XAT (XLRI Entrance Test)
2016 Question Paper (Fully Solved)
XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Management
Verbal and Logically Ability
1. “Assumptions are analogous to the basic ingredients in a gourmet recipe. Only the final product of the recipe dictat3es whether the ingredients suffice …..”
Which of the following is ANALOGOUS to the statement above?
(A) Good wine needs no advertisement
(B) The apple never falls far from the tree!
(C) All is well that ends well!
(D) As you sow, so shall you reap!
(E) The proof of the pudding is in the eating!
2. Read the following poem and answer the question that follow :
I sought a soul in the sea
And found a coral there
Beneath the foam for me
An ocean was all laid bare,
Into my heart’s night
Along a narrow way
I groped; and lo! the light,
An infinite land of day.
Which of the following would best capture the ESSENCE of the poem above?
(A) What lies ‘outside’ is always deceptive.
(B) Pursue the narrow path and avoid the broadways.
(C) External search is futile; explore the inner space for answers.
(D) Heart’s pathways are broad and clear to find the destination.
(E) Light offers sight and insight.
3. Which of the following options best captures the relationship similar to INSPECT : VIVISECT?
(A) Enquire : Observe
(B) Inquire : Explore
(C) Investigate : Interrogate
(D) Query : Survey
(E) Question : Respond
4. The subject of this book is knavery, skullduggery, cheating, betrayal, unfairness, crime, sneakiness, malingering, cutting corner, immorality, dishonesty, betrayal, graft, wickedness, and sin.
Which of the following options best captures ALL the italicized words above?
(A) Aggressive behaviours
(B) Illegal behaviours
(C) Deviant behaviours
(D) Banned behaviours
(E) Vetoed behaviours
5. Read the following conversation OINOS: I can comprehend you thus far – that certain operations of what we term Nature, or the natural laws, will under certain conditions, give rise to that which has all the appearance of creation. Shortly before the final overthrow of the earth, there were, I well remember many very successful experiments in what some philosophers were weak enough to denominate the creation of
AGATHOS: The cases of which you speak were, in fact, instances of the secondary creation – and of the only species of creation which has ever been, since the first word spoke into existence the first law.
Which of the following options CANNOT be DEFINITELY inferred based on the above conversation?
(A) Agathos was explaining something related to creation to Oinos.
(B) At the time of conversation there was nothing called Earth.
(C) The creation of animalculae is a natural law.
(D) Natural laws are creations of philosophers.
(E) Law is a spoken word.
6. Consider the two related statements below :
Statement I:
Offices and positions for the marginalized sections should be open to those with greater savings among them.
Statement II:
Offices and positions must be open to everyone based on the principle of fair opportunity.
(A) Statement I assumes that the marginalized sections are incapable of saving.
(B) Statement II assumes that all citizens are equally exposed to all opportunities
(C) Statement II contradicts meritocracy.
(D) Statement II assumes that all citizens are equally intelligent.
(E) Statement I assumes that the marginalized sections always depend on subsidies.
7. This season will pass. The prime Minister may not win Lok Sabha elections, or she may; she may not continue as Prime Minister, or she may not continue as Prime Minister, or she may, The country will survive whatever the texture of politics in this decade or the next.
Which of the following, IF TRUE, will BEST reinforce the author’s view?
(A) The survival of any Prime Minister is dependent on the country’s economic growth.
(B) The country has a vibrant young working population.
(C) The survival of the country depends on a dynamic, growth-oriented Prime Minister, not on the texture of politics.
(D) The previous season had also witnessed similar political uncertainty.
(E) The survival of the Prime Minister is dependent on the political texture of the country.
8. …there is a degree of convergence in the definition of trust which can be summarized as follows: Trust is a particular level of the subjective probability with which an agent assesses that another agent or group of agents will perform a particular action. When we say we trust someone or that someone is trustyworthy, we implicitly mean that the probability that he will perform an action that is beneficial to us..
Which of the following statements BEST COMPLETES the passage above?
(A) is high enough for us to find out if he will cheat us.
