(Download) UPSC Mains 2013 : English Compulsory Exam Paper
ENGLISH (COMPULSORY)
Time Allowed : Three hours
Maximum Marks : 300
QUESTION PAPER SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS
1. Write short essays in about 300 words on each of the following:
(a) We Indians are hypocrites
(b) Fitness and healthcare – latest fad in urban India.
2. Read carefully the passage given below and write your answers to the
questions that follow in clear, correct and concise language of your own:
In barely one generation, we’ve moved from exulting in
the time-saving devices that have so expanded our lives, to trying to get
away from them – often, in order to make more time. The more ways we have to
connect, the more many of us seem desperate to unplug. Like a teenager, we
appear to have gone from knowing nothing about the world to knowing too
much, all but overnight.
The average person spends at least eight and half
hours a day in front of the screen. The average teenager spends or receives
75 text message a day. Since luxury, as any economist will tell you, is a
function of scarcity, the children of tomorrow will crave nothing more than
freedom, if only for a short while, from all the blinking machines,
streaming videos and scrolling headlines that leave them feeling empty, and
too full all at once. The urgency of slowing down – to find the time and
space to think – is nothing new, of course, and wiser souls have always
reminded us that the more attention we pay to the moment, the less time and
energy we have to place it in some larger context. Even half a century ago,
Marshall McLuhan warned, “When things come at you very fast, naturally you
lose touch with yourself.”
Yet few of those voices can be heard these days,
precisely because ‘breaking news’ is coming through perpetually on the news
channels, and Meena is posting images of her summer vacation and the phone
is ringing. We barely have enough time to see how little time we have. And
the more that floods in on us, the less of ourselves we have to give to
every snippet.
We have more and more and more ways to communicate, as
Thoreau noted, but less and less to say. Partly because we are so busy
communicating. And – as he might also have said – we are rushing to meet so
many deadlines that we hardly register that what we need most are lifelines.
So what to do? The central paradox of the machines that have made our lives
so much brighter, quicker, longer and healthier is that they cannot teach us
how to make the best use of them; the information revolution came without an
instruction manual. All the data in the world cannot teach us how to make
the best use of them; the information revolution came without an instruction
manual. All the data in the world cannot teach us how to sift through data;
images don’t show us how to process images. The only way to do justice to
our onscreen lives is by summoning exactly the emotional and moral clarity
that cannot be found on any screen.
Maybe that is why more and more people, even if they
have no religious commitment, seem to be turning to yoga or meditation, or
tai chi; these are not New Age fads spo much as ways to connect with what
could be called the wisdom of old age. A series of tests in recent years has
shown that after spending time in a quiet rural setting, subjects “exhibit
greater attentiveness, stronger memory and generally improved cognition,
Their brains become both calmer and sharper.” More than that, empathy, as
well as deep thought, depends on neural processes that are “inherently
slow”. The very ones our high-speed lives have little time for.
Questions:
(a) According to the author, what is likely to become a scarcity in the
future?
(b) What ability have people lost thanks to the constant inflow of data?
(c) Why does the author say, “We have more and more ways to communicate, but
less and less to say”?
(d) Why are people making an active interest in old-age fads?
(e) Why is the modern man unable to empathise with others?
3. (a) Make a precis of the following passage in about one-third of its
length. Please do not suggest a title.
Honesty is business dealings or in other areas are not
the only measures of morals and values. The strength of character of a
person is also measured by uncompromising aversion to cowardice, intrigue,
envy, ambiguity, falsehood, disloyalty, treachery, in short, all undignified
actions. There are, in reality, few human beings endowed with a truly
spotless character. This is because an almost immaculate character does not
exist until the last lives human form. Educated individuals are not
necessarily endowed with good morals and values. Infact, some of them use
education and their intellect as a tool for deceit. However, the advantages
and the need for education and culture cannot be denied. They contribute
largely for the development of intellectual ability and the power to reason,
which are the means by which the spirit analyses, compares, infers and
arrived at conclusions in the search for truth about the meaning of life.
The most precious assets of the soul are its morals and values, but they are
not easy to build. The character of each person requires longer periods of
thoughtfulness, reasoning and the practice of those values, during many
reincarnations, in the course of which, ideas sink in under life
experiences. It is only after enduring much disillusionment, grief,
injustice and ingratitude for many successive corporeal lives, that a person
will be able to measure, in the innermost recesses of his soul, the extent
of human moral misery. Then, disgusted, he rebels against it and opens the
door to more ethical and honorable life. Thus, having known and experienced
suffering, the spirit, in countless reincarnations, gradually frees itself
from evil actions and through enlightenment and conviction follows the rigid
tracks of a flawless conduct. It is of great significance to talk about
morals and values but it is also crucial to define the lines of character
that everyone should consider in their lives. Some of the most important
ones are: good judgement, fairness, common sense, punctuality,loyalty,
courage, magnanimity, dignity, gratitude, politeness, faithfulness,
moderation, truthfulness, self-respect for others, etc. All these qualities,
if properly cultivated, compose a prime set of dignifying virtues which
accounts for a refined character. For example, we all make mistakes and to
err his human. However, once an honest person is advised and becomes
convinced of his mistake, he should admit it and try not to repeat it.
Unfortunately it s common practice to conceal one’s mistakes, instead of
avoiding them. This is very detrimental to spiritual growth. Most people
seldom use impartiality and justice in the innermost evaluation of their own
actions. Even those who are too harsh in the judgement of other people’s
actions, for whom they always have words of criticism and reproach, do not
escape the usual tendency. When their own faults are concerned, they find a
full, lenient, absolvement justification. In this way, not only it denotes
lack of character, but mistakes often end up incorporated to human habits.
By acting this way, an individual loses his self-respect and his sense of
character and dignity and becomes corrupted. What everyone should do, is to
face up his mistakes and avoid new mistakes, by improving his sense of
morals and values, with the help of his will-power.
To
improve skill development administration in the country, the government on
Wednesday approved the raising of a new Group A service cadre—the Indian Skill
Development Service.
The
expert committee set up by the government to review the scheme, syllabus and
pattern of UPSC's civil services examination will examine if there is a case for
prescribing different papers for selection to different participating services
like IAS and IPS, and study the option of expediting selection process through
IT solutions including an online examination. 
