what is essay paper for css

Mastering the Art of Essay Writing for the CSS Exam in the Light of FPSC Examiners’ Report

Mastering the art of essay writing for css exam in the light of fpsc examiners’ report.

In the world of competitive examinations, few challenges are as formidable as mastering the art of essay writing for the Central Superior Service (CSS) Exam. As the examiners’ reports suggest, candidates often grapple with common issues such as lack of conceptual clarity, poor language skills, weak argumentation, and improper structure. These hurdles often act as roadblocks to their success. But with targeted strategies and a comprehensive understanding of what the examiners expect, you can excel in this crucial component of the CSS exam. In this article, we will delve into the examiners’ reports, analyze the common pitfalls in essay writing, and provide you with practical tips and tricks to ace your CSS English Essay paper. Whether you are just starting your CSS journey or looking to improve your essay writing skills, this guide is tailored to help you achieve your goals.

Competitive examinations like the Central Superior Service (CSS) exam, conducted by the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) in Islamabad, offer ambitious individuals the opportunity to secure elite posts under the federal government. To succeed in such a rigorous test, it is critical to acquire comprehensive expertise in various areas, one of which is English Essay writing.

Unfortunately, performance in this section has been disappointing over the past few years, as many candidates have demonstrated weaknesses and made common mistakes. We shall analyze these issues and offer strategies to improve based on expert opinions and recommendations. Last few years performance of candidates in English Essay papers under CSS Competitive Examination has not been as satisfactory as in other papers. Some of the extracts from the FPSC Examiners’ Reports , highlighting the weaknesses and common mistakes in essay writing, are reproduced below for the general information and guidance of the candidates;

CSS CE-2014: Question paper was set to evaluate the performance of the candidates in terms of their conceptual, linguistic and writing competencies, but common trends observed were lack of conceptual clarity, shallow knowledge of subject, grammatical mistakes, and inappropriate choice of vocabulary and stereotype answers. Majority of the candidates did not follow the norms of confrontational discourse and wrote isolated sentences rather than in cohesive paragraphs. The ability required in CSS is extensive reading, holistic and appreciable performance approach in the subject but majority lacked these characteristics.”

CSS CE-2016 : The performance in English Essay was unsatisfactory. A significant majority failed in the subject. Ideas presented were random. The argument was without any logical reasoning or research based facts. There was neither coherence nor creativity. The candidates were neither able to build an argument from multiple angles nor substantiated it with facts. The outline of Essay was not properly structured. In many answer scripts, aspects mentioned in the outline were not discussed in the Essay.

CSS CE-2017: The standard Essay was examined on footing of argumentation, content, language and intellectual signifier. The quality and level of critical argumentation on the whole was very poor. Most of the candidates were unable to identify the dormant contention in topics. In most papers content were inadequate and irrelevant. Most worrying aspect of Essays was the wrong use of English language. The sentence structure was glaringly flawed. Moreover grammatical and spellings mistakes were rife. The intellectual level of essays was mediocre and candidates were unable to even grasp the topic of the essay.

CSS CE-2018: Candidates were at their best in topics involving critical and subjective approach i.e. in topics like Democracy in Pakistan: Hopes and Hurdles, Rule of Law, Safeguarding Human Rights & Civil Liberties during Fight against Terrorism and Corruption etc. On the other hand, in topics that were of objective nature (Global Warming / CPEC), reliance on crammed knowledge, dull monotony and repetition of stereotypical information was observed. A significant number of the candidates did not have a clear sense of the essentials of a comprehensive essay or the features which differentiate an essay from other forms of writing. Candidates must know about the qualities of a standard Essay and the standard expected by the Commission in the Competitive Exam.

For facilitation and guidance of the CSS aspirants, some highly reputed educationists/examiners were asked to share opinions regarding what is expected of a good essay and what mistakes are to be avoided. Some of the guidelines provided by these experts are reproduced in the next It should be noted that these observations/assertions are views of the individual educationists and not the official prescription of FPSC. It is the sole discretion of the candidate to follow these guidelines. The same cannot be quoted as a set of standard at any forum.

CSS English Essay Paper 2024: Important Topics, Examiner’s Perspective & Essay Writing Techniques

Subject Expert/Examiner – I

• Proper beginning with a compact and elaborated topic sentence that must reflect the candidates clear understanding of the
• Correct and flawless
• Use of appropriate vocabulary
• Literacy and idiomatic expression
• Use of relevant terminology if needed
• Selection of relevant thoughts
• Logical organization of
• Coherence in arrangement of material/paragraphs
• Cohesion in development of argument reaching the conclusion
• Clarity in language, ideas, debate and
• Comprehensiveness
• Logical presentation of the argument
• Standard sizing as per requirement
• Avoidance of too much scholarship
• Through acquaintance with the nature of question i.e topic
• Quotation, when used, must be well placed and relevant
• Impressive finish

Subject Expert/Examiner – II

• A good essay is not supposed to reflect crammed information or bookish knowledge about the topic. It should rather tell us about the writer’s personal feelings or thoughts about it, and his ability to convert these feelings and thoughts into arguments for convincing the
• It should be self-contained and self-explanatory: not depending on any outside source for its essential
• Its basic stance should be creative, critical and analytical rather than narrative or
• It should contain a unified and coherent discussion on a particular topic (strictly in accordance with the wording of the title), with no digression or overshadowing.
• It should work through establishing the writer’s personal stand about the subject, and substantiating that stand with convincing
• It should be compact and concise, with no loose constructions or unnecessary attachments.
• It should have a balanced body, with a beginning, middle and end-each one serving its own distinct
• It should work as a unit of impression in the sense that the impact of the beginning is still fresh when the reader reaches the
• It should be a fluent text with natural linkage among parts and paragraphs, with no disjointed or segregated

Subject Expert/Examiner III

• How to handle an argument or to be argumentative
• Counter-viewing the argument
• Avoid superfluity
• English – figurative and metaphoric
• How to pitch your bias
• How to avoid spurious ideas
• How to show difference between specific and general ideas
• Paragraph transition (most important)

Subject Expert/Examiner IV

• Answer the exact inquiry set, instead of displaying data that is comprehensively important to the
• Have a reasonable contention or point of view, so the examiner knows from the start what the candidate means to state, and can follow the advancement of his/her contention all through the
• Be critical and analytical clarifying why something is critical, instead of basically depicting what scholars have
• Provide reasons, in view of sound proof, to help the primary
• Have good paragraphing: the primary concern of each passage is presented unmistakably, and sections pursue sensibly from one
• Evaluate alternate point of view: it weighs up the relative worth or importance of various perspectives or speculations, assessing the key contentions and proof for these, and clarifying why one lot of contentions, reasons or proof is more persuading than
• Refer to speculations and ways of thinking important to the inquiry, showing a comprehension of the criticalness of these to the
• Include references: where applicable, careful references (names and dates).
• Be particular: it incorporates only the data and detail that is most applicable to responding to the inquiry, and forgets about less important
• Be composed unmistakably and to the point, without waffle, reiteration, stupendous speculations, bombastic language, superfluous language, or individual

The Recurring Challenges of CSS English Essay Writing figured out by Examiners

Addressing the repeated challenges that CSS aspirants encounter when writing essays can significantly enhance their performance in the exam. An in-depth analysis of examiner reports over the years has revealed the following major issues & problematic areas. Together, they constitute the top 10 challenges faced by candidates, there are follwing:

• Lack of Conceptual Clarity: Candidates frequently struggle to grasp the essence and broader implications of essay topics, leading to a superficial treatment of the subject. This often results from inadequate research or shallow understanding of the issue at hand.
• Poor Language and Vocabulary Skills: Numerous candidates face difficulty in crafting grammatically correct sentences and choosing suitable vocabulary. This problem hampers their ability to convey complex thoughts clearly and compellingly.
• Weak Argumentation and Analysis: Many essays lack strong, persuasive arguments backed by logical reasoning and research-based facts. A shortage of critical analysis and innovative perspectives on the subject matter is common, reducing the essays’ overall quality and impact.
• Inadequate Structure and Organization: Candidates often exhibit a lack of understanding of the difference between an essay and other forms of writing. As a result, essays often lack a well-defined structure and flow, reducing clarity and coherence.
• Insufficient Understanding of Different Perspectives: Candidates sometimes fail to appreciate the multifaceted nature of topics, focusing only on a single perspective. This leads to unbalanced essays that do not explore issues from multiple angles.
• Overuse of Stereotypical Information: Especially in topics that are objective in nature, candidates tend to fall back on cliched and often repeated facts or viewpoints. Such over-reliance on conventional wisdom can undermine the originality and depth of the essay.
• Lack of Creativity: Many essays are descriptive rather than analytical or reflective. They fail to demonstrate the writer’s personal viewpoint or innovative ideas, which are key to crafting a compelling narrative.
• Failure to Develop a Cohesive Narrative: An effective essay should seamlessly transition from one point to another, creating a coherent narrative. Many candidates struggle with this, resulting in essays that seem disjointed and lack cohesion.
• Inadequate Referencing: A well-referenced essay showcases a breadth of research and a nuanced understanding of the topic. However, many candidates either overlook this aspect or do not do it correctly, weakening their essays’ credibility.
• Ineffective Conclusion: Often, candidates fail to wrap up their essays effectively. An impactful conclusion is as vital as a strong introduction since it ties together all arguments and provides a resonating final thought. However, this is an area where many candidates fall short.

Each of these challenges can be overcome with dedicated practice, guided learning, and meticulous preparation. By recognizing and addressing these issues, candidates can significantly improve their essay writing skills for the CSS exam.

If you have ever analyzed the English Essay paper for the CSS, you might have read that the Examiner says in the instructions above which states

“ Make sure you use different forms of discourses, e.g.  1 exposition ,  2 argumentation ,  3 description  and  4 narration . Credit will be given for  1 organization ,  2 relevance  and  3 clarity . “

The instructions provided by the examiner refer to the four traditional modes of discourse in writing, which are exposition, argumentation, description, and narration. Each of these modes has a unique purpose and characteristics. Using a combination of these modes can make an essay more engaging and comprehensive. Here’s a breakdown of each mode:

• Exposition : The purpose of expository writing is to explain, inform, or clarify. It presents a balanced analysis of a topic using facts, statistics, and examples. For instance, if a candidate is writing about “the rise of digital currencies,” they may use exposition to explain what digital currencies are, how they work, and their prevalence in the current economy. This is like giving a simple, clear explanation about something. Imagine your friend has never seen a pineapple before. You would describe it as a fruit with a spiky green top and rough, patterned skin that’s yellow inside and very sweet. That’s an exposition.
• Argumentation : Argumentative writing presents a claim or a stance and provides evidence to support this position. It is persuasive in nature and requires logical reasoning. For instance, in an essay discussing “ethical consumerism,” a candidate might argue for or against its feasibility, providing relevant evidence and arguments to support their stance. This is when you firmly believe in something and want to convince others about it. For example, you think that video games are not bad for kids. You’d argue that they can help improve hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills. You would provide evidence, like statements from experts or results from scientific studies, to make your point stronger.
• Description : Descriptive writing aims to paint a picture using words. It involves detailed observations and descriptions. While typically less prevalent in essay writing, it can be used effectively to illustrate a point. For example, in an essay on “climate diplomacy,” a candidate could use descriptive writing to vividly explain the impacts of climate change in specific regions. This is like painting a picture with words. Let’s say you just went to a fun fair. You might describe the bright lights of the Ferris wheel, the smell of popcorn in the air, the sound of children laughing, and the feel of cotton candy melting in your mouth.
• Narration : Narrative writing tells a story. It involves characters, a plot, and a distinct narrative voice. In an essay, this could take the form of a brief anecdote or personal experience to provide context or support a point. For instance, in an essay about “the transformation of education in the AI era,” a candidate might include a narrative about their personal experience with online learning. This is telling a story. It could be about an adventure you had, like the time you went camping and saw a shooting star, or it could be a made-up story, like a tale of a brave knight saving a kingdom.

The examiner also emphasizes the importance of organization, relevance, and clarity in the essay:

• Organization : This refers to the logical and effective structuring of the essay. It involves having a clear introduction, body, and conclusion, and ensuring ideas flow logically from one to another. Just like when you tidy your room and put everything where it belongs, your essay should also be tidy. You should have a clear beginning, middle, and end, and your ideas should be grouped in a logical way.
• Relevance : This means that everything included in the essay should be pertinent to the topic at hand. Irrelevant information or tangents should be avoided. This means you should stay on topic. If the topic is about dogs, don’t start talking about cats or fish. Stick to the subject of dogs only.
• Clarity : This refers to the readability and comprehensibility of the essay. Sentences should be clear and concise, and ideas should be expressed in a way that is easy to understand. This means that you should write so others can easily understand. Don’t use very big words or complex sentences. Think about it like explaining the rules of a game to your friend. You want them to understand so you can start playing right away.

Tips for Writing an Effective English Essay for CSS & PMS Exam

Strategies for Success in CSS Essay Writing

Drawing from expert opinions, we have compiled a list of strategies that can help you improve your essay writing skills for the CSS exam.

• Clear Understanding and Conceptual Clarity: Before you begin writing, it’s essential to fully understand your topic. Spend ample time researching and gathering data, arguments, and viewpoints related to your topic. Understanding the nuances of your topic will not only enable you to create a comprehensive outline but also add depth and credibility to your essay.
• Language Proficiency: Mastering the language is crucial for conveying your ideas effectively. Regular reading can greatly enhance your vocabulary and understanding of grammar. Practice writing daily, focusing on clarity and simplicity. Use an advanced grammar checking tool to identify and correct potential errors in your writing.
• Strong Argumentation and Critical Analysis: An impressive essay is marked by robust, logical arguments backed by strong evidence. Each claim you make should be supported with appropriate examples or facts. Instead of simply stating ideas, explain them thoroughly and provide an analysis from multiple perspectives.
• Effective Structure and Organization: Organizing your essay effectively is key to maintaining a logical flow of ideas. Start with an outline and categorize your ideas into introduction, body, and conclusion. Each paragraph should represent a unique idea that supports your main argument. Transition words and phrases can help maintain coherence and guide the reader through your arguments.
• Relevance and Precision: Keep your writing focused and on-topic. Each sentence should add value to your argument and support your main thesis. Remove any information that doesn’t directly contribute to your argument or explain your viewpoint.
• Balanced Approach: A balanced essay discusses all relevant perspectives. Don’t hesitate to explore counter-arguments and provide reasons why you agree or disagree with them. This shows the examiner that you have considered all sides of an issue and have a thorough understanding of the topic.
• Creativity and Originality: Stand out from other candidates by adding a touch of creativity to your essay. Use metaphors, analogies, and original insights to make your essay more engaging. Avoid cliches and strive to present a fresh perspective on the topic.
• Practice and Feedback: Writing is a skill that improves with practice. Write essays on various topics regularly and seek feedback from teachers or peers. This will help you identify your strengths and areas for improvement. Remember to revise and refine your essay based on the feedback received.
• Time Management: Efficient time management is crucial during the exam. Allocate specific time slots for understanding the topic, outlining the essay, writing, and reviewing. This ensures that you have adequate time to develop your ideas and review your essay for potential improvements.
• Review and Polish: Lastly, never underestimate the power of revision. Review your essay thoroughly for coherence, grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, and content relevance. Ensure that your essay is polished and refined before submission. This will not only enhance the readability of your essay but also leave a positive impression on the examiner.