(B) is high enough for us to consider engaging in some form of cooperation with him.
(C) is low enough for him not to engage in negative behavior against us.
(D) is high enough for us not to build defences against his possible aggression.
(E) is low enough for us to attack him.
9. The FIRST and the LAST sentences of the paragraph are numbered 1 & 6. The others, labeled as P< Q, R and S are given below :
1. Suppose I know someone, Smith.
P. One day you come to me and say: “Smith is in Cambridge.”
Q. I inquire, and find you stood at Guildhall and saw at the other end a man and said: “That was Smith”.
R. I’d say: “Listen. This isn’t sufficient evidence.”
S. I’ve heard that he has been killed in a battle in this war.
6. If we had a fair amount of evidence he was killed I would try to make you say that you’re being credulous.
Which of the following combinations is the MOST LOGICALLY ORDERED?
(A) 1SPQR6
(B) 1RSPQ6
(C) 1PRSQ6
(D) 1QSRP6
(E) 1RQPS6
10. The FIRST and the LAST sentences of the paragraph are numbered 1 & 6. The others, labeled as P, Q, R and S are given below:
1. The word “symmetry” is used here with a special meaning, and therefore needs to be defined.
P. For instance, if we look at a vase that is left and right symmetrical, then turn it 180° around the vertical axis, it looks the same.
Q. When we have a picture symmetrical, one side is somehow the same as the other side.
R. When is a thing symmetrical-how can we define it?
S. Professor Herman Weyl has given this definition of symmetry: a thing is symmetrical if one can subject it to a certain operation and it appears exactly the same after operation.
6. She shall adopt the definition of symmetry in Weyl’s more general form, and in that form we shall discuss symmetry of physical laws.
Which of the following combinations is the MOST LOGICALLY ORDERED?
(A) 1PQRS6
(B) 1QRRSP6
(C) 1RQPS6
(D) 1RQSP6
(E) 1SPQR6
11. In recent past, Indian football team has lost most of the matches in international football tournaments. The most successful coaches in Indian club football tournaments are form Latin American countries. In most of the Latin American countries, football is more popular sport than cricket.
From the passage above, choose the correct option :
(A) It can be DEFINITELY concluded that “In India” cr3icket is more popular than football”
(B) It can be DEFINITELY concluded that “Most Latin American countries are successful at football”.
(C) It can be DEFINITELY concluded that “in recent past, coaches of Indian football teams are not from Latin America”.
(D) It can be DEFINITELY concluded that “European football coaches are less successful than their Latin American counterparts for Indian national team.”
(E) It cannot be DEFINITELY concluded that “The more popular a sport the better the chance of producing a successful coach in that sport.”
12. Choose the best pronunciation of the word, Sobriquet, from the following options:
(A) soh-bri-key
(B) sub-rry-ka
(C) sob-bee-ri-kwet
(D) soub-rick-kaat
(E) sob-rik-kwet
Directions (Qs. 13 to 15) : Analyse the following passage and provide appropriate answers for these questions.
Advances in economic theory in the 1970s and 1980s illuminated the limits of markets; they showed that unfettered markets do not lead to economic efficiency whenever information is imperfect or markets are missing (for instance, good insurance markets to cover the key risks confronting individuals). And information is always imperfect and markets are always incomplete. Nor3 do markets, by themselves, necessarily lead to economic efficiency when the task of a country is to absorb new technology, to close the “knowledge gap”: a central feature of development. Today, most academic economists agree that markets, by themselves, do not lead to efficiency; the question is whether government can improve matters.
While it is difficult for economists to perform experiments to rest their theories, as a chemist or a physicist might, the world provides a vast array of natural experiments as dozens of countries try different strategies. Unfortunately, because each country differs in its history and circumstances and in the myriad of details in the policies-and details do matter-it is often difficult to get a clear interpretation. What is clear, however, is that there have been marked differences in performance, that the most successful countries have been those in Asia, and that in most of the Asian countries, government played a very active role. As we look more carefully at the effects of particular policies, these conclusions are reinforced: there is a remarkable congruence between what economic theory says government should do and what the East Asian governments actually did. By the same token, the economic theories based on imperfect information and incomplete risk markets that predicted that the free flow of shorter capital-a key feature of markets fundamentalist policies – would produce not growth but instability have also been borne out.
