Many candidates, especially first timers who attended the Tamil Nadu State Public Service Commission (TNPSC) Group II examinations on Sunday, were stumped by the questions from English literature. Many found it difficult to answer the questions on Shakespeare dramas and some poems. However, they said that such questions were part of the revised examination pattern.
“I was a bit surprised by the drama-based questions from English literature. They were about Shylock from Merchant of Venice. We were told that the exam pattern had been revised and such questions could come but we didn’t pay heed,” says Ramkumar, a candidate at St Michael’s school.
For Shreya, another candidate, general English questions were good but those on phrases and characters were troublesome.
“It’s a long time since we read those poems and dramas. We couldn’t recollect even the name of some of the works,” she said.
As usual questions from the mental ability sections were time consuming, said candidates. However many felt that those from history and economics were better than in the previous exam. The exam was conducted across 67 centres in the district. As many as 26,735 candidates took the exam. More than 90 teachers were engaged in monitoring works and19 mobile units and flying squads were on duty to check malpractice. Collector Archana Patnaik visited some of the exam centres and interacted with the candidates.