English Précis & Composition · CSS 2025
CSS 2025 English (Précis & Composition) Paper — solved
This is the complete CSS 2025 English (Précis & Composition) paper with model answers to every question. The MCQ key is given first, followed by the précis, the comprehension answers, and the composition section.
If you want the précis method taught in detail, the CSS Essay & Précis Masterclass covers it, and there are free walkthroughs on the CSSWithACSP YouTube channel.
Q1 Synonyms and Antonyms (20 MCQs)
Part I carries twenty marks and is answered on a separate OMR sheet in the first thirty minutes, with no negative marking, so every question should be attempted.
Part (a): Choose the word most similar in meaning
- 1. FRABJOUS: (A) Wonderful
- 2. ACCUBATION: (B) Reclining
- 3. LEVITATE: (B) Float
- 4. SIBYLLINE: (A) Enigmatic
- 5. MACADAMIZED: (A) Graveled
- 6. FINAGLE: (B) Manipulate
- 7. DESIDERIUM: (A) Craving
- 8. AMANUENSIS: (A) Secretary
- 9. CROMULENT: (A) Acceptable
- 10. PROPINQUITY: (B) Closeness
Part (b): Choose the word most opposite in meaning
- 11. PERSPICACITY: (C) Naivety
- 12. CONFABULATION: (A) Verification
- 13. DILETTANTE: (B) Connoisseur
- 14. KILTER: (D) Out-of-sync
- 15. RHUBARB: (A) Serenity
- 16. CORUSCATING: (B) Tenebrous
- 17. VELLEITY: (B) Passion
- 18. BAROQUE: (A) Minimalist
- 19. CAVEAT: (A) Guarantee
- 20. BLUSTER: (D) Meekness
A printing error worth noticing
Question 13 is printed as DILENTTANTE. The word is dilettante, someone who dabbles in a subject without serious commitment, and its opposite is a connoisseur, who knows the subject deeply. Misprints of this kind appear in FPSC papers from time to time. Read past them and answer the word that was meant.
The harder words in this set
Several here are deliberately obscure. FRABJOUS was invented by Lewis Carroll in Jabberwocky and means delightful. CROMULENT began as a joke word on television and has since entered dictionaries, meaning acceptable. VELLEITY is a wish so faint that it never turns into action, which is why its opposite is passion rather than aversion. You cannot prepare for every such word, but you can learn to read the four options for the one that clearly does not belong with the other three.
Q2 Précis and title (nationalism and humanism)
The passage argues that nations are constructed rather than natural, and a précis of it must carry that argument while dropping every name, quotation and example used to illustrate it.
The passage, as printed
Homi K. Bhabha, a prominent postcolonial scholar, advances a profoundly philosophical yet grounded concept of nationalism, positing that "Nations, like narratives, lose their origins in the myths of time and only fully encounter their horizons in the mind's eye," thereby highlighting the complex interplay between the imagined, the mythical, and the material in the construction of national identity. Nations, like narratives, are constructed through historical contingency, shaped by ethnic obsessions and regional affiliations that often obscure their origins. As a result, national identities can become rigid and exclusionary, antagonizing the notion of humanism envisioned by ancient philosophers like Socrates and Plato. This idea has implications for our understanding of humanism, a cornerstone of intellectual traditions from Goethe and Rousseau's emphasis on the universal human experience to Al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd's advocacy for reason and compassion as bridges between cultures. Al-Ghazali's "The Alchemy of Happiness" strikes a balance between promoting local identity and warning against provincial, insular nationalism, making him a votary of cultural exchange and understanding. He advocates for an evenhanded approach, balancing love for one's land with justice for all citizens. In "The Revival of Religious Sciences," Al-Ghazali emphasizes balancing universalism and particularism, recognizing that national identity must be tempered by justice and equality. By promoting inclusive citizenship, Al-Ghazali offers an antidote to exclusivist nationalist ideologies. By exploring the intersections between nationalism and humanism, Bhabha's work also encourages us to think critically about how national identities are constructed and imagine new forms of global citizenship prioritizing shared humanity over narrow national interests. However, the rise of nationalism has often led to a narrowing of perspectives, prioritizing regional affiliations over universal values, resulting in a stringent and macho form of patriotism that stifles dissent and creativity. Like a chameleon, nationalism can adapt