In conclusion, the ability to excel in essay writing is an essential tool in the arsenal of every CSS aspirant. Navigating the complexities of this task is no small feat; however, the FPSC examiners’ reports illuminate the path to mastering this art. By leveraging these insights and implementing the ten strategic steps outlined above, candidates can significantly elevate their writing prowess. It’s crucial to remember that skillful essay writing isn’t achieved overnight, but rather is the culmination of consistent practice, profound understanding, and methodical structuring of thoughts and arguments. So, let your CSS exam preparation journey commence now. Embrace the learnings from the past, remain dedicated to improving, and relentlessly strive for excellence in essay writing. It is this unwavering commitment to personal growth and mastery that will ultimately steer you toward achieving success in the CSS examination. So start your preparation now and leave no stone unturned in your quest for excellence in CSS English Essay Writing.

Consider linking to these articles:

Copy link My CSS Success Story Copy link English Precis and Composition Solved Paper MCQs CSS 2021 Copy link Competitive Experience, Strategy & Relevant Material By Shaukat Ali (AC Bannu, KP) Copy link Will PM Imran Khan really conduct A Special CSS Exam this year 2020? Copy link CSS English Essay Paper 2024: Important Topics, Examiner’s Perspective & Essay Writing Techniques Copy link Solved 2023 CSS English Essay Paper: Explanation and Outlines Copy link What is CSS Exam? How to handle its pressure and pass it Copy link 15 Best Websites for CSS & PMS Exam Preparation Copy link Political Science OR International Relations? (A Well elaborated Analysis)

You Might Also Like

First in Pakistan History

Pakistan and its evergreen friend China (Pak-China Relationship Essay)

Css 2023 solved essay “both parents should assume equal responsibility in raising a child.”.

Some Important Abbreviations for various Exams

Crisis of Good Governance in Pakistan (Need for Reform and Institution Building)

Ce-2022 solved essay on “the controversial issues of feminism in contemporary women’s rights movements” [css 2022], important vocabulary list-2 for all competitive exams, “when adversity strikes, true character is revealed”, leave a reply cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

{{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}Your submission failed. The server responded with {{status_text}} (code {{status_code}}). Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Learn More {{/message}}

{{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}It appears your submission was successful. Even though the server responded OK, it is possible the submission was not processed. Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Learn More {{/message}}

Submitting…

“And there’s nothing for man except what he strives for.” (Al- Quran, 53:39)

CSS Exam Desk

English Essay (CSS 2024)

English Essay Syllabus for CSS 2024

Candidates will be required to write one or more Essay in English. A wide choice of topics will be given. Candidates are expected to reflect comprehensive and research based knowledge on a selected topic. Candidate’s articulation, expression and technical treatment of the style of English Essay writing will be examined.

English Essay: CSS Past Papers Analysis

• Hero-worship is the strongest where there is least regard for human freedom. (CSS 2000)
• Personal liberty is the paramount essential to human dignity and human happiness. (CSS 2000)
• Humanism. (CSS 2004)
• All humans are born equal in dignity and rights but they are in shackles everywhere. (CSS 2010)
• The War on terror has contributed to the growing abuse of human rights. (CSS 2015)
• In the fight against terrorism and corruption, it is imperative not to compromise human rights and civil liberties. (CSS 2018)
• Universal human equality is utopia. (CSS 2021)
• Human development and economic sustainability. (CSS 2022)

Environment

• Global Warming (CSS 2006)
• The future of mankind in a global warming perspective. (CSS 2007)
• Global Warming, fact or fiction? (CSS 2008)
• Government should eliminate subsidies and incentives for manufacturers and consumers of electric cars as they are costly and do not do enough to protect the environment. (CSS 2015)
• The threat of Global Warming and the ways to counter it. (CSS 2018)

Truth and Reason

• The search for truth. (CSS 2005)
• Truth in short supply (CSS 2006)
• Truth is a rare commodity despite the freedom by the print and electronic media. (CSS 2011)
• In this country reason does not apply to anything. (CSS 2011)
• Truth is lived not taught. (CSS 2019)
• Of all the needs a book has, the chief need is that it be readable. (CSS 2002)
• The pleasures of reading. (CSS 2011)

Morality/ Principles

• Art and Morality. (CSS 2002)
• There comes a time to put aside principles and do what is right. (CSS 2006)
• Moral depravity is the root cause of poverty. (CSS 2008)

I constructed my essay deriving my arguments from several discourses, i.e. (Politics, economics, society, philosophy, strategy, literature, science, religion, etc.). In my opinion, even an issue-based essay should be developed on creative lines. For that, candidates should also practice literary and abstract essays during the preparation phase. Furthermore, I never delved into the technicalities of the structure of essay. I believe writing comes naturally. Atif Ameer (PSP) 2nd in Pakistan, CSS 2018-19 (Essay Marks 52)

Global Issues & International Relations

• Moral standards in international relations. (CSS 2000)
• World scenario in 21st century and Pakistan’s role in it. (CSS 2002)
• The end of cheap oil. (CSS 2004)
• Globalization and electronic media. (CSS 2007)
• The world politics stands more derisive than it was ever before due to the specific imperialist designs. (CSS 2010)
• The time we live in is the winter of the world. (CSS 2011)
• Brexit means globalization is the rhetoric of the privileged, and capitalism will return ferociously as ever. (CSS 2017)
• Modernity is an unending project. (CSS 2017)
• China – Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and its Socio-economic Implications for the Region and the World. (CSS 2018)
• Pakistan and the future of Kashmir cause. (CSS 2020)
• Global power dynamics and Pakistan’s foreign policy. (CSS 2020)
• Global trade and trade policies of China. (CSS 2022)
• Global politics and international relations. (CSS 2022)
• World food systems: the economics of agriculture. (CSS 2022)

Science and Technology

• Advancement in science and technology is the gateway to the economic prosperity of a country. (CSS 2000)
• The suffering soul in the Scientific Age. (CSS 2012)
• Modern day communication via social networks puts an end to true and sincere relationships. (CSS 2013)
• The introduction of new digital technologies has radically altered identities. (CSS 2015)
• Labor saving devices are more troublesome than they are worth. (CSS 2015)
• Expanding information technology: a curse or blessing. (CSS 2019)
• Is Pakistan ready for the digital revolution? (CSS 2020)
• Covid-19 — A wake up call for Pakistani researches. (CSS 2021)
• Human inventions move societies backward. (CSS 2021)
• On tolerance. (CSS 2001)
• Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change. (CSS 2003)
• Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. (CSS 2014)

For English essay, I used to make outlines and practice paragraph writing. The key strategy in attempting an essay is to write it in simple, logical, coherent and precise way. One should refrain from using long sentences, jargons and difficult expressions. Furthermore, in order to avoid incoherence and jumps between essay paragraphs and outline, I left first two sheets of answer sheet for final outline, which I only wrote, once I was done writing essay. Aamina Ihsan (PAS) 18th in Pakistan, CSS 2018-19 (Essay Marks 48)

• Power of Media in the Modern World. (CSS 2009)
• The emerging power of Social Media: Prospects and Problems. (CSS 2018)

War/ Peace/ Globalization

• Can we prevent the third world war? (CSS 2008)
• Great nations win without fighting. (CSS 2014)
• World as a global village: Learning to live together. (CSS 2016)
• Are modern wars not holy wars? (CSS 2017)
• Pros and cons of globalization. (CSS 2021)
• Intercultural communication is a panacea to avoid third world war. (CSS 2021)
• An analysis of the concept of globalization of markets. (CSS 2022)

Democracy/ Governance/ Administration / Crisis / Tourism

• Good governance and the role of the public servant. (CSS 2000)
• Devolution of power in Pakistan. (CSS 2001)
• The future of democracy in Pakistan. (CSS 2009)
• The food crisis: problems, challenges and opportunities for Pakistan. (CSS 2009)
• Pakistan is rich in natural resources but very poor in their management. (CSS 2010)
• Disaster management and government preparedness. (CSS 2011)
• Democracy is a culture rather than a process. (CSS 2012)
• In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. (CSS 2015)
• Crisis of good governance in Pakistan: Need for reforms and institution building. (CSS 2016)
• Democracy in Pakistan: Hopes and Hurdles. (CSS 2018)
• Democracy and illiteracy do not move together. (CSS 2019)
• Promoting tourism in Pakistan: opportunities and challenges. (CSS 2020)
• Digital democracy: social media and political participation. (CSS 2022)

My essay followed a fixed trajectory: Introduction (Opening + Thesis Statement) – Context – Exposition – Authority – Analysis – Conclusion. This allowed me to present my arguments clearly and coherently. When you practice, read your essay and try to see it from an examiner’s perspective. If it is too text-intensive, boring, long and redundant, , or even the argument you made is not clear, you will not get good marks. Mohammad Murtaza (PAS), 3rd in Pakistan, CSS 2017 (Essay Marks 45)

• Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive, easy to govern, but impossible to enslave. (CSS 2000)
• Economic prosperity of a nation is directly proportional to the level of literacy in it. (CSS 2001)
• Higher Science Education in the developing countries. (CSS 2002)
• Education has for its object the formation of character. (CSS 2002)
• Need for serious planning in technical education in Pakistan. (CSS 2002)
• Reforms in Examination systems. (CSS 2005)
• The present system of Education must assume some of the responsibilities of our failure. (CSS 2007)
• Higher Education as an agent of change. (CSS 2008)
• Co-education; Merits and Demerits. (CSS 2009)
• English as the medium of Education in Pakistan. (CSS 2009)
• A critical analysis of Education system in Pakistan. (CSS 2012)
• There should be colleges and schools just for men/boys and some just for women/girls. (CSS 2013)
• Meaning and purpose of education. (CSS 2013)
• Privatizing higher education-generating knowledge or making more money for the opulent. (CSS 2014)
• Higher Education in Pakistan: Ills and Remedies. (CSS 2018)
• Classrooms decide the future of the nation. (CSS 2019)
• Women universities as agents of change. (CSS 2020)
• Meaning purposive education. (CSS 2021)

National Integration

• The barbarity of ethnic cleansing. (CSS 2000)
• National Integration. (CSS 2001)
• Water crisis and national unity. (CSS 2016)
• We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. (CSS 2000)
• Dilemma of the water and energy crisis in Pakistan. (CSS 2003)
• Do not waste water even if you were at a running stream. (CSS 2021)
• Energy Crisis in Pakistan: Causes and Consequences. (CSS 2012)

Bureaucracy

• Public office is a public trust. (CSS 2001)
• Bureaucracy doldrums. (CSS 2021)

The Essay paper for CSS 2017 was somewhat out of the box. Despite that, I had complete control on my nerves and great confidence in my writing skills. I chose the topic “Is colonial mentality impeding the progress of Pakistan?” I supported this stance. First, I brainstormed and then wrote an outline on a rough page. Then, I presented it on the answer sheet in an impressive way so as to facilitate the examiner. I wrote almost twenty arguments or paragraphs to prove my stance. The language I used was simple yet flawless. Syed Fazul Shah (PSP), 3rd in Balochistan, CSS 2017-18 (Essay Marks 44)

Poverty/ Progress

• Progressive alleviation of poverty in Pakistan – an overview. (CSS 2000)
• Strategies for the alleviation of poverty. (CSS 2005)
• Look to the east for holistic progress. (CSS 2014)
• Does foreign aid help to achieve economic stability? (CSS 2016)
• Advancement in science and technology is the gateway to prosperity of a country. (CSS 2000)
• Austerity as a solution to all our economic problems. (CSS 2002)
• Economic problems in Pakistan and how to meet them. (CSS 2002)
• Socio-Economic Challenges faced by Pakistan. (CSS 2005)
• Foreign Direct Investment in Pakistan. (CSS 2006)
• Promotion of tax culture in Pakistan: Perspective, prospects and challenges. (CSS 2016)
• Real development should transform people’s lives, not just economic statistics. (CSS 2018)
• New war fronts lie in economic zones. (CSS 2019)
• Pakistan’s informal economy: the way forward. (CSS 2020)
• IMF bailouts: roads to stability or recipes for disaster. (CSS 2020)
• Is there such a thing as ethical consumerism? (CSS 2022)

Justice/ Rule of Law

• Justice delayed is justice denied. (CSS 2001)
• Will “Rule of law” always remain an impracticable myth in our country? (CSS  2018)

The essay which I attempted was argumentative in nature. So, I tried my best to follow the structure of such essays. I introduced the topic by giving a brief overview of the points I would be discussing; presented some examples from history, contemporary world and Pakistan; highlighted some counter arguments against the mentioned examples and re-countered them to justify my point, and concluded the topic with summing up all the arguments and justifications I had given in the body of the essay. Nawab Sameer Hussain Laghari (PAS), 2nd in Sindh, CSS-2016-17 (Essay Marks 45)

• A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth man’s minds about religion. (CSS 2002)
• Pluralistic vision of Islam. (CSS 2004)
• Islam versus the West. (CSS 2005)
• The image of Islam in the western world and responsibilities of the Muslim Ummah. (CSS 2007)
• Peace; the essential message of our religion. (CSS 2008)
• Materialism is the death of spirituality. (CSS 2008)
• Fair play and life, as it is lived, in the land of the pure. (CSS 2011)
• Let there be more light in the corridors of worship places. (CSS 2019)

United Nations

• The future of UNO: Hopes and Hurdles. (CSS 2009)
• The UNO has failed to measure up to the demands of its charter. (CSS 2010)
• The United Nations in the 21st Century: Obligations and Limitations. (CSS 2012)
• More and more international military engagements by the United Nations; is the world moving towards peace? (CSS 2017)

Women/ Gender

• Persecuted poor woman. (CSS 2005)
• The state of women rights in Pakistan. (CSS 2007)
• Status of Women in Islam. (CSS 2009)
• Why is there no status of the third gender in Pakistan? (CSS 2010)
• Can women be equal to men in Pakistan? (CSS 2010)
• Does Pakistan society regard women as the angel in the house or source of all evils? (CSS 2011)
• Social and Economic Securities for Women in Islam. (CSS 2012)
• Gender equality is a myth. (CSS 2013)
• Women sports persons are new ambassadors of the soft image of Pakistan. (CSS 2014)
• Gender equality is a myth! (CSS 2016)
• Frailty, thy name is woman. (CSS 2016)
• Feminism is not really a Third World issue. (CSS 2017)
• New Waves of feminism and our culture. (CSS 2019)
• Gender equality: a popular slogan. (CSS 2021)
• The controversial issues of feminism in contemporary women’s rights movements. (CSS 2022)

Accountability/ Corruption

• Without independent truth-finding commission , accountability is unachievable. (CSS 2010)
• Religion has done more harm than help to human relations in the world. (CSS 2010)

Essay is the most difficult thing in CSS, and, perhaps, rightly so. There are numerous ways to write it but the key is to understand the topic and giving sound arguments in grammatically correct English. Muhammad Murad (PSP), 7th in Pakistan, CSS 2017 (Essay Marks 60)