13. “… whether government can improve matters”. Here ‘matters’ indicates
(A) Economic efficiency
(B) Information imperfectness
(C) Knowledge gaps
(D) Good insurance markets
(E) Incomplete risk markets
14. Which of the following options CANNOT be inferred from the above passage ?
(A) Free flow of short-term capital might fail to ensure economic growth.
(B) Insurance market is a proof that ‘markets, by themselves, do not lead to efficiency’.
(C) It is difficult to interpret the success of economic policies of Asian countries.
(D) Technology can impede market efficiency.
(E) State intervention and imperfect information can never go hand-in-hand.
15. Which of the following statements BEST captures the ESSENCE of the two paragraphs in the above passage?
(A) Paragraph I and Paragraph II are parallel arguments that are unrelated.
(B) Paragraph I describes markets in general whereas Paragraph II describes market failures in Asian economics in particular.
(C) Paragraph I explains why markets fail. Paragraph II spells out why market-based economic theories fail to explain success of Asian economics.
(D) Paragraph I raises question and Paragraph II answers it.
(E) Paragraph I states an economic theory and Paragraph II cites a natural experiment to disprove it.
Directions (Qs. 16 to 19) : Analyse the following passage and provide appropriate answers for these questions :
An effective way of describing what interpersonal communication is or is not, is perhaps to capture the underlying beliefs using specific game analogies.
Communication as Bowling: The bowling model of message delivery is probably the most widely held view of communication. I think that’s unfortunate. This model sees the bowler as the sender, who delivers the ball, which is the message. As it rolls down the lane (the channel), clutter on the boards (noise) may deflect the ball (the message). Yet if it is aimed well, the ball strikes the passive pins (the target audience) with a predictable effect. In this one-way model of communication, the speaker (bowler) must take care to select a precisely crafted message (ball) and practice diligently to deliver it the same way every time,. Of course, that makes sense only if target listeners are interchangeable, static pins waiting to be bowled over by our words-which they aren’t.
This has led some observes to propose an interactive model of interpersonal communication.
Communication as Ping-Pong: Unlike bowling, Ping-Pong is not a solo game. This fact alone makes it a better analogy for interpersonal communication. One party puts the conversational b al in play, and the other gets into position to receive. It takes more concentration and skill to receive than to serve because while the speaker (server) knows where the message is going, the listener (receiver) doesn’t. Like a verbal or nonverbal message, the ball may appear straightforward yet have a deceptive spin.
Ping-Pong is a back-and-forth game; players switch roles continuously. One moment the person holding the paddle is an initiator; the next second the same player is a responder, gauging the effectiveness of his or her shot by the way the ball comes back. The repeated adjustment essential for good play closely parallels the feedback process described in a number of interpersonal communication theories.
Communication as Dumb Charades. The game of charades best captures the simultaneous and collaborative nature of interpersonal communication. A charade is neither in action, like bowling a strike, nor an interaction, lie a rally in Ping-Pong. It’s a transaction.
Charades is a mutual game; the actual play is cooperative. One member draws a title or slogan from a batch of possibilities and then tries to act it out visually for teammates in a silent mini drama. The goal is to get at least one partner to say the exact words that are on the slip of paper. Of course, the actor is prohibited from talking out loud.
Suppose you drew the saying “God helps those who help themselves.” For God you might try folding your hands and gazing upward. For helps you could act out offering a helping hand or giving a leg-up boost over a fence. By pointing at a number of real or imaginary people you may elicit a response of them, and by this point a partner may shout out, “God helps those who help themselves.” Success.