and change, often blurring the lines between patriotism and xenophobia. Altogether, nationalism is not a bane, its mixed benefits over the last century have been a double-edged sword, yielding a staggering array of positive and negative consequences. On one hand, nations have become increasingly aware of the need to align themselves with pluralism and egalitarian schemes. However, the desire to dominate, as exemplified by the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel's idea of organic borders, continues to have a silent appeal, often manifesting in bizarre and violent forms, such as the recent bloodshed in Palestine and the earlier Bosnian massacre. This scary trail is long and hard to absorb, especially when democracy itself has been exposed as a mere façade, leaving many to blurt out frustrations and disillusionments. As the philosopher Allama Iqbal aptly put it in his famous poem, "The Devil's Parliament," democracy is merely the outer crust, while the essence is imperialist. Iqbal's words ring true, warning us against the uncritical subservience and adoration of nationalism, which can lead to historical myopia, strengthening dictatorial hegemony and incarcerating the human spirit within the narrow confines of love for the land. Perhaps democracy is the safest carrier of the seed of nationalism, transporting it under the guise of economic equality. Still, weaker nations face the political bravado of the powerful leaving the meager nations to be content with mere paeans of love for border and territorial integrity. Imperialism planted the embryo of nationalism, abandoning the wretched children of the earth to fend for themselves, left to navigate the treacherous waters of self-determination. The power of nationalism is a potent form of Volksgeist - a term coined by Johann Gottfried Herder to describe a nation's unique spirit or character - that can be both unifying and divisive, depending on how it is wielded. In this context, a more frugal and nuanced approach to nationalism is needed, one that balances national pride with a commitment to universal values and human rights.
Suggested title
The Double Edge of Nationalism
Model précis
Nationalism, like a narrative, is built rather than found. Its origins lie in myth and historical accident, and it is shaped by ethnic loyalty and regional attachment, which is why national identity so easily hardens into something rigid and exclusive. That hardening sets it against the humanist tradition, which runs from the Greek philosophers through European thought to Muslim scholars who argued that love of one's own land must be balanced by justice for everyone living in it. Read this way, inclusive citizenship becomes the answer to exclusive nationalism, and identity becomes something worth examining rather than simply inheriting.
The record, however, is mixed rather than wholly bad. Nations have grown more conscious of pluralism, yet the wish to dominate survives, surfacing in violence and in borders defended as though they were natural. Where democracy turns out to be a surface over imperial ambition, disillusion follows, and uncritical devotion to the nation narrows thought, silences dissent and strengthens authoritarian rule. Weaker states are left with slogans in place of power. Nationalism is therefore a form of collective spirit that can unite or divide depending on how it is used, and what is needed is a restrained patriotism that holds national pride together with universal values and human rights.
(203 words from a passage of roughly 620.)
How this précis was built
A précis keeps the argument and drops everything that merely illustrates it. The named thinkers, the book titles, the quoted poem and the named conflicts all go, because each is an example of a point rather than the point itself. What stays is the chain of reasoning: nations are constructed, construction can turn exclusive, exclusion opposes humanism, the record is mixed, and the conclusion is a balanced patriotism.
Notice also that the précis follows the passage's own order. You are compressing an argument, not rearranging it. If your summary reaches the author's conclusion by a different route, you have written a response rather than a précis.
The full method is taught in the CSS Essay & Précis Masterclass. If you write good essays but lose marks here, the précis guide explains why: How to Write a CSS Précis.
Q3 Comprehension (the passage on wandering)
Each answer below is three or four sentences, because a four-mark comprehension question rewards precision rather than length and copying the passage's own sentences scores nothing.