Nationalism/ Minorities

• Being a minority is a fate no one wants. Can nationalism be really inclusive? (CSS 2017)
• The purification of politics is an iridescent dream. (CSS 2000)
• Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary. (CSS 2002)
• Personalization Of Pakistani Politics (CSS 2006)
• Politics is the art of the possible. (CSS 2007)
• Insanity in individuals is something rare but in groups, parties and nations it is the rule. (CSS 2011)
• The emerging power of Public Opinion. (CSS 2012)
• Not the economy but politics is the key to success. (CSS 2013)
• The creation of new provinces in Pakistan: Implications for an integrated country. (CSS 2016)
• Polarized politics: the issues and challenges of democracy in Pakistan. (CSS 2020)

Management/ Life/ Discipline / Ideology

• Sweet are the uses of adversity. (CSS 2000)
• “Turn not thy cheek in scorn towards folk nor walk with pertness in the land”. (Al-Quran) (CSS 2001)
• Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. (CSS 2001)
• Self-conceit may lead to self destruction. (CSS 2001)
• Attitude of indifference. (CSS 2003)
• Young habits die-hard. (CSS 2003)
• Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny. (CSS 2006)
• Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. Benjamin Franklin (CSS 2006)
• A country is backward because it’s people are backward. (CSS 2007)
• Time management is the keynote of success. (CSS 2008)
• Lack of discipline – a national disaster. (CSS 2008)
• Dreams for the future rely on the work of today. (CSS 2008)
• Health is not a condition of matter, but of mind. (CSS 2009)
• Without good communication skills, life becomes impossible in the modern world. (CSS 2011)
• Obesity is the root cause of all diseases. (CSS 2012)
• Let me take care of today, tomorrow shall take care of itself. (CSS 2013)
• Country life is better than city life. (CSS 2013)
• The character of a nation can be judged by its symbolic narratives. (CSS 2014)
• Punctuality is the virtue of boredom. (CSS 2015)
• Luxury predecessors become the necessity of successors. (CSS 2015)
• When life throws you lemons, make lemonade. (CSS 2015)
• We have to learn to be our own best friends, because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies. (CSS 2016)
• Is colonial mentality impeding Pakistan’s progress? (CSS 2016)
• Ideologies thrive on notions of resistance, yet change is a simulation. (CSS 2017)
• Life without controversy is no life. But why should one not choose the safe haven of conformism? (CSS 2017)
• Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. (CSS 2018)
• Beware the barrenness of a busy life! (CSS 2018)

Structure and coherence make the key to success in the essay paper. I avoided verbosity and instead ensured I had understood the idea well. I also placed a lot of emphasis on the overall structure of the essay, making sure my paragraphs were coherent, sentences were well structured and the overall flow of the ideas was good. Muhammad Abrahim Shah (PAS) 3rd in Pakistan, CSS 2018-19 (Marks 61)

Nuclear Politics

• Nuclear weapons are ‘not only a great peril, but a great hope. (CSS 2006)
• The more developed a country, the more leathly it is armed. (CSS 2007)
• International crisis of Terrorism. (CSS 2002)
• Terrorism as a new threat to the contemporary world. (CSS 2007)
• Pakistan’s War on terror and its impact on our psyche and politic socio-economic fronts. (CSS 2009)
• How is terrorism and its perception shaped by the Mass Media? (CSS 2022)

Art/ Literature/ Poetry

• Every art is an imitation of nature. (CSS 2002)
• Art Critics and reviewers. (CSS 2003)
• Humour in Urdu Literature (CSS 2006)
• Poetry is the highest form of expression – the greatest proof is the Holy Quran. (CSS 2008)
• Literature is the best criticism of life. (CSS 2010)
• Literature as a great cultural artifact. (CSS 2014)
• Language is a fit data for research in humanities and social science. (CSS 2014)
• Can meaning be fixed? (CSS 2014)
• The place of Urdu in Pakistan and Supreme Court’s ruling on making Urdu the official language of the country. 2016
• Literature is a lonely planet of idealists. (CSS 2017)
• Art for peace. (CSS 2019)
• Do we really need literature in our lives? (CSS 2020)

Literary/ Philosophy

• It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds. (CSS 2001)
• Existentialism. (CSS 2003)
• Liberalism (CSS 2006)
• Brain, like hearts, go where they are appreciated. (CSS 2006, 2012)
• There is no great genius without a mixture of madness. (CSS 2009)
• Beggars can’t be choosers. (CSS 2012)
• If gold rusts what shall the iron do. (CSS 2013)
• Anticipation is often greater than realization. (CSS 2015)
• Sometimes we do not see what we see. (CSS 2019)
• I fall upon the thorns of life I bleed. (CSS 2021)
• Imagination is more important than knowledge. (CSS 2022)

Diversity/ Freedom

• Dialogue is the best course to combat terrorism. (CSS 2010)
• Free speech should have limitations. (CSS 2013)
• I disapprove of what you say, but I defend to death your right to say. (CSS 2015)
• I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it. (CSS 2020)

Essay is the very paper most aspirants fail. Reason? Lack of practice! Most aspirants know the reason but still they do not practice. If one cannot practice a long essay daily, one should write, at least, outline, introduction and conclusion daily, and practice a long essay once or twice a week. I did the same and when I sat to structure my essay, I did not face any problem in generating ideas and structuring them instantly. Bakhtiar Ismail (PAS), 1st in Balochistan, CSS 2017-18 (Essay Marks 66)

Similar Posts

Current affairs (css 2023).

Current Affairs Syllabus for CSS 2023 The syllabus of Current Affairs can be divided in the following parts. Part-I: Pakistan’s Domestic Affairs In Current Affairs paper, facts and figures on economy, energy, etc., would fetch additional marks. Drawing diagrams, where necessary, would also benefit you. This does not, at all, mean that one should start…

Islamic Studies (CSS 2023)

Islamic Studies Syllabus for CSS 2023 I.  Introduction to Islam. II. Study of Sirah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as a role model for:  III. Human Rights and Status of Woman in Islam. IV. Islamic Civilization and Culture: V. Islam and the World. VI. Public Administration and Governance in Islam  VII. Islamic Code of Life. Islamic Studies: CSS Past Papers Analysis Area 1: Introduction to Islam Area 2: Study of Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as a role model Area 3: Human rights and status…

English Precis and Composition (CSS 2023)

English (Precis & Composition) Paper Syllabus for CSS 2023 The examination in this subject will be based upon a paper carrying 100 marks to Test the candidate’s abilities to handle Precis Writing, Reading Comprehension, Sentence Structuring, Translation, Grammar and Vocabulary, etc. Downloadable Content Recommended Books

Pakistan Affairs (CSS 2023)

Pakistan Affairs Syllabus for CSS 2023 The syllabus for Pakistan Affairs can be divided into two broad parts: Pre-Partition Era Portion Post-Partition Era Portion Pakistan Affairs: CSS Past Papers Analysis Topic 1: Ideology of Pakistan: definition and elucidation, historical aspects. Muslim rule in the sub-continent: its downfall and efforts for Renaissance. Movements for reforms: Shaikh…

General Science and Ability (CSS 2022)

General Science and Ability Syllabus for CSS 2022 Part-I (General Science), 60 Marks Physical Sciences Constituents and Structure: Universe, Galaxy, Light Year, Solar System, Sun, Earth, Astronomical System of Units. Process of Nature: Solar and Lunar Eclipses, Rotation and Revolution, Weather Variables (Global Temperature, Pressure, Circulation, Precipitation, Humidity) and Weather Variations. Natural Hazards and Disasters: Earth Quake, Volcanic…

• Monthly DAWN Editorials
• Monthly Global Point
• Foreign Affairs Magazines
• The Economist Magazines
• Time Magazines
• Pakistan & India
• Pakistan & USA
• Pakistan & China
• Essay Books
• English Composition Books
• Pakistan Affairs
• Current Affairs
• General Science and Ability
• Islamic Studies
• Essays Books
• English Precis and Compositions Books
• Current Affairs Books
• Pakistan Affairs Books
• General Science and Ability Books
• Islamic Studies Books
• Download Optional Books
• Buy CSS Optional Books
• CSS Syllabus
• CSS Past Papers

• CSS Rules & Regulations
• Buy CSS PMS Books Online

CSS Essay Past Papers

The compilation of CSS (Central Superior Services) past papers for the compulsory subject of Essay, spanning from 2000 to 2024, is a crucial resource for aspirants aiming to conquer the CSS examination conducted by the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) of Pakistan. This collection provides a panoramic view of the thematic evolution and diversity in essay topics over the years, reflecting the FPSC’s shifting focus towards contemporary global issues, socio-economic challenges, philosophical inquiries, and national interests. Through an in-depth analysis of these papers, candidates can discern the critical elements of effective essay writing that the FPSC values, such as coherence, structure, argumentative depth, and linguistic precision. Engaging with this compilation allows aspirants to practice and refine their writing skills, enabling them to articulate complex ideas succinctly and persuasively. Additionally, it offers a strategic advantage by highlighting recurring themes and patterns, thereby guiding candidates in their preparation to meet the rigorous standards of one of Pakistan’s most competitive examinations.

Essay – 2000

Essay – 2001, essay – 2002, essay – 2003, essay – 2004, essay – 2005, essay – 2006, essay – 2007, essay – 2008, essay – 2009, essay – 2010, essay – 2011, essay – 2012, essay – 2013, essay – 2014, essay – 2015, essay – 2016, essay – 2017, essay – 2018, essay – 2019, essay – 2020, essay – 2021, essay – 2022, essay – 2023.

• Sep 17, 2023

Mastering Essay Writing: Essential Types of Essays for CSS Aspirants

The Central Superior Services (CSS) examination in Pakistan is a rigorous test of knowledge and skills, and one of its most challenging components is the essay paper. Aspiring civil servants need to demonstrate their ability to express themselves coherently and persuasively on a range of topics. To help you prepare effectively, this guide will explore the different types of essays commonly encountered in the CSS examination, along with examples to illustrate each type.

1. Expository Essays

Expository essays require you to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, and present a clear and concise explanation of a subject. Here's an example topic:

Topic : The Impact of CPEC on Pakistan's Economy

Example : "The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has emerged as a game-changer for Pakistan's economic landscape. Through an analysis of infrastructure development, trade prospects, and job creation, this essay will elucidate how CPEC has the potential to significantly boost Pakistan's economy."

2. Persuasive Essays

In persuasive essays, you must take a stance on an issue and use logical arguments, evidence, and rhetorical devices to convince your reader. Here's an example topic:

Topic : The Importance of Water Conservation in Pakistan

Example : "In a nation plagued by water scarcity and climate change, the need for water conservation has never been more urgent. By examining the current water crisis, its impacts on agriculture, and successful conservation practices worldwide, this essay aims to persuade readers of the necessity of immediate action."

3. Argumentative Essays

Argumentative essays are similar to persuasive essays but also require you to acknowledge opposing viewpoints and refute them. Here's an example topic:

Topic : Social Media's Influence on Pakistani Youth

Example : "While social media platforms provide unprecedented connectivity and opportunities for self-expression, it's crucial to acknowledge their potential negative effects. By addressing concerns about addiction, privacy, and misinformation, this essay will argue that a balanced approach to social media usage is necessary for the well-being of Pakistani youth."

4. Analytical Essays

Analytical essays require you to examine a topic in-depth, breaking it down into its components and offering insights. Here's an example topic:

Topic : The Political Landscape of Pakistan

Example : "To comprehend Pakistan's political dynamics, we must dissect the roles of major political parties, historical influences, and electoral systems. This essay will provide an analytical overview, shedding light on the complexities and challenges that shape the country's political landscape."

5. Descriptive Essays

Descriptive essays allow you to paint a vivid picture of a subject through sensory details and vivid language. Here's an example topic:

Topic : A Journey Through Hunza Valley

Example : "Hunza Valley, nestled in the heart of the Karakoram Range, captivates the soul with its majestic peaks, lush orchards, and serene lakes. This descriptive essay aims to transport you to this breathtaking destination, exploring its natural beauty and rich culture."

6. Narrative Essays

Narrative essays allow you to tell a personal story or anecdote while conveying a larger message or lesson. Here's an example topic:

Topic : My Experience Volunteering in a Rural Pakistani Village

Example : "Stepping into the remote village of Kotla, I embarked on a transformative journey of empathy and self-discovery. Through this narrative essay, I'll share my encounters with the resilient people of Kotla and the profound impact of my volunteer work."

Mastering the art of essay writing is a crucial skill for CSS aspirants in Pakistan. By understanding the different essay types and practicing your writing regularly, you can confidently approach the essay paper in the CSS examination. Remember that practice makes perfect, so keep honing your skills and exploring various essay topics to prepare effectively for this important exam component. Good luck with your CSS journey!

• Current Affairs

Recent Posts

AI-Powered Tax Reform: Transforming Pakistan's Fiscal Landscape

Social Media and Politics: Opportunities and Challenges

Decoding Pakistan's Food Security Puzzle: Addressing Challenges and Paving the Path to Progress

• CSS Syllabus
• CSS Past Papers

English Essay CSS Past Papers

On this page, we have listed all CSS past papers of English essay from the year 2016 to 2021 in PDF format. To download the PDF just click on each year css essay past paper and it will be downloaded.

• Essay Past Paper 2016
• Essay Past Paper 2017
• Essay Past Paper 2018
• Essay Past Paper 2019
• Essay Past Paper 2020
• Essay Past Paper 2021
• Essay Past Paper 2022
• Essay Past Paper 2023

If you are the one who can not read properly from the PDF format of the past papers, Don’t worry because we have compiled a booklet in which you will get all CSS Solved Past Papers and with FREE delivery all over Pakistan.

Username or email address  *

Password  *

Remember me Log in

Lost your password?

• Beginner's Guide
• Past Papers
• CSP Members
• Members List
• Social Groups
• Mark Forums Read
• The Power of Language: How words shape our perception of Reality.
• The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Employment and Workforce.
• Climate Change: Addressing the Global Crisis for a Sustainable Future.
• The Role of Social Media in Shaping Public Opinion and Democracy.
• Education Reform: Rethinking Traditional Teaching Methods for the Digital Age.
• The Importance of Mental Health Awareness and Well-being in Modern Society.
• The Ethics of Genetic Engineering: Balancing Progress and Responsibility.
• Environmental Conservation: Preserving Biodiversity for Future Generations.
• The Rise of E-commerce: Transforming the Retail Industry and Consumer Behavior.
• The Challenges and Opportunities of Space Exploration in the 21st Century.
• Examining the impact of digital currencies on the global financial landscape.
• The rise of E-democracy: Harnessing technology for inclusive governance

• 30 Most Asked Questions About Quaid-e-Azam, First Governor General of Pakistan in Competitive Exams
• 30+ Most Important One-Liner MCQs on Motorways and National Highways of Pakistan
• CSS 2021 Essay Paper
• CSS 2022 Essay Paper

CSS-Library

CSS! Not Really Hard Nut to Crack

• Current Affairs
• Daily Current Affairs Update
• European History
• French Revolution
• Gender Studies
• General Knowledge
• Ishtiaque Hussain Rahoojo
• National Issues
• Optional Subjects
• Pakistan Affairs
• Pakistan Affairs MCQs
• Past Papers
• Uncategorized
• 1.1 How Many Essay Topics are Given in the CSS Essay Question Paper?
• 1.2 What type of topics come in the Essay paper?
• 1.3 What is the Marking Criteria in Essay Paper?

