PMS Punjab 2022 Solved Precis

• Oratory (Noun)
  • Meaning: The art of formal and eloquent public speaking
  • Contextual Explanation: The passage opens by admitting that the future of oratory cannot be forecast, treating it throughout as a discipline with a history, a golden age, and a measurable decline.
• Derisory (Adjective)
  • Meaning: Expressing mockery or contempt
  • Contextual Explanation: The word 'orator' is said to be rarely used "without a slightly derisory accent," meaning it is now spoken with a faint sneer, as though the skill it names were slightly ridiculous.
• Scrupulous (Adjective)
  • Meaning: Marked by exact and painstaking attention to detail
  • Contextual Explanation: An ancient writer defended the "scrupulous care taken by Demosthenes," meaning the meticulous deliberation with which he composed.
• Sensibly (Adverb)
  • Meaning: To a perceptible or appreciable degree; noticeably
  • Contextual Explanation: Care given to public speaking has "sensibly declined," meaning the falling-off is not slight or arguable but plainly observable; the word carries its older sense of perceptibly, not its modern sense of prudently.
• Adorned (Verb, past participle)
  • Meaning: Made more distinguished or beautiful by some addition
  • Contextual Explanation: English oratory is described as "adorned with many famous names," meaning its history is distinguished by the reputations of those who practised it, among whom Churchill stands especially high.
• Graciousness (Noun)
  • Meaning: Elegance and refinement of manner or expression
  • Contextual Explanation: The great orator was praised for attending to both the arrangement of his ideas and "the graciousness of his language," meaning that structure and elegance of diction were equally deliberate.

The passage examines the falling reputation of oratory, evident in the derision now attached to the word 'orator'. It contrasts this with antiquity, where speakers thought their work of the highest value and made it to survive the judgment of later ages. Then, it presents Churchill as a survivor of that older discipline, careful in thought and diction, and closes by claiming that his speeches will endure as models woven into history.

Main Idea of the Passage

• The decline of oratory since antiquity and Churchill's survival of its older discipline
  • Oratory's future cannot be foreseen, and its standing has fallen since antiquity, when speakers held their work permanent and answerable to posterity. However, Churchill preserved that older discipline, and his fifty years of speeches will endure as models.

Supporting Ideas Helping the Main Idea

• Oratory's future unforeseeable
  • The future of oratory cannot be forecast.
• The word 'orator' now spoken with derision
  • The word 'orator' has fallen into disrepute, rarely used without a faintly derisive accent.
• Ancient orators holding their work of the highest worth, made for permanence and answerable to posterity
  • The orators of antiquity, by contrast, believed themselves engaged in work of the highest worth, made for permanence and answerable to the judgment of posterity.
• Care for public speaking noticeably declined; Churchill surviving from its golden age with deliberate thought and diction
  • Today the care given to public speaking has noticeably declined, though Churchill was a survivor from oratory's golden age, choosing his thought and his language with deliberate care.
• Churchill standing extraordinarily high in English oratory across fifty years of national and international speech
  • Among the many famous names adorning English oratory, Churchill stands extraordinarily high, having expressed himself for more than fifty years on great national and international matters.
• His speeches a history in themselves, the finest enduring as models and becoming part of British and world history
  • The volumes of his speeches are a history in themselves, and many will endure as examples of human speech at its highest, becoming part of British and world history.

Confused About Main and Supporting Ideas?

If you are still struggling to identify the main idea and supporting ideas of a precis passage, please make sure to revise all Precis Writing lectures that I have already delivered. These lectures were designed to build your understanding from the very basics to the advanced techniques required in CSS and PMS examinations.

• What a precis is and why examiners ask it.
• How to read and analyse a precis passage effectively.
• How to identify the main idea of a passage.
• How to distinguish supporting ideas from examples, illustrations, and minor details.
• What a Precis Map is and how to build it before writing.
• How to coordinate the main idea and supporting ideas logically.
• Etc. 

Moreover, please revise the 20 to 30 solved examples shared in the WhatsApp groups during your English Essay and Precis Course. These examples clearly demonstrate the Dos and Don’ts of Precis Writing and show how the concepts discussed in the lectures are applied in actual passages.

Precis 1

Nobody knows where public speaking is headed. The word 'orator' now carries a sneer. Speakers in antiquity thought differently, believing their labour would last and face the judgment of later ages. That seriousness has faded. However, Churchill outlasted that finer age, weighing every idea and choosing every word. Among English speakers, he stands remarkably high. Fifty years of addresses on his country's affairs and the world's form a record, the finest enduring as models within British and world history.

• Precis Passage Word Count: 251
• Precis Word Count: 79
• Title: The Decline of Oratory and Churchill's Exception

Precis 2

What oratory's future holds is beyond prediction. Since 'orator' now attracts ridicule, the old reverence has plainly lapsed: antiquity's speakers thought their calling supremely worthy, made for permanence, and answerable to posterity. Although the art has since weakened, Churchill maintained it, weighing each idea and selecting each word. Foremost among English orators, he treated his nation's concerns and the world's for half a century, leaving speeches that constitute their own chronicle, whose greatest enter as examples in British and world history.

• Precis Passage Word Count: 251
• Precis Word Count: 81
• Title: Oratory's Lapsed Standard and Churchill's Achievement

Precis 3

Where oratory may be going, none can say. Orator, a term now touched with mockery, marks reverence lost since antiquity, whose practitioners deemed their labour permanent and open to posterity's verdict. Such care has since slackened; Churchill, a holdover from that vanished age, weighed thought and chose diction scrupulously, standing pre-eminent in English speech. Fifty years addressing his nation and the world compose a chronicle, its finest passages being absorbed into national and world history.

• Precis Passage Word Count: 251
• Precis Word Count: 75
• Title: Churchill and the Vanished Art of Oratory