The passage, as printed
The idea of wandering has anthropological, historical, and philosophical moorings. To some, it is an unconscious desire to substitute the powers of material life, beckoning us to establish our identity as sojourners of the earth, even as our ancestors, recorded and unrecorded history, may adumbrate that we are temperamentally nomads. We strollers search for shelters, food, and home. But would it be too elastic an idea to entertain unthinkingly that home is our destination, a dream place, where we should finally live and be free of external threats, often from man-made and natural designs of destruction? Can we stifle or eradicate our desires to control the geography and mindscape? Can we live in peace with ourselves without a rival as a neighbor? Scriptures glorify the essence of migration as a soulful activity that saves us from sangfroid existence and makes us vulnerable, a process necessary to ward off the place-dependent inertia. The expression "rolling stone" haunts the modern man. Modernity has revised the notion of cartography, as technology has shrunk geography into a molecule of presence, even as distances are just markers, as we transport our bodies, jetted, ferried, and biked across continents, and love the glossy veneer of globe-trotting. But are we the real successors of the wandering nomad, gypsies, bedouins, drifters, and itinerants? Even the single expression "rolling stone" carries a deep semantic and epochal diversity. The phrase "rolling stone" is derived from the ancient proverb "A rolling stone gathers no moss." This proverb was first recorded by the Roman writer Publilius Syrus in the 1st century BC. The idea behind the proverb is that a stone that is constantly rolling or moving cannot gather moss, which was seen as a symbol of stability and growth. However, during the Middle Ages, the phrase "rolling stone" was used to describe someone who was constantly moving from place to place, never staying in one spot long enough to settle or achieve stability. This usage was often associated with vagrants, beggars, or travelers. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the phrase "rolling stone" took on a more negative connotation, implying that someone was aimless, irresponsible, or lacking in ambition. For example, a person who was constantly changing jobs or careers might be called a "rolling stone." Not surprisingly, in the 20th century, the phrase "rolling stone" took on a more positive connotation, particularly in the domain of music and popular culture. The Rolling Stones, a British rock band, adopted the name in 1962, and it has since become synonymous with rock 'n' roll and rebellion. Today, the phrase "rolling stone" is often used to describe someone who is free-spirited, adventurous, and always on the move. The philosophical weight of wandering caters to our whims and impulses of unshackling the stagnancy of fixity. As we wander through the desolate landscape, we feel the weight of our vagaries bearing down upon us. The impulse to flee, to escape the confines of civilization, has driven us to this remote outpost, where the brutal yet honest caveman within us can roam free. We are noble savages, untamed and unapologetic, driven by the wanderlust that has defined the colonial mindset for centuries. And yet, as we stand alone beneath the vast expanse of the sky, we feel the pangs of solitude, the ache of exile that has haunted us since we first left behind the comforts of home. It is a feeling that Goethe had once described as the "sweet pain" of separation, the bittersweet longing for a place that could never be recaptured. As we walk, the wind whipping our hair into a frenzy, we feel the wildness of the landscape seep into our very being, filling us with a sense of joie de vivre. We are strangers in a strange land, wanderers without a home, and yet, in this moment, we are free. Free to roam, to explore, to surrender to the whims of the wind and the sun. It is a fleeting moment, one that will soon give way to the harsh realities of survival, but for now, we revel in the beauty of our own exile. For in the end, it is not the destination that matters, but the journey itself, the solitary path that winds its way through the wilderness of the soul. Consequently, anthropologically, we had no choice but to be exclusive and traverse geographies, driven by an innate desire to leave our mark on the landscape, transforming under climatic conditions, and navigating the ecological threats coupled with our destructive atavistic urges. Nietzsche believed in the surpassing of earthly landmarks and chose eternal wandering, removing obstacles of earthly existence, and illuminating the idea of eternal recurrence. Hence, wandering has to be infinite, yet free of personal prejudices. Perhaps following Nietzsche's flight of supra-transcendence, and adding his mystic dimension, Iqbal envisioned wandering as a way of exploring the cosmic creation, the ever-mind-boggling idea of time, as we are wanderers in both time-bound and timeless realms. The Eastern and Western notions of wandering find a wedge separating the Romantic from the Rationalist, and yet they intertwine. Those who choose to leave home, cities, towns, relationships, and social conventions, are the most romantic wanderers, and yet they hold a foot in rationalization of wandering, given to revision and reflection. As Wordsworth so eloquently put it:
"The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in nature that is ours, We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon."
In this sense, wandering becomes a means of reclaiming our connection with nature and rediscovering our place within the world. By embracing the unknown, and surrendering to the beauty of the landscape, we may find a deeper sense of meaning and purpose. As we wander, we are reminded that the world is full of wonder and that our place within it is one of awe and reverence. It will not be wrong to say that wandering personifies a homocentric odyssey for self-discovery, as we investigate the inner landscapes of our minds and hearts. At the same time, it is an anthropocentric endeavor, as we seek to leave our mark on the world and assert our presence within the larger human experience. Through wandering, we find ourselves at the intersection of these two realms, where the personal and the universal converge. In this sense, wandering becomes a holistic activity that integrates our identities with our shared human existence.