ESSAY Syllabus Suggested by FPSC

CSS Essay is comprised of 100 Marks. It is usually the first and arguably the toughest paper for aspirants appearing in the CSS exams. The syllabus for CSS Essay is vague and extensive. However, FPSC has given basic guidelines as to how this paper is designed by the examiner and what factors should be carefully considered while attempting this paper. Below is the content of the FPSC Essay paper syllabus provided by FPSC.

“Candidates will be required to write one or more Essay in English. A wide choice of topics will be given. Candidates are expected to reflect comprehensive and research based knowledge on a selected topic. Candidate’s articulation, expression and technical treatment of the style of English Essay writing will be examined.” FPSC Syllabus guideline

How Many Essay Topics are Given in the CSS Essay Question Paper?

in CSS Essay paper, there are 10 topics in general out of which you must select one topic to write on it.

What type of topics come in the Essay paper?

Although the variety of topics that are asked in the essay paper is diverse, it is still possible that you can discern the pattern and prepare certain broad categories through which you can easily tackle 1 or 2 essay topics every year. Here is certain broad categories list for the ease of CSS aspirants.

• Issue-based argumentative essays
• issue-based descriptive essays
• general argumentative essays
• philosophical essays
• literary essays

What is the Marking Criteria in Essay Paper?

To crack CSS essay paper is really a tough job, but the right strategy and knowledge of how examiner’s gives weightage to each section of essay paper gives a proper sense as to what areas need to be focused and what strategy should be adopted to ace this particular subject.

So, as per CSS examiner’s reports and credible sources, the marking criteria of Essay paper can be broken down as follows:

• Evidence / justification part of paragraph (10)
• Statistics, figures and data (10)
• Validity and reliability of data (10)
• Relevance (10)
• Sentence structure  (5)
• Vocabulary (5)
• Clarity (5)
• Command of language (5)
• Expression (5)
• Outline (5)
• Introduction (5)
• Paragraph structure (5)
• Conclusion (5)
• Logical sequence and progress of the essay (5)
• Paragraph transitions (5)

CSS-Library is the Largest Platform for CSS and PMS Preparation in Pakistan. We Provide to-the-point, relevant, quality, and updated CSS material which is highly neglected in online platforms. We are also dedicated to help in one paper 100 Marks screening and descriptive paper of FPSC, PPSC, SPSC, KPPSC, BPSC, AJKPSC, NTS, PTS, OTS, Judiciary, Bank Exams and Other Competitive Exams.

Useful Links

• Submit Your Articles
• Submit Policy

Copyright © 2024 CSS-Library.com, All Rights Reserved

CSS English Essay Past Paper 2023

• February 1, 2023
• CSS Past Papers 2023

Here, you will find the CSS English Essay Past Paper 2023. You can view or download this CSS CSS English Essay Paper 2023 . The English Essay paper of CSS was held on 01-02-2023.

See the CSS English Essays and Topics here.

Get CSS English Essay Paper 2023

Following Essay Topics are given in this CSS 2023 Essay Exam.

Q1. Instruction in youth is like engraving in stone.

Q2. The one who uses force is afraid of reasoning.

Q3. Not all recycling projects are cost-effective.

Q4. The fool speaks, and the wise listen.

Q5. A friend walks in when everyone else walks out.

Q6. Online learning is not only convenient but often more effective than traditional classroom instruction.

Q7. To encourage healthy eating, higher taxes should be imposed on soft drinks and junk food.

Q8. People have become overly dependent on technology.

Q9. Both parents should assume equal responsibility in raising a child.

Q10. Boys will be boys.

View the CSS English Essay Paper 2023

• CSS 2024 Past papers
• All Other CSS 2023 Papers
• View CSS Subject-wise Past Papers
• CSS Notes and Study Material – All subjects

I am interested in writing content for educational purpose.

Most relevant ▼

• CSS Pakistan Affairs Special Exam 2023 Paper
• CSS Current Affairs Special Exam 2023 Paper
• CSS English (Precis & Composition) Special Exam 2023 Paper
• CSS Essay Special Exam 2023 Paper
• CSS Geology Paper 2023
• CSS Pure Mathematics Paper 2023
• CSS Physics Paper-II 2023
• CSS Chemistry Paper-II 2023
• CSS Applied Mathematics Paper 2023
• CSS Physics-I Paper 2023

More From Forbes

Cannabis rolling papers may pose health risks from heavy metals, study finds.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

Blonde girl holding red joint

The lack of regulation on cannabis rolling papers may expose users to health risks due to the presence of unsafe quantities of heavy metals, according to a new study.

Researchers from Lake Superior State University in Michigan recently published a study in the journal ACS Omega in order to measure the heavy metal content in commercially available cannabis rolling papers.

They analyzed the elemental composition of 53 commercially available rolling papers and assessed the potential risks of exposure in comparison to established standards.

The findings showed that around one-quarter of the samples exceeded the recommended levels of copper for inhaled pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, certain cannabis rolling papers contain elevated levels of elements such as copper, chromium, and vanadium, which could pose health risks. The study also revealed that some cannabis rolling papers use copper-based coloring, potentially exposing users to unsafe levels of copper, mainly when used in large quantities.

In this context, repeated exposure to heavy metals through inhalation can accumulate in the body over time, causing health problems and increasing the risk of developing diseases.

The heavy metals in these papers originate from various sources, including residual chemicals from manufacturing, ink and dyes applied during production, and potentially contaminated plants used in papermaking if grown in polluted soil. Researchers also explained that recycled paper poses an even higher risk as extra chemicals are often added during the recycling process to enhance its appearance. These added chemicals may include lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and zinc.

By analyzing the levels of 26 different elements in cannabis rolling papers, researchers compared the level of these elements with the standards established by various states in the U.S. and Canada for inhaled cannabis products. Although there are typically no specific regulations regarding the elemental content of rolling papers, this comparison provided insights into their potential contribution to consumer exposure.

The findings revealed significant disparities in regulations across different states, particularly concerning acceptable arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead levels. Even if rolling papers were subject to regulation akin to cannabis products, the limits for these elements varied widely between jurisdictions, sometimes by 20 to 50 times.

Samsung Is Giving Away A Free Galaxy S24 In A New Promotion

Nfl draft here s how much second and third round picks will make in rookie contracts, the fallout 4 next gen update is not going great.

Researchers found that calcium was the most common element in rolling papers, probably because of additives used in making paper. They also found magnesium, sodium, potassium, aluminum, iron, manganese, barium, copper, and zinc.

The exceptionally high metal levels in some samples taken into exam pose potential risks for users, according to this study.

The authors of this study suspect that certain manufacturers used inks containing copper pigments. For instance, the blue cone showed an even distribution of copper and titanium on its surface, suggesting the use of copper-containing pigment. In contrast, they noted that the yellow and red cones lacked copper but contained other elements like titanium and strontium, commonly used in coloring.

Overall, the analysis showed that copper was present in the green, blue, and purple parts of the rainbow cone, with the highest amount in the blue part. Chromium was found in the gold-colored tip.

These results suggest health risks from copper-based pigments in some rolling papers when smoked due to the potential release of hazardous compounds during combustion.

This study highlights the concerning lack of regulations for rolling papers, raising worries about potential exposure to harmful elements like copper, particularly considering the medical use of cannabis by many users.

With varying cannabis laws across states and the federal government, there's a lack of unified guidance, and researchers suggested that states should collaborate to establish limits on toxic elements in cannabis and rolling papers based on their findings.

Researchers also suggested that manufacturing processes can exacerbate exposure risks, especially when using copper-based inks, and encouraged manufacturers to eliminate their use, which could significantly reduce copper levels in papers.

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

Navigation Menu

Search code, repositories, users, issues, pull requests..., provide feedback.

We read every piece of feedback, and take your input very seriously.

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly.

To see all available qualifiers, see our documentation .

• Notifications

• Regional news
• Tonight @ 8 – live webinars
• RSGB live news
• RSGB notices
• Special focus
• Silent Keys
• Get on the air to care
• RSGB Convention
• RSGB Construction Competition 2024
• International Women in Engineering Day 2023
• RSGB Strategy
• RSGB committees
• Our policies
• Consultations
• Volunteers’ Week
• RSGB Regions
• National Radio Centre
• Radio Communications Foundation
• Company information
• Have Your Say
• Club Finder
• Affiliate your club
• Beyond Exams
• Events pack
• Media guide
• Special interest
• School Zone
• University Corner
• Course & exam finder
• Student information
• Trainer information
• Useful Resources
• Exam payments
• Schools Link Project
• Cadets Foundation licence application
• Student stories
• Live solar data
• Live DX cluster
• WebSDR receivers
• NoV applications
• Awards & programmes
• Beacons & repeaters
• Emergency comms
• Planning matters
• Operating Advisory Service (OAS)
• VDSL interference reporting
• Amateur television
• Propagation
• Space & satellites
• What is contesting?
• HF contests
• VHF contests
• RSGB Contest Club
• RadCom contesting
• Coding and amateur radio
• British Science Week
• Useful practical skills for new licensees
• HF DXpeditions
• Radio Marathons
• The Coronation of The King and the Queen Consort
• Transatlantic Tests Centenary
• Bletchley Park free admission vouchers
• Join the RSGB
• Join a friend
• Renew your Membership
• Your stories
• All products
• Special offers
• Other publications
• Other products
• Booking office
• Spectrum Defence Fund
• RCF donations
• RadCom Basics
• RadCom Plus
• Books - extra
• About the RSGB
• The excitement of amateur radio
• Practical skills videos
• Technical videos
• RSGB Convention lectures
• Syllabus resources
• Young amateurs
• Film archive
• Publications
• Amateur radio
• Becoming an amateur
• Club exam bookings
• Clubs & repeaters
• Receiving interference
• What is amateur radio?
• First steps
• EMC considerations
• Amateur radio: A 21st Century hobby
• Amateur Radio: A World of Possibilities
• GB1SS: schools speaking to Tim Peake
• More RSGB videos
• Alex Discovers Amateur Radio

New mock exam papers

The RSGB Exam Syllabus Review Group (ESRG) has published a new set of mock papers covering each of the amateur radio licence exams, from Foundation through to Direct to Full.

These papers are in addition to those already available.

They are each marked as ‘mock exam paper 3’ and you can find them on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/mock-exams .

Category : Front Page News , GB2RS Headlines , RSGB Notices

Radio Society of Great Britain – Main Site

• Posts Index
• Internet Guidelines
• Privacy Policy
• Accessibility

COOKIES ON THE RSGB WEBSITE

Necessary cookies the rsgb uses necessary cookies to make our site work. necessary cookies enable security and accessibility functions on the website and allow features such as membership services login to work. you can disable these cookies in your browser settings, but this may adversely affect the website's functionality. for more information see our cookie policy page., analytics cookies we would also like to set optional analytics cookies that show how you are using the website, so we can improve the way it works. these cookies are only set if you opt into them under the view preferences option. for more information see our cookie policy page., marketing cookies some third party content providers featured on our site may use marketing cookies. to see this content either enable marketing cookies here, or opt-into them when prompted..

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Junk science is cited in abortion ban cases. Researchers are fighting the ‘fatally flawed’ work

Researchers are calling for the retraction of misleading anti-abortion studies that could influence judges in critical cases

T he retraction of three peer-reviewed articles prominently cited in court cases on the so-called abortion pill – mifepristone – has put a group of papers by anti-abortion researchers in the scientific limelight.

Seventeen sexual and reproductive health researchers are calling for four peer-reviewed studies by anti-abortion researchers to be retracted or amended. The papers, critics contend, are “ fatally flawed ” and muddy the scientific consensus for courts and lawmakers who lack the scientific training to understand their methodological flaws.

While some papers date back to 2002, the group argues that now – in the post-Roe v Wade era – the stakes have never been higher. State and federal courts now routinely field cases on near-total abortion bans , attacks on in vitro fertilization and attempts to give fetuses the rights of people .

“When we saw the meta-analysis presented again and again and again – in the briefs to the Dobbs case ” that overturned Roe v Wade “and state cases” to restrict abortion, “the concerns really rose,” said Julia Littell, a retired Bryn Mawr professor and social researcher with expertise in statistical analysis.

A meta-analysis is a kind of research that uses statistical methods to combine studies on the same topic. Researchers sometimes use these analyses to examine the scientific consensus on a subject.

Littell was “shocked” by a paper that said women experience dramatic increases in mental health problems after an abortion – primarily because of the paper’s research methods.

Of the 22 studies cited by the meta-analysis, 11 were by the lone author of the paper itself. The meta-analysis “failed to meet any published methodological criteria for systematic reviews” and failed to follow recommendations to avoid statistical dependencies, according to a criticism published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Large scientific bodies have found no evidence to suggest abortion causes increases in mental health problems. The best predictor of a woman’s mental health after an abortion is her health before. What’s more, there is substantial evidence that women who are denied a wanted abortion suffer both mental and financial harms.

From the time it was published, this 2011 meta-analysis has drawn consternation. Still, it remains in the scientific record in a dispute that the 17 authors of the BMJ criticism, including Littell, say goes beyond mere scientific disagreement.

The paper has been cited in at least 24 federal and state court cases and 14 parliamentary hearings in six countries.

Dr Chelsea Polis , a reproductive health scientist in New York City, who helped gather the group of academics, says her “concerns with the meta-analysis on abortion and mental health published … are based on it being, in my professional opinion, egregiously methodologically flawed”.

The researcher who wrote the article, Priscilla Coleman, a retired professor from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, has responded to calls for retractions with legal threats and descriptions of conspiracy. She said calls for retraction were “an organized effort to cull professional literature and remove studies demonstrating abortion increases risk of mental health problems to impact the legal status of abortion”.

Since the supreme court overturned the constitutional right to abortion and allowed 21 states to severely restrict or ban the procedure, a series of retractions and investigations show how the scientific community is slowly beginning to re-evaluate work cited in these court cases.

“We’re seeing claims made with legal force behind them, and that’s causing people to look at a lot of this research in a different way,” said Mary Ziegler, a professor of law at the University of California Davis, and an expert on the history of reproduction.

A second author whose work is at the center of the BMJ critique is David C Reardon, a longtime abortion opponent. A 2002 study by Reardon, also published in BMJ, is now under investigation.

BMJ said in a statement that the “issue remains under consideration by our research integrity team”, and that their final decision would be made “public once we have completed our internal process”.

Reardon trained as an engineer, but found his calling in research that claimed a connection between abortion and poor mental health. He founded the Elliot Institute in Illinois, an openly anti-abortion non-profit, to pursue that research.

Today, Reardon is affiliated with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, funded by one of the most powerful anti-abortion campaign organizations in the US, Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America. Reardon also co-authored two of the articles that were retracted before supreme court hearings, both by a colleague at the Lozier Institute. Reardon did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

According to analyses of the literature and experts such as Julia Steinberg, an associate professor of family science at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and a co-author of a recent critique of these studies in BMJ, the science is not in dispute. The “rates of mental health problems for women with an unwanted pregnancy were the same whether they had an abortion or gave birth”, an analysis by the UK’s National Collaborating Center for Mental Health found in 2011. That review was cited as one of the best by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, in its own 2018 review of the issue.

