PCS Gilgit Baltistan (GB) 2017 Solved Precis

• Ingenuity (Noun): The quality of being clever, original, and inventive
  • Contextual Explanation: Points to the creative problem-solving that helped expand commerce despite barriers
• Prohibitive (Adjective): So high or difficult that it prevents something from happening
  • Contextual Explanation: Describes how taxes or dangers during travel made transporting goods nearly impossible
• Ignoble (Adjective): Dishonourable or low in moral standards
  • Contextual Explanation: Describes the less respected individuals who also posed threats to merchants

The passage discusses the significant obstacles to commerce during the Middle Ages, including geographical barriers and institutional restrictions. Furthermore, it highlights how merchants' determination and the growth of towns ultimately overcame these challenges, enabling trade to thrive and significantly influencing Western Europe by the modern period.

Main Idea of the Passage

• Despite numerous severe obstacles, including geographical hazards, widespread feudal restrictions, heavy tolls, and political bans, commerce steadily expanded in the Middle Ages due to the ingenuity and determination of growing towns and merchants, ultimately influencing all of Western Europe.

Supporting Ideas Helping the Main Idea

• Commerce in the Middle Ages faced many dangers both by land and sea.
• In addition to the dangers, poor communication also made trade between northern and southern Europe extremely difficult.
• The feudal system and the restrictive mindset of the era imposed additional obstacles to the free movement of goods.
• Merchants also suffered from heavy tolls and prohibitions enforced by governments, making trade goods costly.
• In spite of all these difficulties, the developing towns and manufacturing centres managed to progress steadily.

Confused About Main and Supporting Ideas?

Kindly make sure to revise all five lectures on Precis Writing that I have already delivered. In these sessions, we discussed in detail:

• What a precis is and its purpose.
• What the main idea means and how to extract it effectively.
• What supporting ideas are and how to identify them.
• How to coordinate the main and supporting ideas while writing a concise, coherent precis.

Additionally, go through the 20 examples I shared in the WhatsApp groups. These examples highlight the Dos and Don’ts of Precis Writing, and revising them will help you avoid common mistakes and refine your technique.

Precis 1

In medieval times, merchants encountered significant hurdles in transporting commodities across Europe. The challenges they faced were exacerbated by inadequate communication methods and the constraints imposed by the feudal system. This conservative mindset of the era further hindered their efforts. Additionally, heavy taxes and government restrictions made goods prohibitively expensive for ordinary people. Despite these difficulties, however, industrial and developing areas continued to evolve gradually.

• Original Words in the Passage: 247
• Precis Word Count: 65
• Title: Growth of Trade Despite Medieval Hardships

Precis 2

Trade in the Middle Ages was very risky due to dangers by land and sea, and poor communication made north-south exchange even harder. Unfortunately, feudal laws and narrow thinking caused further trouble, with extra tolls and government prohibitions putting goods beyond the reach of the common man. Nevertheless, towns and industries across Europe continued to grow and prosper.

• Original Words in the Passage: 247
• Precis Word Count: 58
• Title: How Trade Survived the Middle Ages

Precis 3

In medieval Europe, trade progressed slowly despite formidable obstacles: traders contended with unsafe routes and limited communication while feudal restrictions and rigid customs further hampered exchange. In addition, excessive duties and government bans made goods costly and movement difficult. Yet the expanding towns and commercial centres kept growing despite such hardships.

• Original Words in the Passage: 247
• Precis Word Count: 51
• Title: Medieval Trade Against All Odds