1. How does wandering reconcile the tension between rootedness and restlessness?
The passage does not resolve the tension so much as hold both sides at once. The traveller carries the ache for a settled home while continuing to move, so the journey itself becomes the place of dwelling. Meaning is located in the path rather than in any arrival, which allows restlessness and belonging to exist together.
2. Is the romanticization of wandering a form of escapism or self-discovery?
The author presents it as both and declines to choose. The urge to flee organised life is plainly escapist, yet the same movement turns inward and becomes a search for the self. The romantic framing is honest about the flight and about what the flight ends up revealing.
3. Can wandering be a means of decolonizing the self?
Only partly, and the passage is careful about this. It notes that the same wanderlust shaped the colonial outlook, so movement can repeat conquest rather than undo it. Wandering does loosen the hold of fixed convention, but the desire to leave a mark on the landscape keeps the colonising impulse alive inside it.
4. Does the notion of eternal recurrence legitimize or undermine the concept of wandering?
It legitimises it. If existence returns without end, no destination can be final, and endless movement becomes the natural condition rather than a failure to settle. The passage extends this further into cosmic and timeless realms, where the wanderer travels through time as well as space.
5. What dual realms does wandering operate at the intersection of?
Wandering works at the meeting point of the personal and the universal. Inwardly it is a search of one's own mind and heart; outwardly it is an attempt to assert a presence in the wider human world. The passage treats these two directions as a single activity rather than two separate ones.
What the examiner is checking
Every answer above is in original words, and that is the first thing marked. The second is length control, because a four-mark answer that runs to a paragraph suggests you could not identify the point. The third is tense, which should match the question. Question 4 asks "does", so the answer stays in the present.
For how to use solved papers without simply memorising them, see how to use CSS past papers.
Q4 Sentence correction
The paper asks for five of the eight, so choose the five whose errors you can actually name rather than the five that look shortest.
(ii)
Printed: We cleaned all the kitchen while our parents were out to dinner.
Corrected: We cleaned the whole kitchen while our parents were out to dinner.
Rule: "All" does not modify a singular countable noun on its own. Use "the whole" or "all of the".
(iii)
Printed: If I'm stressed out about something, I tend to have problem to fall asleep.
Corrected: If I am stressed about something, I tend to have trouble falling asleep.
Rule: "Have trouble" takes a gerund, not an infinitive. "Problem" would also need an article, which is why "trouble" is the cleaner fix.
(iv)
Printed: If I will be in Lahore, I will contact to you.
Corrected: If I am in Lahore, I will contact you.
Rule: A first conditional takes the present simple after "if", never "will". "Contact" is transitive and needs no preposition.
(v)
Printed: The cultural globalization, it is a phenomenon that has been driven by technological advancements and economic integration, is a threat to local cultures.
Corrected: Cultural globalization, a phenomenon driven by technological advancement and economic integration, is a threat to local cultures.
Rule: An abstract noun used in a general sense takes no article, and an appositive should not carry its own subject and verb.
(vi)
Printed: The impact of cybertechnology on modern society is being studied by researchers, who has found that it has both positive and negative effects.
Corrected: The impact of cybertechnology on modern society is being studied by researchers, who have found that it has both positive and negative effects.
Rule: A relative pronoun takes its number from its antecedent. "Researchers" is plural, so the verb is "have".
The three not attempted
Sentence (i) has a dangling opening participle and a subject-verb disagreement. Sentence (vii) misuses the future perfect where the simple future is meant. Sentence (viii) is the worst of the eight, mixing "having been perpetuate" with a plural and singular mismatch, and is best left alone under time pressure.
Q5 Punctuation and prepositions
Punctuation questions test sentence boundaries above everything else, so find where one complete thought ends and the next begins before worrying about commas.
(a) Punctuation
In Pakistani folklore, Heer Ranjha, Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punnu are iconic tales of star-crossed lovers. These stories, deeply rooted in tribal connections, serve as allegories and commentaries on spiritual and romantic love; they explore the complexities of human emotion, the trials of love and the transformative power of spiritual elevation. The themes of trial, emotional anguish, separation and expulsion, resulting in the moral polishing of the lovers, are timeless and universal. Heer Ranjha's epic tale, penned by Waris Shah, is a masterpiece of Punjabi literature, a testament to the power of love to transcend mortal bounds.
What was added and why. Commas separate the three tale names and set off "deeply rooted in tribal connections" as a parenthetical description. A semicolon joins two closely linked independent clauses that were previously run together. Commas fence the long phrase "resulting in the moral polishing of the lovers", which interrupts subject and verb. Full stops mark the three sentence boundaries the passage had lost.
