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CHAPTER XIII.

THE EXAMINATION.

THE Civil Service examinations are carried on by means of written exercises, with a few exceptions, as where reading is required, or where candidates are to be tested as to their conversational knowledge of a modern language.

In the examination hall each candidate is seated at a separate desk, of which he has the sole use; and pens, ink, and paper are supplied in abundance. There are several other things, however, which the candidates do not get, but which are quite necessary for neat answering. You should come provided with a good penknife, a lead pencil, a piece of india-rubber, a twelve-inch ruler, red ink (to rule your lines tastefully, for you will have ruling), some patent paper fasteners (to be got at any stationer's), a few sheets of blotting paper, and a supply of the pens you have been in the habit of using. If Geometry be one of the subjects, you should also have a scale and compasses. All these articles you should bring every day, for you may want one or more of them at any moment.

The candidates are not allowed to bring papers or books into the examination hall. If any one were discovered using, or even having a book, or should he be detected copying from a neighbour, or from a book or paper, he would be immediately

sent out of the room, and of course would forfeit all chance of entering the public service.

The time allowed for each paper of questions is seldom anything more than sufficient for a good answerer, and it is often too short for the general run of candidates. You must, therefore, take good care to economize every precious moment from the very beginning.

After the candidates are supplied with pens, ink, and paper, there is usually a short interval before the questions are distributed. Employ this interval in preparation:-First mark a margin an inch and a half broad along the left of as many sheets as you think you may want, by turning down and creasing the paper; and then write your name at the head of each. If you defer this last till the moment when you begin to use each sheet, you are very apt, in your haste and excitement, to omit it from some; and it is to be presumed that you get no credit for any sheet without your name.

The time allowed for each paper is either printed at the head, or announced by the examiner. Should you have finished your paper before the time, do not give it up till you are obliged. Employ the remaining time in reading over your answers, to check, correct, and improve.

If you observe any candidate giving up his papers long before the end of the time, you may rest assured he is answering badly; for it is generally those who have least to say on a subject that are soonest finished. It may be stated as a rule admitting of few exceptions, that the best men at an examination-those who are full of their subject and cautious in their manner of answering-keep their papers till the very last moment.

In some cases, however, additional credit is allowed for rapidity, as in "long tots," the orthographical paper, &c.; and this is either announced by the examiner or printed at the head of the sheet. In such cases, if you can finish before the time, it is of course a clear gain; but be very careful in this particular, for correctness is far more important than quickness. If you have the least suspicion that your paper needs checking, hold it over as long as may be necessary; otherwise you may lose more by incorrectness than you gain by speed.

You must endeavour to please the examiner, not only in excellence of answering but also in neatness of arrangement. Head the first page very neatly with the name of the subject after your own name; and leave a couple of inches of blank margin on the top of that page, but not so much on the others.

When you put several answers on one page take care to leave a blank space of an inch or more between each two. Of course you will not forget to place the number of the question in the margin immediately opposite the first line of the answer.

When the answer which you begin in one page is continued on to the next, you should write the number of the question on the margin of this latter page also, opposite where you begin-thus, "No. 6, continued." In this case, too, you should employ a catch word; that is, write the same word that begins the second page on the very lowest part of the lower right hand corner of the first.

The paper you get to write your answers on is unruled; and, in order to be prepared for this, you should use unruled paper in all your exercises for some time before the examination.

When you have much continuous matter to write, as usually happens in Geography, History, Literature, Essays, &c., break up your writing into small paragraphs. I wish writers of books would more generally follow this rule, and they would spare their readers much weariness. A long paragraph is to a reader what a long straight dusty road is to a traveller; but short paragraphs are like the windings of a green lane, that relieve the sense of weariness by a gentle and pleasant variety.

It is not at all an uncommon thing to find some candidate, who has little or no experience in examinations, spend the whole time answering one or two questions at an elaborate length, leaving three-fourths of the paper wholly untouched. This is one of the most unfortunate blunders a candidate could commit, and you must take great care to avoid it.

A certain candidate who went in last year for one of the Government offices, was an excellent geographer-better prepared in this subject than in any other. One of the questions was, to give a description of three countries-Albania, Pennsylvania, and Egypt. Here was a grand opportunity for showing his knowledge, and he went at the question con amore. He entered most minutely on his description, and exhausted all his knowledge of the three countries; but as he spent three-fourths of the time at this one question, he was obliged to leave several others unanswered, all of which were mere child's play to him if he had allowed himself sufficient time. In consequence of this piece of folly, his marks in Geographyhis crack subject-turned out to be very low.

You should first read carefully through the

whole paper of questions, making quite sure you thoroughly understand them all. A man sometimes reads the first part of a question attentively enough, till he gathers its general import; then feeling satisfied that he can solve it, he glances hastily through the rest of it, and some important point towards the end, that changes the whole aspect of the question, or makes some considerable addition to it, escapes his notice.

By this careful survey you will be able to measure the difficulty of the various questions, and to know whether you can manage them all. Next make a hasty calculation as to the time you can afford to each-longer or shorter according to the nature of the question-and afterwards confine yourself as nearly as you can to this determination. By this means you will not omit the short questions; and though you may not answer the others at great length, you will, nevertheless, be likely to satisfy the examiner sufficiently on them.

When you are reading over the questions, you must take especial note of any expression about which there might be possibly a misunderstanding; but do not lose time in weighing probabilities. If you think it necessary to consult the examiner about it, make a sign that you wish to speak to him, and he will either come to you or beckon you to him; when, if it be legitimate, he will resolve the doubt for you.

A paper of questions usually presents much variety as regards difficulty: while some are very simple, others approach or go beyond the limits of the candidate's knowledge.

Your best plan is to make sure of all the easy questions first, no matter in what order they occur

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