Other reviews, such as one from 2009 by the American Psychological Association , found evidence “did not support the claim that observed associations between abortion and mental health problems are caused by abortion per se”.

“One can be pro-choice or pro-abortion or anti-abortion, but still understand what the science says with respect to abortion and mental health,” said Steinberg.

Although matters of scientific integrity may seem academic, they can have concrete impacts on policy in the US post-Roe.

One of the few cases of scientific retractions to break through to the wider public was in Texas, where a federal court relied heavily on two studies in a decision to invalidate the approval of mifepristone – better known as the “abortion pill” .

The case was appealed all the way to the supreme court, where it was heard in March in oral arguments in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v FDA . Just weeks before the justices were set to hear the case, and as nearly the entire scientific community screamed about the “ junk science ” at its heart, the heavily cited studies were retracted by Sage Publications. Even so, the article’s claims remained in briefs before the court, and were cited as evidence by one of the most conservative justices, Samuel Alito .

Like Reardon, Coleman also recently had a paper retracted, this one in Frontiers in Psychology in 2022. The journal said publicly that the paper “did not meet the standards for publication”. Notably, one of the paper’s reviewers also worked at the Lozier Institute. Coleman unsuccessfully sued the journal over its decision to retract. The court ruled against Coleman in March 2023, Frontiers told the Guardian.

Coleman’s 2011 meta-analysis, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, was also involved in a heated retraction fight in the UK. The first calls for retraction of the article came soon after it was published in 2012.

It was again brought to journal editors in 2022 after the BJP established a research integrity group . “Motivated by strong agreement with” the importance of scientific integrity, said Polis, “I led a group of 16 scholars to summarize and submit our concerns, again, about the Coleman meta-analysis to BJP.”

In response to these concerns, the BJP established an independent panel of experts to investigate. The panel recommended Coleman’s article be retracted, but was overruled by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the professional association that publishes the BJP. The move prompted members of the independent panel and some editorial board members to resign .

Later reporting that appeared in the BMJ included panel members saying they believed the college declined to retract because they may not have had comprehensive legal cover in the United States. Coleman threatened to sue – twice – according to letters obtained by the BBC .

Although Coleman denied that her legal threats contributed to the BJP’s decision not to retract her study, she said help from attorneys had been important to defending her work.

“I have spent the last two years vigorously defending three of my own articles and without the financial means to hire highly competent lawyers and the time and opportunity to write lengthy rebuttals, the impact could have been very damaging,” said Coleman.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists responded to inquiries from the Guardian by sending a 2023 statement on its decision. That statement read, in part: “After careful consideration, given the distance in time since the original article was published, the widely available public debate on the paper, including the letters of complaint already available alongside the article online, and the fact that the article has already been subject to a full investigation, it has been decided to reject the request for the article to be retracted.” The statement added: “We now regard this matter as closed.”

Coleman has also defended her work when she testified in US courts, including in a Michigan hearing in which she said her study was “not retracted”.

Steinberg said: “That’s what’s really infuriating.”

Coleman “hasn’t even had to admit that she made an error”, she added.

Researchers also called for retraction of a 2009 article in the Journal of Psychiatric Research by Coleman and the anti-abortion activists Catherine Coyle and Vincent Rue. This article too has been under fire for years and even publicly debunked .

In spite of apparent flaws, Coleman included this 2009 article in her meta-analysis, which critics say compounds the errors.

Additionally, authors of the BMJ critique called for a 2005 article in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders by Coleman, Reardon and a Florida State University psychology professor, Jesse Cougle, to be accompanied by an expression of concern.

Ivan Oransky, one of the founders of the Retraction Watch blog, said that although retractions had become more common, they were nowhere near common enough to correct the scientific record. About one in 500 papers are retracted today, but perhaps as many as one in 50 ought to be, he said.

“All it does is further throw into question what the heck value these multibillion-dollar publishing companies are adding,” said Oransky. For critics of the scientific publishing industry, like Oransky, the response shows how flawed studies cited by courts are a “symptom” of problems with publishers, rather than a failure of courts.

To Littell, the solution is in plain sight: “We really need to be publishing fewer papers, better work, better science.”

• US healthcare
• US supreme court
• Reproductive rights

Most viewed

Main Navigation

• Contact NeurIPS
• Code of Ethics
• Code of Conduct
• Create Profile
• Journal To Conference Track
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Proceedings
• Future Meetings
• Exhibitor Information
• Privacy Policy

NeurIPS 2024

Conference Dates: (In person) 9 December - 15 December, 2024

Homepage: https://neurips.cc/Conferences/2024/

Call For Papers 

Author notification: Sep 25, 2024

Camera-ready, poster, and video submission: Oct 30, 2024 AOE

Submit at: https://openreview.net/group?id=NeurIPS.cc/2024/Conference  

The site will start accepting submissions on Apr 22, 2024 

Subscribe to these and other dates on the 2024 dates page .

The Thirty-Eighth Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2024) is an interdisciplinary conference that brings together researchers in machine learning, neuroscience, statistics, optimization, computer vision, natural language processing, life sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, and other adjacent fields. We invite submissions presenting new and original research on topics including but not limited to the following:

• Applications (e.g., vision, language, speech and audio, Creative AI)
• Deep learning (e.g., architectures, generative models, optimization for deep networks, foundation models, LLMs)
• Evaluation (e.g., methodology, meta studies, replicability and validity, human-in-the-loop)
• General machine learning (supervised, unsupervised, online, active, etc.)
• Infrastructure (e.g., libraries, improved implementation and scalability, distributed solutions)
• Machine learning for sciences (e.g. climate, health, life sciences, physics, social sciences)
• Neuroscience and cognitive science (e.g., neural coding, brain-computer interfaces)
• Optimization (e.g., convex and non-convex, stochastic, robust)
• Probabilistic methods (e.g., variational inference, causal inference, Gaussian processes)
• Reinforcement learning (e.g., decision and control, planning, hierarchical RL, robotics)
• Social and economic aspects of machine learning (e.g., fairness, interpretability, human-AI interaction, privacy, safety, strategic behavior)
• Theory (e.g., control theory, learning theory, algorithmic game theory)

Machine learning is a rapidly evolving field, and so we welcome interdisciplinary submissions that do not fit neatly into existing categories.

Authors are asked to confirm that their submissions accord with the NeurIPS code of conduct .

Formatting instructions:   All submissions must be in PDF format, and in a single PDF file include, in this order:

• The submitted paper
• Technical appendices that support the paper with additional proofs, derivations, or results 
• The NeurIPS paper checklist  

Other supplementary materials such as data and code can be uploaded as a ZIP file

The main text of a submitted paper is limited to nine content pages , including all figures and tables. Additional pages containing references don’t count as content pages. If your submission is accepted, you will be allowed an additional content page for the camera-ready version.

The main text and references may be followed by technical appendices, for which there is no page limit.

The maximum file size for a full submission, which includes technical appendices, is 50MB.

Authors are encouraged to submit a separate ZIP file that contains further supplementary material like data or source code, when applicable.

You must format your submission using the NeurIPS 2024 LaTeX style file which includes a “preprint” option for non-anonymous preprints posted online. Submissions that violate the NeurIPS style (e.g., by decreasing margins or font sizes) or page limits may be rejected without further review. Papers may be rejected without consideration of their merits if they fail to meet the submission requiremhttps://www.overleaf.com/read/kcffhyrygkqc#85f742ents, as described in this document. 

Paper checklist: In order to improve the rigor and transparency of research submitted to and published at NeurIPS, authors are required to complete a paper checklist . The paper checklist is intended to help authors reflect on a wide variety of issues relating to responsible machine learning research, including reproducibility, transparency, research ethics, and societal impact. The checklist forms part of the paper submission, but does not count towards the page limit.

Supplementary material: While all technical appendices should be included as part of the main paper submission PDF, authors may submit up to 100MB of supplementary material, such as data, or source code in a ZIP format. Supplementary material should be material created by the authors that directly supports the submission content. Like submissions, supplementary material must be anonymized. Looking at supplementary material is at the discretion of the reviewers.

We encourage authors to upload their code and data as part of their supplementary material in order to help reviewers assess the quality of the work. Check the policy as well as code submission guidelines and templates for further details.

Use of Large Language Models (LLMs): We welcome authors to use any tool that is suitable for preparing high-quality papers and research. However, we ask authors to keep in mind two important criteria. First, we expect papers to fully describe their methodology, and any tool that is important to that methodology, including the use of LLMs, should be described also. For example, authors should mention tools (including LLMs) that were used for data processing or filtering, visualization, facilitating or running experiments, and proving theorems. It may also be advisable to describe the use of LLMs in implementing the method (if this corresponds to an important, original, or non-standard component of the approach). Second, authors are responsible for the entire content of the paper, including all text and figures, so while authors are welcome to use any tool they wish for writing the paper, they must ensure that all text is correct and original.

Double-blind reviewing:   All submissions must be anonymized and may not contain any identifying information that may violate the double-blind reviewing policy.  This policy applies to any supplementary or linked material as well, including code.  If you are including links to any external material, it is your responsibility to guarantee anonymous browsing.  Please do not include acknowledgements at submission time. If you need to cite one of your own papers, you should do so with adequate anonymization to preserve double-blind reviewing.  For instance, write “In the previous work of Smith et al. [1]…” rather than “In our previous work [1]...”). If you need to cite one of your own papers that is in submission to NeurIPS and not available as a non-anonymous preprint, then include a copy of the cited anonymized submission in the supplementary material and write “Anonymous et al. [1] concurrently show...”). Any papers found to be violating this policy will be rejected.

OpenReview: We are using OpenReview to manage submissions. The reviews and author responses will not be public initially (but may be made public later, see below). As in previous years, submissions under review will be visible only to their assigned program committee. We will not be soliciting comments from the general public during the reviewing process. Anyone who plans to submit a paper as an author or a co-author will need to create (or update) their OpenReview profile by the full paper submission deadline. Your OpenReview profile can be edited by logging in and clicking on your name in https://openreview.net/ . This takes you to a URL "https://openreview.net/profile?id=~[Firstname]_[Lastname][n]" where the last part is your profile name, e.g., ~Wei_Zhang1. The OpenReview profiles must be up to date, with all publications by the authors, and their current affiliations. The easiest way to import publications is through DBLP but it is not required, see FAQ . Submissions without updated OpenReview profiles will be desk rejected. The information entered in the profile is critical for ensuring that conflicts of interest and reviewer matching are handled properly. Because of the rapid growth of NeurIPS, we request that all authors help with reviewing papers, if asked to do so. We need everyone’s help in maintaining the high scientific quality of NeurIPS.  

Please be aware that OpenReview has a moderation policy for newly created profiles: New profiles created without an institutional email will go through a moderation process that can take up to two weeks. New profiles created with an institutional email will be activated automatically.

Venue home page: https://openreview.net/group?id=NeurIPS.cc/2024/Conference

If you have any questions, please refer to the FAQ: https://openreview.net/faq

Ethics review: Reviewers and ACs may flag submissions for ethics review . Flagged submissions will be sent to an ethics review committee for comments. Comments from ethics reviewers will be considered by the primary reviewers and AC as part of their deliberation. They will also be visible to authors, who will have an opportunity to respond.  Ethics reviewers do not have the authority to reject papers, but in extreme cases papers may be rejected by the program chairs on ethical grounds, regardless of scientific quality or contribution.  

Preprints: The existence of non-anonymous preprints (on arXiv or other online repositories, personal websites, social media) will not result in rejection. If you choose to use the NeurIPS style for the preprint version, you must use the “preprint” option rather than the “final” option. Reviewers will be instructed not to actively look for such preprints, but encountering them will not constitute a conflict of interest. Authors may submit anonymized work to NeurIPS that is already available as a preprint (e.g., on arXiv) without citing it. Note that public versions of the submission should not say "Under review at NeurIPS" or similar.

Dual submissions: Submissions that are substantially similar to papers that the authors have previously published or submitted in parallel to other peer-reviewed venues with proceedings or journals may not be submitted to NeurIPS. Papers previously presented at workshops are permitted, so long as they did not appear in a conference proceedings (e.g., CVPRW proceedings), a journal or a book.  NeurIPS coordinates with other conferences to identify dual submissions.  The NeurIPS policy on dual submissions applies for the entire duration of the reviewing process.  Slicing contributions too thinly is discouraged.  The reviewing process will treat any other submission by an overlapping set of authors as prior work. If publishing one would render the other too incremental, both may be rejected.

Anti-collusion: NeurIPS does not tolerate any collusion whereby authors secretly cooperate with reviewers, ACs or SACs to obtain favorable reviews. 

Author responses:   Authors will have one week to view and respond to initial reviews. Author responses may not contain any identifying information that may violate the double-blind reviewing policy. Authors may not submit revisions of their paper or supplemental material, but may post their responses as a discussion in OpenReview. This is to reduce the burden on authors to have to revise their paper in a rush during the short rebuttal period.

After the initial response period, authors will be able to respond to any further reviewer/AC questions and comments by posting on the submission’s forum page. The program chairs reserve the right to solicit additional reviews after the initial author response period.  These reviews will become visible to the authors as they are added to OpenReview, and authors will have a chance to respond to them.

After the notification deadline, accepted and opted-in rejected papers will be made public and open for non-anonymous public commenting. Their anonymous reviews, meta-reviews, author responses and reviewer responses will also be made public. Authors of rejected papers will have two weeks after the notification deadline to opt in to make their deanonymized rejected papers public in OpenReview.  These papers are not counted as NeurIPS publications and will be shown as rejected in OpenReview.

Publication of accepted submissions:   Reviews, meta-reviews, and any discussion with the authors will be made public for accepted papers (but reviewer, area chair, and senior area chair identities will remain anonymous). Camera-ready papers will be due in advance of the conference. All camera-ready papers must include a funding disclosure . We strongly encourage accompanying code and data to be submitted with accepted papers when appropriate, as per the code submission policy . Authors will be allowed to make minor changes for a short period of time after the conference.

Contemporaneous Work: For the purpose of the reviewing process, papers that appeared online within two months of a submission will generally be considered "contemporaneous" in the sense that the submission will not be rejected on the basis of the comparison to contemporaneous work. Authors are still expected to cite and discuss contemporaneous work and perform empirical comparisons to the degree feasible. Any paper that influenced the submission is considered prior work and must be cited and discussed as such. Submissions that are very similar to contemporaneous work will undergo additional scrutiny to prevent cases of plagiarism and missing credit to prior work.

Plagiarism is prohibited by the NeurIPS Code of Conduct .

Other Tracks: Similarly to earlier years, we will host multiple tracks, such as datasets, competitions, tutorials as well as workshops, in addition to the main track for which this call for papers is intended. See the conference homepage for updates and calls for participation in these tracks. 

Experiments: As in past years, the program chairs will be measuring the quality and effectiveness of the review process via randomized controlled experiments. All experiments are independently reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Financial Aid: Each paper may designate up to one (1) NeurIPS.cc account email address of a corresponding student author who confirms that they would need the support to attend the conference, and agrees to volunteer if they get selected. To be considered for Financial the student will also need to fill out the Financial Aid application when it becomes available.