Like charades, interpersonal communication is a mutual, on-going process of sending, receiving, and adapting verbal and nonverbal messages with another person to create and alter the images in both of our minds. Communication between us begins when there is some overlap between two images, and is effective to the extent that overlap increases. But even if our mental pictures are congruent, communication will be partial as long as we interpret them differently. The idea that “God helps those who help themselves” could strike one person as a hollow promise, while the other might regard it as a divine stamp of approval for hard work.
Dumb Charade goes beyond the simplistic analogy of bowing and ping-pong. It views interpersonal communications as a complex transaction in which overlapping message simultaneously affect and are affected by the other person and multiple other factors.
16. The meaning CLOSEST to ‘interchangeable’ in the ‘Communication as Bowling’ paragraph is:
(A) Complementary
(B) Contiguous
(C) Conforming
(D) Compatible
(E) Comparable
17. Which of the following options is the CLOSEST to the necessary condition of communication.
(A) Threshold overlap of shared images
(B) Simultaneous exchange
(C) Ability to stimulate effect
(D) Ability to enact a drama
(E) Ability to elicit a response
18. The two inherent LIMITATIONS of Ping-Pong as a metaphor for communication are:
(A) It is governed by conventions with possibility for appeal; it has clear rules.
(B) The operating model in win-lose because only one individual or team can win; the receiver can always predict the spin.
(C) The number of players is limited as very few can be meaningfully engaged at a time; the rules of the game are fixed by the regulators.
(D) It demands more skills of the receiver than of the speaker; it is as passive as bowling.
(E) Real life communications is like Dumb Charade wish multiple players; there are multiple balls used in Dumb Charade.
19. Action, interaction and transaction is CLOSEST to:
(A) Advertising, Buyer negotiating with a seller, Bidding for a player in Indian Premier League.
(B) Preparing an election manifesto, Addressing a public gathering, Engaging in door-to-door canvassing.
(C) Preparing for MBA entrance exam, Writing the MBA entrance exam, Facing an interview for business school.
(D) Applying for learner licence, Negotiating with a driving school, driving a car.
(E) Negotiating overseas posting, Applying for visa, Undertaking a journey.
Directions (Qs. 20 to 22): Analyse the following passage and provide appropriate answers for these questions :
Each piece, or part, of the whole of nature is always merely an approximation to the complete truth, or the complete truth so far as we know it. In fact, everything we know is only some kind of approximation, because we know that we do not know all the laws as yet. Therefore, things must be learned only to be unlearned again or, more likely, to be corrected.
The principle of science, the definition, almost, is the following: The test of all knowledge is experiment. Experiment is the sole judge of scientific “truth”. But what is the source of knowledge? Where do the laws that are to be tested come from? Experiment, itself, helps to produce these laws, in the sense that it gives us hints. But also needed is imagination to create from these hints the great generalizations- to guess at the wonderful, simple, but very strange patterns beneath them all, and then to experiment to check again whether we have made the right guess. This imagining process is so difficult that the4re is a division of labour in physics: there are theoretical physicists who imagine, deduce, and guess at new laws, but do not experiment; and then there are experimental physicists who experiment, imagine, deduce, and guess.
We said that the laws of nature are approximate: that we first find the “wrong” ones, and then we find the “right” ones. Now, how can an experiment be “wrong”? First, in a trivial way: the apparatus can be faulty and you did no notice. But these things are easily fixed and checked back and forth. So without snatching at such minor things, how can the results of an experiment be wrong? Only by being inaccurate. For example, the mass of an object never seems to change; a spinning top has the same weight as a still one. So a “law” was invented: mass is constant, independent of speed. That “law” is now found to be incorrect. Mass is found to increase with velocity, but appreciable increase requires velocities near that of light. A true law is: if an object moves with a speed of less than one hundred miles a second the mass is constant to within one part in a million. In some such approximate form this is a correct law. So in practice one might think that the new law makes no significant difference. Well, yes and n. For ordinary speeds we can certainly forget it and use the simple constant mass law as a good approximation. But for high speeds we are wrong, and the higher the speed, the more wrong we are.
Finally, and most interesting, philosophically we are completely wrong with the approximate law. Our entire picture of the world has to be altered even though the mass changes only by a little bit. This is a very peculiar thing about the philosophy, or the ides, behind the laws. Even a very small effect sometimes requires profound changes to our ideas.
