Qualifying Criteria
A minimum of 75 out of 300 marks (25%) is required in both Paper A and Paper B to qualify.
Though these marks aren’t counted toward the final rank, they act as a precondition for checking the merit papers. That means, unless a candidate qualifies both papers, their answers for GS, Essay, and Optional Subjects will not be evaluated at all.
Key Details of the UPSC Mains English Exam 2025:
| UPSC Mains English Exam 2025 | August 30th, 2025 |
| Total Marks | 250 Marks |
| Duration | 3 Hours (2:30 PM to 5:30 PM – Afternoon Session) |
| Paper Type | Compulsory and Qualifying |
| Total Marks | 300 |
| Qualifying Marks | 75 |
| Sections | Essay, Precise, Comprehension, Grammar |
| Language | English |
| Passing Requirement | Must score at least 25% marks |
UPSC Mains 2025 English Language Paper
Q1. Write an essay in about 600 words on any one of the following topics : 100
(a) The raw material of cinema is life
(b) No man is an island
(c) Eating habits and lifestyle in Contemporary India
(d) Folklore as a knowledge system
Q2. Read carefully the passage given below and write your answers to the questions that follow in clear, correct and concise language. 15×5=75
In proportion as a book is more loosely constructed, the paragraphs tend to become more diffuse. You often have to search through all the paragraphs of a chapter to find the sentences you can construct into a statement of a single argument. Some books make you search in vain, and some do not even encourage the search.
A good book usually summarizes itself as its arguments develop. If the author summarizes his arguments for you at the end of a chapter, or at the end of an elaborate section, you should be able to look back over the preceding pages and find the materials he has brought together in the summary. In The Origin of Species, Darwin summarizes his whole argument for the reader in a last chapter, entitled “Recapitulation and Conclusion.” The reader who has worked through the book deserves that help. The one who has not cannot use it.
Incidentally, if you have inspected the book well before beginning to read it analytically, you will know whether the summary passages exist and if they do, where they are. You can then make the best possible use of them when interpreting the book.
Another sign of a bad or loosely constructed book is the omission of steps in an argument. Sometimes they can be omitted without damage or inconvenience, because the propositions left out can be generally supplied from the common knowledge of readers. But sometimes their omission is misleading, and may even be intended to mislead. One of the most familiar tricks of the orator or propagandist is to leave certain things unsaid, things that are highly relevant to the argument, but that might be challenged if they were made explicit. While we do not expect such devices in an honest author whose aim is to instruct us, it is nevertheless a sound maxim of careful reading to make every step in an argument explicit.
Whatever kind of book it is, your obligation as a reader remains the same. If the book contains arguments, you must know what they are, and be able to put them into a nutshell. Any good argument can be put into a nutshell. There are, of course, arguments built upon arguments. In the course of an elaborate analysis, one thing may be proved in order to prove another, and this may be used in turn to make a still further point. The unity of reasoning, however, can always be built up from the conclusions. The book you are reading, you are once more reminded, must be read through its arguments.
This is all very well to say, you may object, but unless one knows the structure of arguments as a logician does, how can one be expected to find them in a book, or worse, to construct them when the author does not state them compactly in a single paragraph?
The answer is that it must be obvious that you do not have to know about arguments “as a logician does.” There are relatively few logicians in the world, for better or for worse. Most of the books that convey knowledge and can instruct us contain arguments. They are intended for the general reader, not for specialists in logic.
No great logical competence is needed to read these books. To repeat what we said before, the nature of the human mind is such that if it works at all during the process of reading, if it comes to terms with the author and reaches his propositions, it will see his arguments as well.
There are, however, a few things we can say that may be helpful to you in carrying out this rule of reading. In the first place, remember that every argument must involve a number of statements. Of these, some give the reasons why you should accept a conclusion the author is proposing. If you find the conclusion first, then look for the reasons. If you find the reasons first, see where they lead.
In the second place, discriminate between the kind of argument that points to one or more particular facts as evidence for some generalization and the kind that offers a series of general statements to prove some further generalizations. The former kind of reasoning is usually referred to as inductive, the latter as deductive; but the names are not what is important. What is important is the ability to discriminate between the two.
In the literature of science, this distinction is observed whenever the difference is emphasized between the proof of a proposition by reasoning and its establishment by experiment. Galileo, in his Two New Sciences, speaks of mathematical demonstration. And in a concluding chapter of his book On the Motion of the Heart, the great physiologist William Harvey writes: “It ventricles flows through the lungs and heart and is pumped to the whole body.” Sometimes it is possible to support a proposition both by reasoning from other general truths and by offering experimental evidence. Sometimes only one method of argument is available.