(b) Prepositions
(i) The massive landslide tumbled into the valley below, blocking the river and causing widespread flooding that destroyed crops and habitats.
(iii) As she read the poem, the subtle symbolism and metaphors whispered beneath the surface of the words, awakening a depth of emotion within her.
(vi) Power consolidated among the ruling elite, silencing dissent.
(vii) Her online persona leaned towards perfection, hiding flaws.
(viii) Themes of love, loss, and longing wove through Ghalib's verses, creating a rich tapestry of emotion.
How to choose. Prepositions follow the verb, not the noun. "Tumble" takes a destination, so "into". "Whisper" here suggests something hidden, so "beneath" rather than "under", which is merely positional. "Consolidate" among a group means power gathering within it. "Lean" takes a direction, so "towards". "Weave" takes a path, so "through".
Q6 Pairs of words in sentences
The instruction is to use five pairs in sentences that clearly illustrate their meanings, and "clearly" is the word that carries the marks, because a sentence that merely contains the word earns nothing.
(iii) Defenestration, Dénouement
Defenestration: During the disturbance near Anarkali, the defenestration of a chair from a third-floor office brought the police within minutes.
Dénouement: The dénouement of the story arrives only in its last paragraph, when the old man's long silence is finally explained.
(iv) Vallum, Vellum
Vallum: Walking the ruins at Taxila, Bilal traced the vallum, the earthen rampart still ridged along the fort's old boundary.
Vellum: Zainab's grandmother kept a page of calligraphy on vellum, the fine calfskin still smooth after sixty years.
(vi) Sere, Seer
Sere: By the end of June the fields around Tharparkar were sere, the grass burnt brown after weeks without rain.
Seer: Villagers near Multan still speak of a seer who claimed to read a traveller's future from the dust on his shoes.
(vii) Crepuscular, Crepitation
Crepuscular: The crepuscular light along Karachi's seafront draws families out in the half hour after sunset.
Crepitation: The crepitation of dry pine needles under Usman's boots gave away his position on the Murree trail.
(viii) Uxoricide, Uxorious
Uxoricide: The court recorded the charge as uxoricide, the killing of a wife by her husband.
Uxorious: Faisal is so uxorious that he will not accept a dinner invitation before consulting his wife.
Two pairs you should not attempt
Pair (i) offers "Blurt, Blert" and pair (ii) offers "Aeipthy, Apathy". Blert and Aeipthy are not standard English words. Blert survives only as regional British slang for a fool, and Aeipthy appears to be a misprint. Since the paper lets you choose any five pairs, leave both alone. Writing a confident sentence for a word that does not exist costs more than skipping it.
Q7 Urdu to English translation
The examiner is testing whether you can carry an image across a language rather than substitute words one at a time, and this passage runs a single extended metaphor from beginning to end.
Model translation
Al-Ghazali, the twelfth-century Muslim theologian and philosopher, is the most misunderstood thinker of them all. He argued that the Qur'an is open to as many interpretations as there are drops of water in the sea. "Do you not know that the Qur'an is like an ocean?" he asked. You have every right to voyage across its endless sea of meanings, and by diving into its depths you may bring up rubies and pearls and make yourself rich. He goes further and asks: "Why do you lie contented on the shore, satisfied with the surface?" By this he means that it is permissible for Muslims to question, to move forward and to differ. Al-Ghazali is the finest blend of tradition and innovation.
How to handle a passage like this
Keep the metaphor whole. The passage runs one picture: the Qur'an as ocean, interpretation as a voyage, insight as pearls brought up from the depth. Translate it as a single image. If the ocean becomes a "vast body of water" in one sentence and a "sea" in the next, the picture breaks.
Keep the rhetorical question as a question. Turning "Why do you lie contented on the shore?" into a statement about complacency loses the challenge in the original voice.
Do not over-explain. The final sentence is short and flat in the Urdu and should stay short and flat in English. Adding a clause to explain who Al-Ghazali was would spoil an ending the writer deliberately left bare.
The question paper is reproduced from the Federal Public Service Commission's CSS 2025 English (Précis & Composition) paper for study purposes. Spellings printed by FPSC are kept as they appear, with corrections noted where a word was misprinted. The answers are our own and are offered as one good attempt, not as an official key.