Advertisement

Supported by

Harvard’s Taylor Swift Scholars Have Thoughts on ‘Tortured Poets’

The students taking Harvard University’s class on the singer are studying up. Their final papers are due at the end of the month.

• Share full article

By Madison Malone Kircher

Fans of Taylor Swift often study up for a new album, revisiting the singer’s older works to prepare to analyze lyrics and song titles for secret messages and meanings .

“The Tortured Poets Department” is getting much the same treatment, and perhaps no group of listeners was better prepared than the students at Harvard University currently studying Ms. Swift’s works in an English class devoted entirely to the artist . The undergraduate course, “Taylor Swift and Her World,” is taught by Stephanie Burt, who has her students comparing Ms. Swift’s songs to works by poets and writers including Willa Cather, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth.

On Thursday night, about 50 students from the class gathered in a lecture hall on campus to listen to Ms. Swift’s new album. Mary Pankowski, a 22-year-old senior studying history of art and architecture, wore a cream sweatshirt she bought at Ms. Swift’s Eras tour last year. The group made beaded friendship bracelets to celebrate the new album, she said.

When the clock struck midnight, the classroom erupted into applause, and the analysis began. First, the group listened through the album once without discussing, just taking it all in.

Certain lines, however, immediately caused a stir, said Samantha Wilhoit, a junior studying government — like a reference to the singer Charlie Puth and the scathing lyrics to the song “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” Ms. Wilhoit, 21, said.

A line from the song “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” in which Ms. Swift sings, “I cry a lot but I am so productive,” also seemed to resonate, Ms. Wilhoit said, laughing.

A smaller group of students, including Ms. Pankowski, stuck it out until the early hours of the morning waiting to see if Ms. Swift would drop additional music. At 2 a.m., they were rewarded with an additional “volume” of 15 tracks called “The Anthology.” Ms. Pankowski said she didn’t go to sleep until hours later.

Speaking with The New York Times together on a video call Friday morning, several students from the class discussed their thoughts on the 31 new songs and brainstormed their final papers, which are due at the end of the month.

“The song ‘Clara Bow’ reminded me of ‘The Song of the Lark,’” Makenna Walko, 19, said, citing the Willa Cather novel that follows the career of an aspiring opera singer, Thea Kronborg. “She’s talking about a girl trying to make it out of her small town and trying to get to Manhattan, and what it’s like to have these big, musical dreams and try to pursue them,” she continued. “That’s a narrative that has shown up a lot in Taylor’s own life, over the course of her own career. In a lot of ways, it’s Taylor’s story, too.”

Lola DeAscentiis, a sophomore, zeroed in on the song “But Daddy I Love Him,” comparing it to the Sylvia Plath poem “Daddy.” She plans to explore the link in her final paper.

“I hesitate to say that the song was anywhere near the genius of Sylvia Plath — no offense to Taylor Swift — but I can definitely see some similarities in the themes, like sadness, depression and mental health,” Ms. DeAscentiis, 20, said. (Ms. DeAscentiis also drew a distinction between being a fan of Ms. Swift and being a devoted Swiftie. She said she identified as the former.)

“The way that Taylor overlays her relationship with the significant other that she’s talking about in the song with the relationship that she has with her father — I think that was very Plath,” she added.

Another student, Ana Paulina Serrano, echoed Ms. DeAscentiis, noting that the class had learned about the genre of confessional poetry. “Is Taylor considered a confessional poet?” Ms. Serrano, a 21-year-old junior majoring in neuroscience, asked the group on the call. In support of her own position, she offered as evidence Ms. Swift’s song “Mastermind,” a track off “Midnights,” in which Ms. Swift reveals herself to have calculated and plotted the outcome of a relationship.

“Sometimes she’s confessing things that we, like, already knew or assumed, but she often seems to feel this need to explicitly tell us,” Ms. Serrano added.

Isabel Levin, a 23-year-old senior studying integrative biology, said she thought Ms. Swift’s delivery on several tracks had a spoken-word quality. She wondered if maybe some of the lyrics had initially begun not as songs but as more traditional poems.

Ms. Swift has said she categorizes her songs by the type of pen she imagines using to write each. A “frivolous, carefree, bouncy” song is a glitter gel pen song, while a fountain pen song might be more “brutally honest,” according to Ms. Swift . Quill pen songs are “all old-fashioned, like you’re a 19th-century poet crafting your next sonnet by candlelight,” she explained during her acceptance speech as songwriter-artist of the decade at the Nashville Songwriter Awards in 2022.

And with what implement might Ms. Swift have written “Tortured Poets?”

Quill pen, for sure, Ms. Walko said.

Madison Malone Kircher is a Times reporter covering internet culture. More about Madison Malone Kircher

Inside the World of Taylor Swift

A Triumph at the Grammys: Taylor Swift made history  by winning her fourth album of the year at the 2024 edition of the awards, an event that saw women take many of the top awards .

‘The T ortured Poets Department’: Poets reacted to Swift’s new album name , weighing in on the pertinent question: What do the tortured poets think ?  

In the Public Eye: The budding romance between Swift and the football player Travis Kelce created a monocultural vortex that reached its apex  at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. Ahead of kickoff, we revisited some key moments in their relationship .

Politics (Taylor’s Version): After months of anticipation, Swift made her first foray into the 2024 election for Super Tuesday with a bipartisan message on Instagram . The singer, who some believe has enough influence  to affect the result of the election , has yet to endorse a presidential candidate.

Conspiracy Theories: In recent months, conspiracy theories about Swift and her relationship with Kelce have proliferated , largely driven by supporters of former President Donald Trump . The pop star's fans are shaking them off .

High-Frequency Vocabulary Words for CSS, PMS Aspirants

• Syed Kazim Ali
• March 8, 2021
• Sir Syed Kazim Ali Notes
• 42123 Views

Vocabulary words for CSS, PMS aspirants | Vocabulary words for FPSC, PPSC, KPPSC, SPSC, BPSC, NTS exams for Assistant Directors | Vocabulary words for CSS Aspirants

The following is a list of highly used vocabulary words found on multiple exams, such as the CSS, PMS, FPSC, PPSC, SPSC, KPPSC, BPSC, AJKPSC, GBPSC, SAT, GAT, GMAT, and GRE. Make a study schedule as told by Sir Syed Kazim Ali and try to use them appropriately.

• Abet:  To aid, promote, or encourage the commission of (an offence).
• Abeyance:  A state of suspension or temporary inaction.
• Abjure:  To recant, renounce, repudiate under oath.
• Ablution:  A washing or cleansing, especially of the body.
• Abrogate:  To abolish, repeal.
• Abscond:  To depart suddenly and secretly, as for the purpose of escaping arrest.
• Abstemious:  Characterized by self-denial or abstinence, as in the use of drink, food.
• Abstruse:  Dealing with matters difficult to be understood.
• Abut:  To touch at the end or boundary line.
• Accede:  To agree.
• Acquiesce:  To comply; submit.
• Acrid:  Harshly pungent or bitter.
• Acumen:  Quickness of intellectual insight, or discernment; keenness of discrimination.
• Adage:  An old saying.
• Adamant:  Any substance of exceeding hardness or impenetrability.
• Admonition:  Gentle reproof.
• Adumbrate:  To represent beforehand in outline or by emblem.
• Affable:  Easy to approach.
• Aggrandize:  To cause to appear greatly.
• Aggravate:  To make heavier, worse, or more burdensome.
• Agile:  Able to move or act quickly, physically, or mentally.
• Agog:  In eager desire.
• Alacrity:  Cheerful willingness.
• Alcove:  A covered recess connected with or at the side of a larger room.
• Alleviate:  To make something less burdensome or less hard to bear.
• Aloof:  Not in sympathy with or desiring to associate with others.
• Amalgamate:  To mix or blend together in a homogeneous body.
• Ambidextrous:  Having the ability to use both hands with equal skill or ease.
• Ambiguous:  Having a double meaning.
• Ameliorate:  To relieve, as from pain or hardship
• Anathema:  Anything which is forbidden, as by social usage.
• Animadversion:  The utterance of criticism or censure.
• Animosity:  Hatred.
• Antediluvian:  Of or pertaining to the times, things, events before the great flood in the days of Noah.
• Antidote:  Anything that will counteract or remove the effects of poison, disease, or the like.
• Aplomb:  Confidence; coolness.
• Apocryphal:  Of doubtful authority or authenticity.
• Apogee:  The climax.
• Apostate:  False.
• Apotheosis:  Deification.
• Apparition:  Ghost.
• Appease:  To soothe by quieting anger or indignation.
• Apposite:  Appropriate.
• Apprise:  To give notice to; to inform.
• Approbation:  Sanction.
• Arboreal:  Of or pertaining to a tree or trees.
• Ardour:  Intensity of passion or affection.
• Argot:  A specialized vocabulary peculiar to a particular group.
• Arrant:  Notoriously bad.
• Ascetic:  Given severe self-denial and practising excessive abstinence and devotion.
• Ascribe:  To assign as a quality or attribute.
• Asperity:  Harshness or roughness of temper.
• Assiduous:  Unceasing; persistent
• Assuage:  To cause to be less harsh, violent, or severe, as excitement, appetite, pain, or disease.
• Astringent:  Harsh in disposition or character.
• Astute:  Keen in discernment.
• Atonement:  Amends, reparation, or expiation made from wrong or injury.
• Audacious:  Fearless.
• Augury:  Omen
• Auspicious:  Favorable omen
• Austere:  Severely simple; unadorned.
• Autocrat:  Anyone who claims or wields unrestricted or undisputed authority or influence.
• Auxiliary:  One who or that which aids or helps, especially when regarded as subsidiary or accessory.
• Avarice:  Passion for getting and keeping riches.
• Aver:  To avouch, justify or prove
• Aversion:  A mental condition of fixed opposition to or dislike of some particular thing.
• Avow:  To declare openly.
• Baleful:  Malignant.
• Banal:  Commonplace.
• Bask:  To make warm by genial heat.
• Beatify:  To make supremely happy.
• Bedaub:  To smear over, as with something oily or sticky.
• Bellicose:  Warlike.
• Belligerent:  Manifesting a warlike spirit.
• Benefactor:  A doer of kindly and charitable acts.
• Benevolence:  Any act of kindness or well-doing.
• Benign:  Good and kind of heart.
• Berate:  To scold severely.
• Bewilder:  To confuse the perceptions or judgment of.
• Blandishment:  Flattery intended to persuade.
• Blatant:  Noisily or offensively loud or clamorous.
• Blithe:  Joyous.
• Boisterous:  Unchecked merriment or animal spirits.
• Bolster:  To support, as something wrong.
• Bombast:  Inflated or extravagant language, especially on unimportant subjects.
• Boorish:  Rude.
• Breach:  The violation of official duty, lawful right, or a legal obligation.
• Brittle:  Fragile.
• Broach:  To mention, for the first time.
• Bumptious:  Full of offensive and aggressive self-conceit.
• Buoyant:  Having the power or tendency to float or keep afloat.
• Burnish:  To make brilliant or shining.
• Cabal:  A number of persons secretly united for effecting by intrigue some private purpose.
• Cacophony:  A disagreeable, harsh, or discordant sound or combination of sounds or tones.
• Cajole:  To impose on or dupe by flattering speech.
• Callow:  Without the experience of the world.
• Calumny:  Slander.
• Candid:  Straightforward.
• Cant:  To talk in a singsong, preaching tone with affected solemnity.
• Capacious:  Roomy.

• Capitulate:  To surrender or stipulate terms.
• Captious:  Hypercritical.
• Castigate:  To punish.
• Cataract:  Opacity of the lens of the eye resulting in complete or partial blindness.
• Caustic:  Sarcastic and severe.
• Censure:  To criticize severely; also, an expression of disapproval.
• Centurion:  A captain of a company of one hundred infantry in the ancient Roman army.
• Chagrin:  Keen vexation, annoyance, or mortification, as at one’s failures or errors.
• Chary:  Careful; wary; cautious.
• Chicanery:  The use of trickery to deceive.
• Circumlocution:  Indirect or roundabout expression.
• Coddle:  To treat as a baby or an invalid.
• Coerce:  To force.
• Coeval:  Existing during the same period of time; also, a contemporary.
• Cogent:  Appealing strongly to the reason or conscience.
• Cogitate:  Consider carefully and deeply; ponder.
• Cognizant:  Taking notice.
• Colloquial:  Pertaining or peculiar to common speech as distinguished from literary.
• Collusion:  A secret agreement for a wrongful purpose.
• Comestible:  Fit to be eaten.
• Commemorate:  To serve as a remembrance of.
• Complaisance:  Politeness.
• Complement:  To make complete.
• Comport:  To conduct or behave (oneself).
• Compunction:  Remorseful feeling.
• Conceit:  Self-flattering opinion.
• Conciliatory:  Tending to reconcile.
• Concord:  Harmony.
• Concur:  To agree.
• Condense:  To abridge.
• Conflagration:  A great fire, as of many buildings, a forest, or the like.
• Confluence:  The place where streams meet.
• Congeal:  To coagulate.
• Conjoin:  To unite.
• Connoisseur:  A critical judge of art, especially one with thorough knowledge and sound judgment of art.
• Console:  To comfort.
• Conspicuous:  Clearly visible.
• Consternation:  Panic.
• Constrict:  To bind.
• Consummate:  To bring to completion.
• Contiguous:  Touching or joining at the edge or boundary.
• Contrite:  Broken in spirit because of a sense of sin.
• Contumacious:  Rebellious.
• Copious:  Plenteous.
• Cornucopia:  The horn of plenty, symbolizing peace and prosperity.
• Corporeal:  Of a material nature; physical.
• Correlate:  To put in some relation of connection or correspondence.
• Corroboration:  Confirmation.
• Counterfeit:  Made to resemble something else.
• Countervail:  To offset.
• Covert:  Concealed, especially for an evil purpose.
• Cower:  To crouch down tremblingly, as through fear or shame.
• Crass:  Coarse or thick in nature or structure, as opposed to thin or fine.
• Credulous:  Easily deceived.
• Cupidity:  Avarice.
• Cursory:  Rapid and superficial.
• Curtail:  To cut off or cut short.
• Cynosure:  That to which general interest or attention is directed.
• Dearth:  Scarcity, as of something customary, essential, or desirable.
• Defer: To delay or put off to some other time.
• Deign: To do something that one considers to be beneath one’s dignity.
• Deleterious: Hurtful, morally or physically.
• Delineate: To represent by sketch or diagram.
• Deluge: To overwhelm with a flood of water.
• Demagogue: An unprincipled politician.
• Denizen: Inhabitant.
• Denouement: That part of a play or story in which the mystery is cleared up.
• Deplete: To reduce or lessen, as by use, exhaustion, or waste.
• Deposition: Testimony legally taken on interrogatories and reduced to writing, for use as evidence in court.
• Deprave: To render bad, especially morally bad.
• Deprecate: To express disapproval or regret for, with hope for the opposite.
• Deride: To ridicule.
• Derision: Ridicule.
• Derivative: Coming or acquired from some origin.
• Descry: To discern.
• Desiccant: Any remedy which, when applied externally, dries up or absorbs moisture, as that of wounds.
• Desuetude: A state of disuse or inactivity.
• Desultory: Not connected with what precedes.
• Deter: To frighten away.
• Dexterity: Readiness, precision, efficiency, and ease in any physical activity or in any mechanical work.
• Diaphanous: Transparent.
• Diatribe: Bitter or malicious criticism.
• Didactic: Pertaining to teaching.
• Diffidence: Self-distrust.
• Diffident: Affected or possessed with self-distrust.
• Dilate: To enlarge in all directions.
• Dilatory: Tending to cause a delay.
• Disallow: To withhold permission or sanction.
• Discomfit: To put to confusion.
• Disconcert: To disturb the composure of.
• Disconsolate :  Hopelessly sad; also, saddening; cheerless.
• Discountenance:  To look upon with disfavour.
• Discredit:  To injure the reputation of.
• Discreet:  Judicious.
• Dishevelled:  Disordered; disorderly; untidy.
• Dissemble:  To hide by pretending something different.
• Disseminate:  To sow or scatter abroad, as a seed is sown.
• Dissent:  Disagreement.
• Dissolution:  A breaking up of a union of persons.
• Distraught:  Bewildered.