In the third place, observe what things the author says he must assume, what he says can be proved or otherwise evidenced, and what need not be proved because it is self-evident. He may honestly try to tell you what all his assumptions are, or he may be just as honestly leave you to find out for yourself. Obviously, not everything can be proved, just as not everything can be defined. If every proposition had to be proved, there would be no end to the process of proof. Such things as axioms and assumptions or postulates are needed for the proof of other propositions. If these other propositions are proved, they can, of course, be used as premises in further proofs.
Every line of argument, in other words, must start somewhere. Basically, there are two ways or places in which it can start: with assumptions agreed on between writer and reader, or with what are called self-evident propositions, which neither the writer nor reader can deny. In the first case, the assumptions can be anything, so long as agreement exists. The second case requires some further comment here.
In recent times, it has become commonplace to refer to self-evident propositions as “tautologies”; the feeling behind the term is sometimes one of contempt for the trivial, or a suspicion of legerdemain. Rabbits are being pulled out of a hat. You put the truth in by defining your words, and then pull it out as if you were surprised to find it there. That, however, is not always the case.
For example, there is a considerable difference between a proposition such as “a father of a father is a grandfather,” and a proposition such as “the whole is greater than its parts.” The former statement is a tautology; the proposition is contained in the definition of the words; it only thinly conceals the verbal stipulation, “Let us call the parent of a parent a ‘grandparent.’” But that is far from being the case with the second proposition.
(a) What are the observations of the essayist on books in the passage? 15
(b) Enumerate the points of comparison between a writer and a logician, as proposed in the passage. 15
(c) What are the helpful rules of reading discussed in the essay? 15
(d) What does the essayist mean by the phrase ‘self-evident propositions’? 15
(e) According to the essay, what are ‘tautologies’? 15
Q3. Make a precis of the following passage in about one-third of its length. Do not give or suggest a title to it. The precis should be written in your own words. 75
Every individual soul is an undeveloped entity, which though not wholly emancipated from the animal instincts, is yet capable of transmuting them. By a willing acceptance of the commanding claims of spirit and a discipline of our nature into conformity with its law, we achieve growth. A redirection of interest and re-education of the unconscious mind alone can transform us from carnal-mindedness into spiritual-mindedness. It means restraint and discipline. There is real temptation, genuine struggle involved in every transcendence of the natural man. But this transcendence is the condition of the fulfilment of personality. Though the effort is costly, the reward is great. This transcendence is a phenomenon common to all progress. From the pursuit of its prey by the amoeba to the spiritual struggles of the striving soul, we have a continuously graded series of purposive efforts. We choose the goal everywhere and adapt the means. Only at the human level we can do so consciously and deliberately.
Man is neither the slave of circumstances nor the blind sport of the gods. The impulse to perfection working in the universe has become self-conscious in him. Progress happened in the subhuman world; it is willed in the human. Conscious purpose takes the place of unconscious variations. Man alone has the irrest consequent on the conflict between what he is and what he can be. He is distinguished from other creatures by his seeking after a rule of life, a principle of progress.
It is by transforming ourselves that we shall be able to transform the world. The soul of all improvement, it has been rightly said, is the improvement of the soul. We need not leave the building of the new civilization to luck — it is a matter for cunning also. There is a good deal to be done yet. The world is unfinished in several respects. It lies with us to retard or hasten the progress. The lesson of evolution is clear. Life does not work according to any set programme, reaching satisfying climaxes in the progress. It wanders, hesitates, sometimes breaks off abruptly, and then returns upon itself. The processes of nature are by no means economical. The history of the past tells us that, if we choose wrongly, we shall sooner or later be eliminated. Each of us can participate in the process of creating a better world, by understanding the purpose of the universe and identifying ourselves with it. Every individual is a unique entity possessing specific features and capable of contributing a distinctive good to the world. Self-finding is the essence of all perfection. By seeing life steadily and whole, we find our place in it. Each human individual is an association of qualities and functions whose focus can be variously situated and according as this centre is higher or lower, the person’s character is superficial or deep. Whatever be the empirical foundations, the choice of the centre redeems them. It is by means of reflection and meditation that we seek a centre which can unify our nature, realize our specific place in the universe, and acquire the strength to play our parts, however humble and however arduous they may be. Hence the necessity for quiet contemplation and solitude.
