CSS Compulsory Subjects Preparation -- Highly Recommended Books and Resources
ENGLISH PRECIS AND COMPOSITION
For English Precis and Composition paper, use:
Practical English
Grammar by Thomas and Martinet mainly for preparing direct and indirect
sentences, change of voice (Active voice, Passive Voice) and use of Phrasal
Verbs (which often appear in the Idioms part).
Paragraphs and Essays
by Prof. Ifitkhar (Bhatti publishers) for preparing the 250-300 words
composition part. It will also help you to a limited extent for attempting the
100 marks English Essay paper.
Polymer English
grammar or any other B.A. level grammar for pair of words and idioms plus
PAST PAPERS. Enlist the complete list of pair of words and idioms for at least
past 10 to 15 years. If you are not satisfied with the quality of sentences in
the Polymer or any other English Grammar which you are using you can also use
oxford dictionary for the Pair of Words part in order to get better usage of
paired words in sentences and a book by the name of Chambers Idioms (or Penguin
Dictionary of Idioms or Oxford
Dictionary of Idioms) for the Idioms part. This track will definitely take
some time but the quality you will get will be perfect for the highest score.
WORD SMART I & II
By Princeton Review for Vocabulary part. If you don’t have the time to go
through whole of these two books, never mind! Check out their SAT and GRE Hit
Parade sections given at the end. I scored 10 out of 10 in the vocabulary
section because of these two books.
For the Correction of sentences part, use any GMAT book. It contains the best available material, exercises and tips for the preparation of the correction of sentences part (Note: Correction of Sentences is also a part of the GMAT exam but the GMAT exam, in general, has no relevance to the CSS exam).
PAKISTAN AFFAIRS
For Pakistan Affairs, use:
Trek to Pakistan
by Ahmad Saeed (for pre-1947 period),
Constitutional and
political history of Pakistan by Hamid Khan...for post-1947 period (Oxford
press),
Issues in Pakistan’s
Economy by Akbar S. Zaidi (Oxford Press) for questions like agriculture,
industry, economy etc.
Don’t forget to check past papers and FPSC Syllabus for
Pakistan Affairs. You will get to know the exact questions/topics which you
need to prepare from these books.
ISLAMIAT
For Islamiat in Urdu, use:
Islami
nazariya-e-hayat by Prof. Khurshid Ahmad and
Islam ka
nizam-e-hayat by Dr. Liaqat Niazi
For getting top marks in the translation of Suuraahs part, go to your local/college/university
library or a mosque near you and locate Tafseer
of the Holy Quran by Maulana Moududi and get the pages containing the
translation and explanation of the last 10 Suuraahs of the Tafseer photocopied and cram them.
CURRENT AFFAIRS
For Current Affairs, use:
Contemporary affairs
by Imtiaz Shahid,
Strategic studies
(quarterly) by the institute of strategic studies, Islamabad...edited by
Shireen Mazari…check out its website as well http://www.issi.org.pk
,
Current Affairs
Digest by Dr. Safdar Mahmood,
Read Dawn editorials
on daily basis. Also read Dawn articles which you feel are relevant to a
certain current affairs topic. Make folder for each topic and keep cuttings
relevant to the topic in that folder.
There is a quarterly international magazine by the name of Foreign Affairs and it is usually available
in every resourceful library. This magazine will give you quality content on
various topics of Current International Affairs. You can also check their
website http://www.foreignaffairs.com/
but it provides limited content if you don’t have the subscription to the site.
I recommend searching your local library for the magazine.
EVERYDAY SCIENCE
For Everyday science, use:
Everyday science by Dr. Riaz-ul-haq (Dogar's Unique publishers)
Latest Edition. Don’t forget to see the attempted past papers section.
Everyday Science by Imtiaz
Shahid. Don’t forget to see the attempted past papers section.
Don’t forget to see maximum number of past papers and the
FPSC Syllabus in this case. I recommend that you enlist the maximum number of
objective type questions from the maximum number of past papers and then look
for their answers in the above-recommended books. This method will be extremely
helpful in passing this particular exam for candidates who don’t have a strong
background in science i.e. Arts students.
If you have plenty of time, you can also prepare most of the
topics from science books of Matric/F.Sc.
or O-levels which most of you would already have read.
ENGLISH ESSAY
I have deliberately kept this paper at the end of my post.
Needless to mention, this is the top-most flunked compulsory paper in the CSS
written exam. It certainly demands separate attention. But for this post, I have
mentioned sufficient resources/books/newspaper etc. in the current affairs and
English précis and composition sections which will load you with the essential
material, vocabulary and grammar preparation required to write an essay of 1000
to 1500 words comfortably.
But on the elements of a good essay i.e. the essay that
becomes an easy candidate for passing this particular paper, I’ll soon write a
detailed post. In case I am unable to write that post in the near future and
your exam is approaching fast, keep these few tips in mind. They will help you
in getting through this paper.
Choose the topic with which you are most comfortable and the
one about which you are most knowledgeable.
Make a detailed outline of your essay preferably at the
start of your answer sheet. Spend at least half an hour out of the given 3
hours on it. The outline will help you in writing your material in a logical and
coherent manner. Keep adding further points to the outline as and when they
strike your mind during the course of writing your essay.
Avoid spellings and grammar mistakes.
Avoid giving headings in the essay. Instead give headings in
your outline upon which you’ll deliberate in the body of your essay later but
not in the essay.
Write a strong and meaningful introduction relevant to the
topic. Preferably it must contain an executive summary of your essay.
Give a strong, meaningful and positive ending. Avoid
negativity/pessimism at the ending.
That’s it for the time being. Good luck to all of you!