• Divulge:  To tell or make known, as something previously private or secret.
• Dogmatic:  Making statements without argument or evidence.
• Dormant:  Being in a state of or resembling sleep.
• Dubious:  Doubtful.
• Duplicity:  Double-dealing.
• Earthenware:  Anything made of clay and baked in a kiln or dried in the sun.
• Ebullient:  Showing enthusiasm or exhilaration of feeling.
• Edacious:  Given to eating.
• Edible:  Suitable to be eaten.
• Educe:  To draw out.
• Effete:  Exhausted, as having performed its functions.
• Efficacy:  The power to produce an intended effect as shown in the production of it.
• Effrontery:  Unblushing impudence.
• Effulgence:  Splendor.
• Egregious:  Extreme.
• Egress:  Any place of exit.
• Elegy:  A lyric poem lamenting the dead.
• Elicit:  To educe or extract gradually or without violence.
• Elucidate:  To bring out more clearly the facts concerning.
• Emaciate:  To waste away in flesh.
• Embellish:  To make beautiful or elegant by adding attractive or ornamental features.
• Embezzle:  To misappropriate secretly.
• Emblazon:  To set forth publicly or in glowing terms.
• Encomium:  A formal or discriminating expression of praise.
• Encumbrance:  A burdensome and troublesome load.
• Endemic:  Peculiar to some specified country or people.
• Enervate:  To render ineffective or inoperative.
• Engender:  To produce.
• Engrave:  To cut or carve in or upon some surface.
• Enigma:  A riddle.
• Enmity:  Hatred.
• Entangle:  To involve in difficulties, confusion, or complications.
• Entreat:  To ask for or request earnestly.
• Epicurean:  Indulging, ministering, or pertaining to daintiness of appetite.
• Epithet:  Word used adjectivally to describe some quality or attribute of is objects, as in “Father Aeneas”.
• Epitome:  A simplified representation.
• Equable:  Equal and uniform; also, serene.
• Equanimity:  Evenness of mind or temper.
• Equanimity:  Calmness; composure.
• Equilibrium:  A state of balance.
• Equivocal:  Ambiguous.
• Equivocate:  To use words of double meaning.
• Eradicate:  To destroy thoroughly.
• Errant:  Roving or wandering, as in search of adventure or opportunity for gallant deeds.
• Erratic:  Irregular.
• Erroneous:  Incorrect.
• Erudite:  Very-learned.
• Eschew:  To keep clear of.
• Espy:  To keep close watch.
• Eulogy : A spoken or written laudation of a person’s life or character.
• Euphonious : Characterized by agreeableness of sound.
• Evanescent : Fleeting.
• Evince : To make manifest or evident.
• Evoke : To call or summon forth.
• Exacerbate : To make more sharp, severe, or virulent.
• Exculpate : To relieve of blame.
• Exhaustive: Thorough and complete in execution.
• Exigency: A critical period or condition.
• Exigency: State of requiring immediate action; also, an urgent situation; also, that which is required in a
• Exorbitant: Going beyond usual and proper limits.
• Expatiate: To speak or write at some length.
• Expedient: Contributing to personal advantage.
• Expiate: To make satisfaction or amends for.
• Explicate: To clear from involvement.
• Expostulate: To discuss.
• Expropriate: To deprive of possession; also, to transfer (another’s property) to oneself.
• Extant: Still existing and known.
• Extempore: Without studied or special preparation.
• Extenuate: To diminish the gravity or importance of.
• Extinct: Being no longer in existence.
• Extinguish: To render extinct.
• Extirpate: To root out; to eradicate.
• Extol: To praise in the highest terms.
• Extort: To obtain by violence, threats, compulsion, or the subjection of another to some necessity.
• Extraneous: Having no essential relation to a subject.
• Exuberance: Rich supply.
• Facetious: Amusing.
• Facile: Not difficult to do.
• Factious: Turbulent.
• Fallacious: Illogical.
• Fatuous: Idiotic
• Fawn: A young deer.
• Feint: Any sham, pretence, or deceptive movement.
• Felon: A criminal or depraved person.
• Ferocity: Savageness.
• Fervid: Intense.
• Fervor: Ardor or intensity of feeling.
• Fidelity: Loyalty.
• Finesse: Subtle contrivance used to gain a point.
• Flamboyant: Characterized by extravagance and in general by want of good taste.
• Flippant: Having a light, pert, trifling disposition.
• Florid: Flushed with red.
• Flout: To treat with contempt.
• Foible: A personal weakness or failing.
• Foment: To nurse to life or activity; to encourage.
• Foppish: Characteristic of one who is unduly devoted to dress and the niceties of manners.
• Forbearance: Patient endurance or toleration of offences.
• Forfeit: To lose possession of through failure to fulfil some obligation.
• Forgery: Counterfeiting.
• Forswear: To renounce upon oath.
• Fragile: Easily broken.
• Frantic: Frenzied.
• Frugal: Economical.
• Fugacious: Fleeting.
• Fulminate: To cause to explode.
• Fulsome: Offensive from excess of praise or commendation.
• Gainsay: To contradict; to deny.
• Gamut: The whole range or sequence.
• Garrulous: Given to constant trivial talking.
• Germane: Relevant.
• Gesticulate: To make gestures or motions, as in speaking, or in place of speech.
• Glimmer: A faint, wavering, unsteady light.
• Gossamer: Flimsy.
• Gourmand: A connoisseur in the delicacies of the table.
• Grandiloquent: Speaking in or characterized by a pompous or bombastic style.
• Gregarious: Sociable, outgoing
• Grievous: Creating affliction.
• Guile: Duplicity.
• Gullible: Credulous.
• Halcyon: Calm.
• Harangue: A tirade.
• Harbinger: One who or that which foreruns and announces the coming of any person or thing.
• Head: Adv. Precipitately, as in diving.
• Heinous: Odiously sinful.
• Heresy: An opinion or doctrine subversive of settled beliefs or accepted principles.
• Heterogeneous: Consisting of dissimilar elements or ingredients of different kinds.
• Hirsute: Having a hairy covering.
• Hoodwink: To deceive.
• Hospitable: Disposed to treat strangers or guests with generous kindness.
• Hypocrisy: Extreme insincerity.
• Iconoclast: An image-breaker.
• Idiosyncrasy: A mental quality or habit peculiar to an individual.
• Ignoble: Low in character or purpose.
• Ignominious: Shameful.
• Illicit: Unlawful.
• Imbroglio: A misunderstanding attended by ill feeling, perplexity, or strife.
• Imbue :  To dye; to instil profoundly.
• Immaculate:  Without spot or blemish.
• Imminent:  Dangerous and close at hand.
• Immutable:  Unchangeable.
• Impair:  To cause to become less or worse.
• Impassive:  Unmoved by or not exhibiting feeling.
• Impecunious:  Having no money.
• Impede:  To be an obstacle or to place obstacles in the way of.
• Imperative:  Obligatory.
• Imperious:  Insisting on obedience.
• Imperturbable:  Calm.
• Impervious:  Impenetrable.
• Impetuous:  Impulsive.
• Impiety:  Irreverence toward God.
• Implacable:  Incapable of being pacified.
• Implicate:  To show or prove to be involved in or concerned
• Implicit:  Implied.
• Importunate:  Urgent in character, request, or demand.
• Importune:  To harass with persistent demands or entreaties.
• Impromptu:  Anything which is done or said on the impulse of the moment.
• Improvident: Lacking foresight or thrift.
• Impugn: To assail with arguments, insinuations, or accusations.
• Impute: To attribute.
• Inadvertent: Accidental.
• Inane: Silly.
• Incessant: Unceasing.
• Inchoate: Incipient.
• Incipient: Initial.
• Incite: To rouse to a particular action.
• Incongruous: Unsuitable for the time, place, or occasion.
• Inculcate: To teach by frequent repetitions.
• Indelible: That can not be blotted out, effaced, destroyed, or removed.
• Indigence: Poverty.
• Indigenous: Native.
• Indistinct: Vague.
• Indolence: Laziness.
• Indolent: Habitually inactive or idle.
• Indomitable: Unconquerable.
• Indulgent: Yielding to the desires or humour of oneself or those under one’s care.
• Ineffable:  Unutterable.
• Ineluctable:  Impossible to avoid.
• Inept:  Not fit or suitable.
• Inexorable:  Unrelenting.
• Infuse:  To instil, introduce, or inculcate, as principles or qualities.
• Ingenuous: Candid, frank, or open in character or quality.
• Inimical: Adverse.
• Innocuous: Harmless.
• Inscrutable: Impenetrably mysterious or profound.
• Insensible: Imperceptible.
• Insinuate: To imply.
• Insipid: Tasteless.
• Insouciant: Nonchalant.
• Insurrection: The state of being in active resistance to authority.
• Interdict: Authoritative act of prohibition.
• Interim: Time between acts or periods.
• Intransigent: Not capable of being swayed or diverted from a course.
• Intrepid: Fearless and bold.
• Introspection: The act of observing and analyzing one’s own thoughts and feelings.
• Inundate: To fill with an overflowing abundance.
• Inure: To harden or toughen by use, exercise, or exposure.
• Invalid: One who is disabled by illness or injury.
• Invective: An utterance intended to cast censure or reproach.
• Inveigh:  To utter vehement censure or invective.
• Inveterate:  Habitual.

