CAPF General Studies 2022 Questions

Q1. Write essays on any four of the following in about 300 words each : (20 x 4 = 80)

(a) The campaign to save the endangered species.

(b) What can be done to stop wars ?

(d) Price rise : causes and effects

(e) A synthesis of Eastern wisdom and Western science : a needed goal for humanity.

(f) The Indian Armed Forces are a combination of strategic thinking and timely action.

Q2. Write arguments for and against each of the following statements: (20 x 2 = 40)

(a) Video games sharpen the mind.

(b) United Nations Organisation has become redundant.

Q3. Write reports on the following in about 200 words each : (10 x 2 = 20)

(a) Evidences of fellow feeling during the COVID-19 pandemic

(b) Green energy progress in India

Q4. Attempt a précis of the given passage in one-third of its length. Do not suggest a title. Write, as far as possible, in your own words. The précis must be written only in the précis-format given below. (15)

Only that person can be healthy who feels happiness, and happiness can only be felt by the person who has peace of mind. Fulfilment of basic needs, peace and happiness are the three things desired by man. These can be prioritized. To regulate the journey of life, fulfilling basic needs are a priority. Happiness is a priority for the agreeable feelings it generates. And comforts cannot give happiness to a person unless he has peace.

Rather than seek the gratification of desires, the Indian ethos espouses its antithesis - contentment - as the source of happiness. Contentment in this context refers to a state of mind in which the potential psychic energy, known as libido in Western psychology, is transformed into a serene mental quality, rather than actualized as a desire that needs to be gratified or repressed.

A craving for fame and wealth often results in moral depravity, and in many cases personal destruction. The greatest of woes comes from not knowing contentment; the greatest of faults comes from craving for gains. The nature of humanity and, for that matter, of all creatures, was to live in a simple way, partaking no more than what was needed to maintain the healthy growth of the organism. Beyond that limit were selfish cravings and extravagances. A sage is free from excessive pursuit, enjoyment and expectation. A sage is not the product of moral cultivation but simply someone who lives according to his authentic nature. Alienation from this life of simplicity is the root cause of all human problems.

What are the implications of contentedness for modern people ? First of all, one may raise the point that, unlike animals, human needs extend far beyond the physiological realm to cover psychological, emotional and spiritual needs. Even physiological needs change as civilization progresses. For example, several decades ago, people were content with riding a bicycle, but today driving a car has become a necessity for many of them.

The biggest folly of our times is that the young have been presented with a plethora of objects. The youth are not taught that achieving peace is impossible without limiting the demands of the senses and the mind. Since childhood, we see and hear things which indirectly endorse an attachment to worldly possessions. The infatuation of the young with worldly pleasures grows so strong that it becomes virtually impossible for them to reject the demands of the senses and the mind. The attitude of indifference to worldly pleasures (vairagya) has become an alien concept. (417 words)

Q5. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow : (4 x 5 = 20)

Properly regulated, the age-old system of apprenticeship could be developed as an alternative means of education rather than a system of exploitation. A blanket ban on children learning crafts would mean loss of a unique opportunity to create a skilled workforce of potential high earners. It would also imply the loss of an opportunity to generate self-employment in a country with rising unemployment and few employment avenues for rural youth, especially home-based women. However, every child under fifteen years should go to school and can learn the family craft while at home.

Sadly, in the craft sector in India, the choice is often between a craftsman’s child learning ancestral skills (while on the job, and contributing to the family income in the process) while remaining illiterate, or getting a conventional education. Formal schooling might not actually equip him or her for any job in the future.

The crucial issue is not poverty, which is often cited as a justification for child labour, but whether there are alternative educational opportunities available for the child that would give him/her the same employment opportunities. Can child labour be transformed - through legislation, innovative new planning and educational mechanisms - into a vibrant new form of training and empowerment ?

Training in craft skills, whether at home or through the traditional guru-shishya relationship, should be recognised as industrial training, and given the same support as other forms of technical and vocational education. The family, master craftsperson, cooperative society, institution, or NGO imparting the training should receive some stipend so that the child rather than the employer receives any money that he/she may earn during the period. Otherwise, there is the temptation, often succumbed to, of practising bonded labour of children under the guise of imparting a skill.

Craft skills should be on par with other forms of vocational training, especially in traditional crafts pockets, and should be part of a properly structured curriculum, with trainers or parents paid to impart the skill, rather than using children as unpaid labour. Equally important is the issue of providing facilities for conventional education alongside those for teaching traditional skills, scheduling semesters and hours according to the work structures and seasonality of craft production. Most young craftspeople do not go to school because school hours and locations make it impossible to avail of both disciplines. Much craft production is usually a seasonal affair, with peaks and lows according to market demands. School terms and curricula could be organised accordingly. In a country as diverse and multidimensional as India, there is no one single solution or methodology and we need to find ways for children of craft families to learn a craft and go to school.

Questions:

(a) What would ‘blanket ban on children learning crafts’ imply ?

(b) What is the dilemma faced by a craftsman’s child ?

(d) Why does child labour exist ? What can make it a viable mode of employment ?

(e) What measures should be taken to encourage school education amongst children of craftsmen ?

Q6. (a) Rewrite the sentences as directed : (1 x 10 = 10)

(i) Let the government punish the wrong doers. (Change the voice)

(ii) The policeman said to the man, "You are a trespasser and will be punished." (Rewrite the sentence using indirect speech)

(iii) The meeting started the moment the minister arrived. (Use 'as soon as')

(iv) He does his work _____ without depending on others. (Fill in the blank space with an appropriate reflexive pronoun)

(v) A law-abiding citizen is one who abides _____ the laws of the land. (Supply the appropriate preposition)

(vi) I met a woman. Her purse was snatched by someone. (Combine these simple sentences into a complex sentence)

(vii) You aren’t going out, _____ ? (Add a suitable question tag)

(viii) He always remembers his well-wishers. (Change into a negative sentence without changing the meaning)

(ix) He drove too fast for the police to catch him. (Remove ‘too’)

(x) The book may be in the bag. It may be in the cupboard. (Join the two sentences using ‘either ... or’)

(b) Write one sentence each using the following words and phrases to bring out their meaning clearly. Do not change the tense form of the given words. (2 x 5 = 10)

(i) Look up to

(ii) Let down

(iii) Take up

(iv) Turn down

(v) Break into

(c) Rewrite the following sentences correctly after detecting errors of any kind including mispositioning of words. Do not make unnecessary changes. (1 x 5 = 5)

(i) One of the prisoner escaped from the prison van.

(ii) | How you could forget the name of your school ?

(iii) Prices are increasing in leaps and bounds.

(iv) No sooner I had reached the station than the train started.

(v) I avoid to go there.