Moral life is one of significance and social value. Mere instinctive reaction or impulsive activity is not moral conduct which must embody an idea or be significant. Crude materials of human nature must be shaped by spiritual ends. It is the form given to the material that matters. All expressions of human life are significant and every one of them is judged by its meaning and purpose. We cannot have any one convention of its type or pattern. Each man sees the world from a different angle from his fellow. Whatever ideal we choose, we must recognize its nature and believe in its possibility, devise a plan of action, and with suffering and self-sacrifice endeavor to realize it. Besides, the line of conduct to the progress of ardour strive to social preservation and harmony, which contribute to progress evolution aims at. Any line of conduct which is destructive of the human race or promotes discord cannot be regarded as moral. Moral life requires us to respect the dignity of every individual. It is the enrichment of life that comes from the recognition of others and adaptation to them.
Uniqueness is a quality which all of us share. The goal of the world process is a harmonious unity in which each individual finds his specific realization.
The law of moral progress may best be expressed as one of acceptance and adventure. When we take up the individual unit, we find that there are so many passions and impulses as the raw material of human nature. Any given endowment and ethical code, which calls upon us to repudiate this given endowment and destroy it, is not a satisfactory one. The given has to be accepted and on the basis of it we have to build higher. Man is never satisfied with mere acceptance or adjustment. There is an urge in his breast that makes him go forward and upward. The ultimate aim of life is not simply to maintain but to elevate the place. (863 words)
Q4 (a) Rewrite the following sentences after making the necessary corrections. Do not make unnecessary changes in the original sentence. 1×10 = 10
(i) Meera have a phone that cannot fit into the pocket of her jacket.
(ii) Despite the heavy rains yesterday, the children was able to reach the school on time.
(iii) May I have another form !
(iv) I catch them taking flowers from my garden yesterday.
(v) The location of the film alternates from Mumbai and Chennai.
(vi) We cannot put of taking a decision any longer.
(vii) He is a honourable man.
(viii) Sameer had food poisoning and had to had his stomach pumped.
(ix) The local council is doing everything to help solved the water problem.
(x) What have you did to the laptop ?
(b) Supply the missing words: 1×5 = 5
(i) He was the best player ________ the pitch in the first half of the match.
(ii) She broke the window to climb ________ it.
(iii) We got ________ the train just in time.
(iv) They cycled ________ India from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.
(v) I stopped ________ the shop on the way home.
(c) Use the correct form of the verb given in the brackets : 1×5=5
(i) The storm __________ a lot of damage to the standing crops. (do)
(ii) She __________ an hour ago. (leave)
(iii) The crowd __________ growing restless as the delay prolonged. (is)
(iv) He __________ that the grass needed to be cut. (say)
(v) As I walked through the gates the dog __________ running towards me. (come)
(d) Write the antonyms of the following : 1×5=5
(i) Feeble
(ii) Scarce
(iii) Query
(iv) Captivity
(v) Despair
5. (a) Rewrite the following sentences as directed without changing the meaning : 1×10=10
(i) Ram cannot swim, __________ ? (Add a question tag)
(ii) Defend the status quo. Rethink the status quo.
(Combine the sentences using ‘either-or’)
(iii) Scarcely had the police gone, than a thief entered the house.
(Remove ‘than’ and put ‘when’)
(iv) My heart is much full of words.
(Rewrite the sentence using ‘too’)
(v) One of the Professors recommended us to do this at the University.
(Change into Passive Voice)
(vi) He may be innocent. I do not know.
(Combine the sentences using ‘whether’)
(vii) It was the girl’s idea to protest.
(Change from singular to plural form)
(viii) She said, ‘I have passed the examination.’
(Change into Indirect Speech)
(ix) It all happened quickly. We hardly noticed it.
(Combine the sentences using ‘so’)
(x) I cannot see. It is very dark.
(Combine the sentences using ‘for’)
(b) Use the following words to make sentences that bring out the meaning clearly. Do not change the form of the words. (No marks will be given for vague and ambiguous sentences) 1×5=5
(i) Cease
(ii) Surreal
(iii) Grim
(iv) Puppet
(v) Image
(c) Choose the appropriate word to fill in the blanks : 1×5=5
(i) He looked very ________ about his success in the examination. (compliment/complacent)
(ii) Car crashes are ________ in factories. (simulated/stimulated)
(iii) One must not allow the fear of failure to ________. (inhabit/inhibit)
(iv) She has written a book on the ________ effects of slavery. (pernicious/pretentious)
(v) He is known for his ________ play. (foul/fowl)
(d) Use the following idioms/phrases in sentences of your own to bring out their meaning clearly : 1×5=5
(i) A piece of cake
(ii) Out of the blue
(iii) Draconian law
(iv) On a razor’s edge
(v) The rat race