• Invidious:  Showing or feeling envy.
• Invincible:  Not to be conquered, subdued, or overcome.
• Iota:  A small or insignificant mark or part.
• Irascible:  Prone to anger.
• Irate:  Moved to anger.
• Ire:  Wrath.
• Irksome:  Wearisome.
• Itinerant:  Wandering.
• Itinerate:  To wander from place to place.
• Jocular:  Inclined to joke.
• Jovial:  Merry.
• Judicious:  Prudent.
• Junta:  A council or assembly that deliberates in secret upon the affairs of government.
• Lachrymose:  Given to shedding tears.
• Lackadaisical:  Listless.
• Languid:  Relaxed.
• Lascivious:  Lustful.
• Lassitude:  Lack of vitality or energy.
• Latent:  Dormant.
• Laudable:  Praiseworthy.
• Laudatory:  Pertaining to, expressing, or containing praise.
• Legacy:  A bequest.
• Levee:  An embankment beside a river or stream or an arm of the sea, to prevent overflow.
• Levity:  Frivolity.
• Lexicon:  A dictionary.
• Libel:  Defamation.
• Licentious:  Wanton.
• Lien:  A legal claim or hold on property, as security for a debt or charge.
• Listless:  Inattentive.
• Lithe:  Supple.
• Loquacious:  Talkative.
• Lugubrious:  Indicating sorrow, often ridiculously.
• Luminary:  One of the heavenly bodies as a source of light.
• Lustrous:  Shining.
• Malaise:  A condition of uneasiness or ill-being.
• Malcontent:  One who is dissatisfied with the existing state of affairs.
• Malevolence:  Ill will.
• Malign:  To speak evil of, especially to do so falsely and severely.
• Malleable:  Pliant.
• Massacre:  The unnecessary and indiscriminate killing of human beings.
• Maudlin:  Foolishly and tearfully affectionate.
• Mawkish:  Sickening or insipid.
• Mellifluous:  Sweetly or smoothly flowing.
• Mendacious:  Untrue.
• Mendicant:  A beggar.
• Meretricious:  Alluring by false or gaudy show.
• Mesmerize:  To hypnotize.
• Meticulous:  Over-cautious.
• Mettle:  Courage.
• Mettlesome:  Having courage or spirit.
• Microcosm:  The world or universe on a small scale.
• Mien:  The external appearance or manner of a person.
• Mischievous:  Fond of tricks.
• Miscreant:  A villain.
• Miser:  A person given to saving and hoarding unduly.
• Misnomer:  A name wrongly or mistakenly applied.
• Moderation:  Temperance.
• Modicum:  A small or token amount.
• Mollify:  To soothe.
• Molt:  To cast off, as hair, feathers, etc.
• Monomania:  The unreasonable pursuit of one idea.
• Morbid:  Caused by or denoting a diseased or unsound condition of body or mind.
• Mordant:  Biting.
• Moribund:  On the point of dying.
• Morose:  Gloomy.
• Multifarious:  Having great diversity or variety.
• Mundane:  Worldly, as opposed to spiritual or celestial.
• Munificent:  Extraordinarily generous.
• Myriad:  A vast indefinite number.
• Nadir:  The lowest point.
• Nefarious:  Wicked in the extreme.
• Negligent:  Apt to omit what ought to be done.
• Neophyte:  Having the character of a beginner.
• Noisome:  Very offensive, particularly to the sense of smell.
• Nostrum:  Any scheme or recipe of a charlatan character.
• Noxious:  Hurtful.
• Nugatory:  Having no power or force.
• Obdurate:  Impassive to feelings of humanity or pity.
• Obfuscate:  To darken; to obscure.
• Oblique:  Slanting; said of lines.
• Obsequious:  Showing a servile readiness to fall in with the wishes or will of another.
• Obstreperous:  Boisterous.
• Obtrude:  To be pushed or to push oneself into undue prominence.
• Obtrusive:  Tending to be pushed or to push oneself into undue prominence.
• Obviate:  To clear away or provide for, as an objection or difficulty.
• Odious:  Hateful.
• Odium:  A feeling of extreme repugnance, or of dislike and disgust.
• Officious:  Intermeddling with what is not one’s concern.
• Ominous:  Portentous.
• Onerous:  Burdensome or oppressive.
• Onus:  A burden or responsibility.
• Opprobrium:  The state of being scornfully reproached or accused of evil.
• Ossify:  To convert into bone.
• Ostentation:  A display dictated by vanity and intended to invite applause or flattery.
• Ostracism:  Exclusion from intercourse or favor, as in society or politics.
• Ostracize:  To exclude from public or private favor.
• Palate:  The roof of the mouth.
• Palatial:  Magnificent.
• Palliate:  To cause to appear less guilty.
• Palpable:  Perceptible by feeling or touch.
• Panacea:  A remedy or medicine proposed for or professing to cure all diseases.
• Panegyric:  A formal and elaborate eulogy, written or spoken, of a person or of an act.
• Panoply:  A full set of armor.
• Paragon:  A model of excellence.
• Pariah:  A member of a degraded class; a social outcast.
• Paroxysm:  A sudden outburst of any kind of activity.
• Parsimonious:  Unduly sparing in the use or expenditure of money.
• Partisan:  Characterized by or exhibiting undue or unreasoning devotion to a party.
• Pathos:  The quality in any form of representation that rouses emotion or sympathy.
• Paucity:  Fewness.
• Peccadillo:  A small breach of propriety or principle.
• Pedestrian:  One who journeys on foot.
• Pellucid:  Translucent.
• Penchant:  A bias in favor of something.
• Penurious:  Excessively sparing in the use of money.
• Penury:  Indigence.
• Peregrination:  A wandering.
• Peremptory:  Precluding question or appeal.
• Perfidy:  Treachery.
• Perfunctory:  Half-hearted.
• Peripatetic:  Walking about.
• Perjury:  A solemn assertion of a falsity.
• Permeate:  To pervade.
• Pernicious:  Tending to kill or hurt.
• Persiflage:  Banter.
• Perspicacity:  Acuteness or discernment.
• Perturbation:  Mental excitement or confusion.
• Petrify:  To convert into a substance of stony hardness and character.
• Petulant:  Displaying impatience.
• Phlegmatic:  Not easily roused to feeling or action.
• Physiognomy:  The external appearance merely.
• Pious:  Religious.
• Pique:  To excite a slight degree of anger in.
• Placate:  To bring from a state of angry or hostile feeling to one of patience or friendliness.
• Platitude:  A written or spoken statement that is flat, dull, or commonplace.
• Plea:  An argument to obtain some desired action.
• Plenary:  Entire.
• Plethora:  Excess; superabundance.
• Plumb:  A weight suspended by a line to test the verticality of something.
• Plummet:  A piece of lead for making soundings, adjusting walls to the vertical.
• Poignant:  Severely painful or acute to the spirit.
• Polyglot:  Speaking several tongues.
• Ponderous:  Unusually weighty or forcible.
• Portend:  To indicate as being about to happen, especially by previous signs.
• Portent:  Anything that indicates what is to happen.
• Precarious:  Perilous.
• Preclude:  To prevent.
• Precocious:  Having the mental faculties prematurely developed.
• Predominate:  To be chief in importance, quantity, or degree.
• Premature:  Coming too soon.
• Presage:  To foretell.
• Prescience:  Knowledge of events before they take place.
• Presumption:  That which may be logically assumed to be true until disproved.
• Preternatural:  Extraordinary.
• Prevalent:  Of wide extent or frequent occurrence.
• Prevaricate:  To use ambiguous or evasive language for the purpose of deceiving or diverting attention.
• Prim:  Stiffly proper.
• Pristine:  Primitive.
• Probity:  Virtue or integrity tested and confirmed.
• Proclivity:  A natural inclination.
• Procrastination:  Delay.
• Prodigal:  One wasteful or extravagant, especially in the use of money or property.
• Prodigious:  Immense.
• Profligacy:  Shameless viciousness.
• Profligate:  Recklessly wasteful
• Profuse:  Produced or displayed in overabundance.
• Prolix:  Verbose.
• Propinquity:  Nearness.
• Propitious:  Kindly disposed.
• Prosaic:  Unimaginative.
• Proscribe:  To reject, as a teaching or a practice, with condemnation or denunciation.
• Protuberant:  Bulging.
• Provident:  Anticipating and making ready for future wants or emergencies.
• Prudence:  Caution.
• Puerile:  Childish.
• Pugnacious:  Quarrelsome.
• Punctilious:  Strictly observant of the rules or forms prescribed by law or custom.
• Pungency:  The quality of affecting the sense of smell.
• Pusillanimous:  Without spirit or bravery.
• Pyre:  A heap of combustibles arranged for burning a dead body.
• Qualm:  A fit of nausea.
• Quandary:  A puzzling predicament.
• Quibble:  An utterly trivial distinction or objection.
• Quiescence:  Being quiet, still, or at rest; inactive
• Quiescent:  Being in a state of repose or inaction.
• Quixotic:  Chivalrous or romantic to a ridiculous or extravagant degree.
• Quotidian:  Of an everyday character; ordinary.
• Raconteur:  A person skilled in telling stories.
• Ramify:  To divide or subdivide into branches or subdivisions.
• Rapacious:  Sieze by force, avaricious
• Raucous:  Harsh.
• Reactionary:  Pertaining to, of the nature of, causing, or favoring reaction.
• Rebuff:  A peremptory or unexpected rejection of advances or approaches.
• Recalcitrant:  Marked by stubborn resistance.
• Recant:  To withdraw formally one’s belief (in something previously believed or maintained).
• Reciprocity:  Equal mutual rights and benefits granted and enjoyed.
• Recluse:  One who lives in retirement or seclusion.
• Recondite:  Incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding.
• Recrudescent:  Becoming raw or sore again.
• Recuperate:  To recover.
• Redoubtable:  Formidable.
• Redress:  To set right, as a wrong by compensation or the punishment of the wrong-doer.
• Refractory:  Not amenable to control.
• Regale:  To give unusual pleasure.
• Regicide:  The killing of a king or sovereign.
• Reiterate:  To say or do again and again.
• Relapse:  To suffer a return of a disease after partial recovery.
• Remonstrate:  To present a verbal or written protest to those who have power to right or prevent a wrong.
• Renovate:  To restore after deterioration, as a building.
• Repast:  A meal; figuratively, any refreshment.
• Repel:  To force or keep back in a manner, physically or mentally.
• Repine:  To indulge in fretfulness and faultfinding.
• Reprobate:  One abandoned to depravity and sin.
• Repudiate:  To refuse to have anything to do with.
• Repulsive:  Grossly offensive.
• Requisite:  Necessary.
• Requite:  To repay either good or evil to, as to a person.
• Rescind:  To make void, as an act, by the enacting authority or a superior authority.
• Resilience:  The power of springing back to a former position
• Resonance:  Able to reinforce sound by sympathetic vibrations.
• Respite:  Interval of rest.
• Restive:  Resisting control.
• Retinue:  The group of people who accompany an important person during travels.
• Revere:  To regard with worshipful veneration.
• Reverent:  Humble.
• Ribald:  Indulging in or manifesting coarse indecency or obscenity.
• Risible:  Capable of exciting laughter.
• Rotund:  Round from fullness or plumpness.
• Ruffian:  A lawless or recklessly brutal fellow.
• Ruminate:  To chew over again, as food previously swallowed and regurgitated.
• Sagacious:  Able to discern and distinguish with wise perception.
• Salacious:  Having strong sexual desires.
• Salient:  Standing out prominently.
• Salubrious:  Healthful; promoting health.
• Salutary:  Beneficial.
• Sanction:  To approve authoritatively.
• Sanguine:  Cheerfully confident; optimistic.
• Sardonic:  Scornfully or bitterly sarcastic.
• Satiate:  To satisfy fully the appetite or desire of.
• Satyr:  A very lascivious person.
• Savor:  To perceive by taste or smell.
• Scabbard:  The sheath of a sword or similar bladed weapon.
• Scintilla:  The faintest ray.
• Scribble:  Hasty, careless writing.
• Sedulous:  Persevering in effort or endeavor.
• Sequence:  The order in which a number or persons, things, or events follow one another in space or time.
• Severance:  Separation.
• Shrewd:  Characterized by skill at understanding and profiting by circumstances.
• Sinecure:  Any position having emoluments with few or no duties.
• Sinuous:  Curving in and out.
• Skiff:  Usually, a small light boat propelled by oars.
• Sluggard:  A person habitually lazy or idle.
• Solace:  Comfort in grief, trouble, or calamity.
• Solvent:  Having sufficient funds to pay all debts.
• Somniferous:  Tending to produce sleep.
• Somnolent:  Sleepy.
• Sonorous:  Resonant.
• Sophistry:  Reasoning sound in appearance only, especially when designedly deceptive.
• Soporific:  Causing sleep; also, something that causes sleep.
• Sordid:  Filthy, morally degraded
• Specious:  Plausible.
• Spurious:  Not genuine.
• Squalid:  Having a dirty, mean, poverty-stricken appearance.
• Stanch:  To stop the flowing of; to check.
• Stigma:  A mark of infamy or token of disgrace attaching to a person as the result of evil-doing.
• Stingy:  Cheap, unwilling to spend money.
• Stolid:  Expressing no power of feeling or perceiving.
• Submerge:  To place or plunge under water.
• Subterfuge:  Evasion.
• Succinct:  Concise.
• Sumptuous:  Rich and costly.
• Supercilious:  Exhibiting haughty and careless contempt.
• Superfluous:  Being more than is needed.
• Supernumerary:  Superfluous.
• Supersede:  To displace.
• Supine:  Lying on the back.
• Supplicate:  To beg.
• Suppress:  To prevent from being disclosed or punished.
• Surcharge:  An additional amount charged.
• Surfeit:  To feed to fullness or to satiety.
• Susceptibility:  A specific capability of feeling or emotion.
• Sybarite:  A luxurious person.
• Sycophant:  A servile flatterer, especially of those in authority or influence.
• Synopsis:  A syllabus or summary.
• Taciturn:  Disinclined to conversation.
• Taut:  Stretched tight.
• Temerity:  Foolhardy disregard of danger; recklessness.
• Terse:  Pithy.
• Timorous:  Lacking courage.
• Torpid:  Dull; sluggish; inactive.
• Torrid:  Excessively hot.
• Tortuous:  Abounding in irregular bends or turns.
• Tractable:  Easily led or controlled.
• Transgress:  To break a law.
• Transient:  One who or that which is only of temporary existence.
• Transitory:  Existing for a short time only.
• Travail:  Hard or agonizing labor.
• Travesty:  A grotesque imitation.
• Trenchant:  Cutting deeply and quickly.
• Trepidation:  Nervous uncertainty of feeling.
• Trite:  Made commonplace by frequent repetition.
• Truculence:  Ferocity.
• Truculent:  Having the character or the spirit of a savage.
• Turbid:  In a state of turmoil; muddled
• Turgid:  Swollen.
• Turpitude:  Depravity.
• Tutelage:  The act of training or the state of being under instruction.
• Tyro:  One slightly skilled in or acquainted with any trade or profession.
• Ubiquitous:  Being present everywhere.
• Ulterior:  Not so pertinent as something else to the matter spoken of.
• Umbrage:  A sense of injury.
• Unctuous:  Oily.
• Undermine:  To subvert in an underhand way.
• Undulate:  To move like a wave or in waves.
• Untoward:  Causing annoyance or hindrance.
• Upbraid:  To reproach as deserving blame.
• Vagary:  A sudden desire or action
• Vainglory:  Excessive, pretentious, and demonstrative vanity.
• Valorous:  Courageous.
• Vapid:  Having lost sparkling quality and flavor.
• Variegated:  Having marks or patches of different colors; also, varied.
• Vehement:  Very eager or urgent.
• Venal:  Mercenary, corrupt.
• Veneer:  Outside show or elegance.
• Venial:  That may be pardoned or forgiven, a forgivable sin.
• Veracious:  Habitually disposed to speak the truth.
• Veracity:  Truthfulness.
• Verbiage:  Use of many words without necessity.
• Verbose:  Wordy.
• Verdant:  Green with vegetation.
• Veritable:  Real; true; genuine.
• Vestige:  A visible trace, mark, or impression, of something absent, lost, or gone.
• Vicissitude:  A change, especially a complete change, of condition or circumstances, as of fortune.
• Vigilance:  Alert and intent mental watchfulness in guarding against danger.
• Vigilant:  Being on the alert to discover and ward off danger or insure safety.
• Virago:  Loud talkative women, strong statured women
• Virtu:  Rare, curious, or beautiful quality.
• Visage:  The face, countenance, or look of a person.
• Vitiate:  To contaminate.
• Vituperate:  To overwhelm with wordy abuse.
• Vivify:  To endue with life.
• Vociferous:  Making a loud outcry.
• Volatile:  Changeable.
• Voluble:  Having great fluency in speaking.
• Wean:  To transfer (the young) from dependence on mother’s milk to another form of nourishment.
• Whimsical:  Capricious.
• Winsome:  Attractive.
• Zeitgeist:  The intellectual and moral tendencies that characterize any age or epoch.

CSS 2022 Solved Pakistan Affairs Past Papers

The following are the CSS 2022 Pakistan Affairs solved past papers questions. These questions have been evaluated and checked by Pakistan’s top Pakistan Affairs and Current Affairs coaches, who are either lecturers or officers and scored the highest marks in this paper. They include Miss Saba Baloch (CSS-2021), Miss Aimeen Mirza (CSS 2018), Miss Nirmal Hasni (DD NAB), Sir Rameez Ch. (Lecturer & Deputy Director), and Miss Zaineb Azam (the highest scorer – 76). Moreover, these questions have been attempted on the same pattern taught by Sir Syed Kazim Ali to his students who have been scoring the highest marks for years.

CSS 2021 Solved Pakistan Affairs Questions

More Essays

Click on any to start reading the essay.

Articles Might Interest You!

The following are some of the most important articles for CSS and PMS aspirants. Click on any to start reading.

Recent Posts

Top Categories

Cssprepforum, education company.

cssprepforum.com

Welcome to Cssprepforum, Pakistan’s largest learning management system (LMS) with millions of questions along with their logical explanations educating millions of learners, students, aspirants, teachers, professors, and parents preparing for a successful future. 

Founder:   Syed Kazim Ali Founded:  2020 Phone: +92-332-6105-842 +92-300-6322-446 Email:  [email protected] Students Served:  10 Million Daily Learners:  50,000 Offered Courses: Visit Courses  

More Courses

Basic English Grammar and Writing Course

Extensive English Essay & Precis Course for CSS and PMS

CSS English Essay and Precis Crash Course for 2023

Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates direct to your inbox.

• CSS Solved Essays
• CSS Solved GSA
• CSS Solved PA
• CSS Solved Islamiat
• Current Affairs
• All Courses
• Writers Club
• All Authors
• All Members
• All Teachers
• Become an Author
• Who is Sir Syed Kazim Ali?
• Privacy Policy

CssPrepForum is Pakistan’s largest and greatest platform for CSS, PMS, FPSC, PPSC, SPSC, KPPSC, AJKPSC, BPSC, GBPSC, NTS, and other One Paper 100 Marks MCQs exams’ students. It has become Pakistan’s most trusted website among CSS, PMS students for their exams’ preparation because of its high-quality preparation material.

@ 2023 Cssprepforum. All RightsReserved.

India's FirstCry set to withdraw $500 mln IPO papers after regulatory scrutiny

• Medium Text

Sign up here.

Reporting by M. Sriram; editing by David Evans

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. New Tab , opens new tab

Thomson Reuters

Sriram leads Reuters' deals coverage in India, including reporting and writing on private equity funds, IPOs, venture capital, corporate M&A and regulatory changes. His reportage includes scoops on large transactions as well as deeper analyses and insightful stories on the inner workings of companies, funds and industry trends that fly below the radar. He is a business journalist for five years by training, with a postgraduation from the Asian College of Journalism's Bloomberg program in financial journalism. He graduated from the course's inaugural batch.

World Chevron

At least 13 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah, medical officials say

Israeli air strikes on three houses in the southern Gaza city of Rafah killed 13 people and wounded many others, medics said on Monday.