Reading a newspaper! As dreadful as it sounds to the aspirant like us, it is important for us to do a thorough reading of the newspaper every single day of our preparation. And if we really come to think of it, it’s actually killing two birds with one arrow, not quite literally though. But, you can outrival the General Awareness while improving your English simultaneously. So, it is a win-win situation. Here is my guide on How to Read Newspaper for Competitive Exams.
First and the most important page is the topmost page where you get to see the most important event of the previous day. The peak inside in the form of a header should also be read once. Equally important are the mini stories on the left hand side of the newspaper in small boxes.
The second page that is of importance to you is the Economy/Business page. You need to keep a close eye on the actions of RBI, other banks, major mergers and acquisitions and what government of India is upto in the economy section.
Then comes the national page. You only need to take the important MOUs signed, appointments, obituaries, or any important order passed by the court. What Misa Bharti said in her defence, is just the gossip!
Heading towards the international page, the only important news for you is the visits that our honourable Prime Minister paid to other countries or the other PMs and Presidents that visited India and the agreements signed on such visits. Also, make a point to learn the capitals and currencies of the countries in news. The details of Justin Bieber’s concert might interest you but it has bleak chances to be asked in your exam.
Now comes the sports page. Almost everyone knows what to pick from here; the cups/championships/trophies won by which country. It’s safe to skip the rest.
Ideally the most interactive page is the editorial page. Don’t confuse is with the open page. They both are totally different. And need we mention more about why and how the editorials are important? It helps you broaden your horizon in terms of knowledge of the subject and language. Now here is a trick. While reading an editorial, read a paragraph and think about what possible questions can be framed from this. This will help you not only brush your grammatical skills but also allow you to frame an opinion of yours.
Lastly comes the Entertainment section, which is the most important section of the whole newspaper. Read all about who grabbed which movie, who married whom and who is on a vacation to which island. JUST KIDDING! You can undoubtedly skip this page!
So now that we know what to read from the newspaper it comes down to selecting the best one. Truth be told, there is nothing called perfect. But, the most preferred newspaper among the aspirants is The Indian Express. The news are almost the same in every newspaper. Only difference is in the editorial section. It’s a commonly believed fact that most editorials in the IBPS exams come from The Hindu or The Harvard Business Review. Although, the most vocabulary enriched newspaper is The Hans. So here is a suggestion. Stick to one newspaper, according to your liking; The Hindu or The Indian Express and read the editorial from the same, because reading all the editorials will be just a lot of irrelevant work. And you can’t guess for sure which editorial IBPSs is going to pick for exam. So, the motive is to develop a reading habit and be ready to solve whichever comprehension comes in exam.
The newspaper should not scare you anymore. It should rather interest you like never before because we are the ones who enjoy the learning process and win the battles.
“The fighters make their nightmares so beautiful, even the dreamers are jealous!”
Penned by – Aarushi