20. Which of the following options is DEFINITELY NOT an approximation to the complete truth ?
(A) I know that I know.
(B) I know that I do not know.
(C) I know what I know.
(D) I know what I do not know.
(E) I know that others do not know.
21. Consider the two statements from the passage:
Statement I:
The mass of an object never seems to change.
Statement II:
Mass is found to increase with velocity. Which of the following options CANNOT be concluded from the above passage?
(A) Both statements I and II are approximation to the complete truth.
(B) Both statements I and II are complete truth so far as we now.
(C) Statement I is an approximation to the complete truth but Statement II is complete truth.
(D) Statement I reveals that experimental physicists who imagine, deduce, and guess are philosophically wrong.
(E) Statement II shows that theoretical physicists can pinpoint the shortcomings of experimental physicists.
22. ‘Big Bang’ is a popular theory related to the origin of the universe. It states that the universe was the outcome of a big bang that released enormous energy.
Which of the following is the MOST PROBABLE inference about the big bang theory?
(A) Big Bang Theory was first proposed by experimental physicists.
(B) Bi9g Bang Theory was first proposed by theoretical physicists.
(C) Big Bang Theory was first proposed by experimental physicists and then deuced by theoretical physicists.
(D) Philosophers got the Big Bang theory wrong.
(E) Big Bang theory is not an approximation of the complete truth.
Directions (Qs. 23 to 26): Analyze the following passage and provide appropriate answers for these questions :
The base of Objectivism according to Ayan Rand is explicit : “Existence exists-and the act of grasping that statement implies two corollary axioms: that something exists which one perceives and that one exists possessing consciousness, consciousness being the faculty of perceiving that which exists.”
Existence and consciousness are facts implicit in every perception. They are the base of all knowledge (and the precondition of proof): knowledge presupposes something to know and someone to know it. They are absolutes which cannot be questioned or escaped: every human utterance, including the denial of these axioms, implies their use and acceptance.
The third axiom at the base of knowledge- an axiom true in Aristotle’s words of “being qua being”-is the Law of Identity. This law defines the essence of existence: to be is to be something, a thing is what it is; and leads to the fundamental principle of all actions, the law of causality. The law of causality states that a thing’s actions are determined not by chance, but by its nature, i.e. by what it is.
It is important to observe the interrelation of these three axioms. Existence is the first axiom. The universe exists independent of consciousness. Man is able to adapt his background to his own requirements, but “Nature to be commanded, must b e obeyed” (Francis Bacon). There is no mental process that can change the laws of nature or erase facts. The function of consciousness is not to create reality but to apprehend it. “Existence is Identity, Consciousness is Identification.”
23. Which of the following is DEFINETELY CORRECT according to the passage.
(A) Only what can be perceived exists.
(B) What exists is perceived.
(C) All that exists does not have consciousness.
(D) Consciousness makes perception of being possible.
(E) Something to be known and someone to know are the condition sime qua non for existence.
24. Which of the following is the ESSENCE of ‘The Law of Causality’?
(A) To be is to be something ‘being qua being’.
(B) Wishing to become something else denies the nature of that being.
(C) The law of identity is the same as the law of causality.
(D) Essence of existence.
(E) Actions of a being are determined by its nature.
25. Which of the following can be best captured as ‘Identity’ and “Identification” ?
(A) College as identity; perception of cultural events as identification.
(B) Twitter as identity; perception of Twitter as identification.
(C) Government as identity; perception of taxation of citizens as identifications.
(D) Marriage as identity; perception of children as identification.
(E) MBA as identity; perception of campus placement as identification.
26. The author would interpret Francis Bacon’s “Nature to be commanded, must be obeyed” as :
(A) Reality should not be modified or escaped but faced.
(B) Man’s existence depends on nature’s whims.
(C) Essentially and objectively nature is superior to humans.
(D) Obstacles are better circumvented than confronted.
(E) Before channeling nature one must first comply with it.