Exam I Outline: Fill & Download for Free

In 9th grade Honors Biology, I was taking my final exam; I was a B-C student who didn’t put much effort in studying, and I certainly hadn't studied the anatomy of the heart or the respiratory system.One of the open ended questions asked me to describe the path of blood through the heart, but how the hell should I know? You can't seriously expect me to study! To my good fortune, I spotted a very small outline illustration of a heart in the corner of the paper, about the size of a thumb print. Like this, only a lot smaller and without labels and text.(Picture courtesy Google Images)Me being an artist, I took the scrap lined paper we students were provided and drew a detailed, scaled up diagram of the heart with arrows illustrating the pathway of blood through the heart - with this, I took my rudimentary knowledge of the valves and arteries, scoured the multiple choice for the others I didn't know and used the process of elimination to label the chambers and pathways of the heart!And after all that effort, all I had to write was this:inferior+superior vena cava → right atrium → right ventricle → tricuspid valve → pulmonary vein → (the rest of the bloody heart)… Yeah, you get the point.Suffice to say, the teacher was quite impressed with my illustration. Sadly, I never learned my lesson with studying.

A2A..I will share my strategy briefly here:For Art & Culture, I referred NCERT class 11th fine arts book + Art & Culture portion from Tamil Nadu history books + VisionIAS notes for A&C… I didn’t refer to Nitin Singhania’s book as I found it very bulky and time consuming. Plus the return on investment on A&C portion is always low. So I focused more on other GS topics and optional.For maps, I first watched all the geography videos of Rajatnil Solanki ma’am on mrunal’s website. It helped me very much to understand and use maps in my answers as well. Next I tried to practice drawing world and India’s outline map in less than 10 seconds. So in actual mains exam I made a point to draw maps and present relevant facts on them wherever applicable to score good marks.All the best.~VW

As far as I'm concerned, there's only one "absolutely not" rule for Germany:Don't do the Nazi salute. Not even in jest. It's a crime and every year there are tourists arrested for it. Also don't carry any Nazi symbols on you.If you not just want to avoid getting arrested but also keep the respect of the Germans you meet, the following rules are important:Don't stare. You'd appear either uneducated or mentally ill.Dress somewhat better than the average American. T-shirts are only acceptable if it's above 20°C outside. Avoid tennis shoes unless you are actually in the middle of exercising.Remember all the things your mother and grandmother told you about manners and about doing things the right way? That really matters in Germany, otherwise you come across like the scum of society. There are a lot of rules for this on very diverse issues, from being on time to not speaking with your mouth full to using an appropriate level of formality/festivity when the occasion calls for it.Don't talk about money - not about your salary, not about someone else's salary, not about how much you paid for something and particularly not about trickle-down economics. If you're wealthy, don't flaunt it.Don't talk about religion.Don't talk about politics unless you can agree with the basic consensus I outlined here. This is tricky. Many Germans like to discuss the news or argue about what should be done in an armchair expert way, so you may be drawn into a political discussion anyway. Disagreeing with each other on political issues is not a big deal in Germany - except if you disagree with the basic consensus of our country, people will lose respect for you until you present a really thoughtful argument. These issues are supposed to be obvious to everyone. Kind of like trying to argue for limits on freedom of speech in America. Which Germans might try to do.Then, if you want to make friends with Germans, keep in mind:Don't strike up conversations with strangers at a supermarket or the like; that's creepy.Start out addressing people as "Sie" unless you are 100% sure that you are in a Du-subculture.Avoid coming across like an over-eager puppy in your early interactions. Germans like to gradually warm up to people and taking the time to really get to know them before acting like BFFs.Ask if you should take off your shoes when visiting someone's home.Don't wish someone a happy birthday before the day. Same for anything. The origin is a superstition that something bad will happen to them (they might die) before their birthday if you do, however this rule is not limited to superstitious people. Even bright, rational Germans will feel uncomfortable because it's just not done. I guess it feels similar to congratulating someone on passing an exam before they have taken it...If you'd like to read more interesting tidbits about Germany, follow my blog Understanding Germany.