaper, magazine or some web-article.
• While reading such things, whenever you come across any difficult word- note down in your diary, along with the sentence in which it appeared. (please keep in mind that absolute words do not stay long-term memory. You have to connect them with a sentence or context.)
• Then lookup for its meaning in the Wordweb software, and write down the meaning back in your diary/notebook.
• Repeat this exercise, until you’re selected in some exam.

This pretty concludes the approach for Vocabulary.
Moving to the next topic:

English Grammar: Approach

In the SSC exam, you have to face English grammar in following areas

1. Sentence correction
2. Sentence improvement.
3. Active passive
4. direct indirect speech

Approaching Grammar

Task #1: Active Passive (voice) and Direct-Indirect (speech)

• This is no-excuse topic. Because it relies on a set of simple rules, almost like math formulas.
• And usually Tier I has 10 questions on Voice+speech
• and tier-II has almost 40-45 questions on these two topics alone.
• Understand the grammar rules and practice maximum questions.
• In your “diary” note down any special/odd rules you come across- including example sentences.

Task #2: Sentence Correction+Improvement

To master sentence correction, you’ve to master two subtopics:

1. Grammar rules
2. Phrasal verbs

Grammar Rules

• First of all you need to know the grammar rules. But you don’t need to know all grammar rules!
• Because in competitive exam, sentence correction relies on certain specific mistakes only.

For example: The topic “verb” has lot of theory and classifications.
But for “sentence correction”, it boils down to very few rules for example

1. Either, Neither, none, each and every is singular.

Wrong	Each of the soldiers are disciplined
Right	Each of the soldiers is disciplined.

Your task = first go through your grammar book, and note down such rules with example statements, in your note book. Revise these rules often (along with example sentences).

Phrasal Verbs

• Grammar rules are like maths. Universal valid.
• But Phrasal verbs are different game altogether. You need to know memorize the correct usage- case to case basis. For example:

Correct phrasal verb	Wrong Usage
Dispose of= sell.	He has decided to dispose off his property.
Dispose to= willing, interested.	He is disposed in discussing that business proposition.

• Both statements are wrong because phrasal verbs are incorrectly used.
• Many a times, candidates know the grammar rules very well, but they fail to detect the error in sentence because they’ve not prepared the phrasal verbs.
• Standard English has truckload of phrasal verbs. But you should at least know the top/common 200 of them. (can be goggled and also available in various grammar books).
• You next task: revise the list often and write down the very confusing ones into your diary: with example sentence.

Once this is done, try to solve as many practice questions as you can.

Comprehension + Sentence Arrangement

• Just one word: Practice.
• The best source for practice= old papers of SSC, IBPS.

Recommended Book for English Grammar

There is no dearth of books on in English-grammar in the market. Some people might even advise you to use    “Wren and Martin”     etc. but such books are written from board exams/ academic point of view. And for the competitive exams, we don’t need to study everything of English grammar, we just need a set of rules and practice questions. If you already have some IBPS Manual/ some English grammar book (R.S.Agarwal, A.P.Bhardwaj) etc. use it. If you don’t have any book, I suggest you go for  Objective general English by SP Bakshi (Arihant Publication). He has given direct “rules” and example-sentences from competitive exam point of view. =makes  it easy to handle sentence correction. Plus, the book also contains good list of phrasal verbs, idioms and vocabulary. While most English grammar books cost for around Rs.300, SP Bakshi is half that price. (Around 150) and yet coverage is same, including number of pages. And it has Universal application for all exams: IBPS, LIC, PSU, CDS etc.

Note: Arihant publication has released multiple books on English grammar and two of them have similar sounding names. So please donot mixup.

	Author	Pages (approx.)	Comment
General English for All Competitive Examinations by S.C.Gupta	S.C.Gupta	370	Not recommended because it contains mostly practice tests and very few rules on grammar= not comprehensive enough.
Objective general English by SP Bakshi.	S.P.Bakshi	730	This is the recommended book.