CMAT 2018 Slot 1 Question Paper

Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follows.
Passage I
I once made a statement in a room full of college students that the most important thing a young person could
acquire in college might be a sense of her own limitations. I realised when I said it that it was not a very
fashionable thing to say. Popular books on how to therapy, stress the glorious potential of every human being
and urge us to accept ourselves, finally, as being only a little lower than the angels. I heartily approve of any celebration of human potential, but I believe that we must acknowledge our potential for limitless evil as well. We must understand what we can do in the way of evil before we can even pretend to be good. This is the
beginning of morality, the psychological or spiritual or, in a religious tradition, the mythical basis that makes morality possible. One of the most moral book of the past century is Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, because Conrad faces the problem of evil in people. He tells us that we must recognize in ourselves the ability to put the head of our enemy on stick and dance around a fire with it, and only when we recognize that can we even begin to deal with any moral question at all. Students who have been nourished on pop psychology and told “I’ m O.K.” have some trouble dealing with Conrad, and some of them regard him as perverse.
I am amazed at the number of educated people who believe that we are somehow better , more moral, than our
ancestors were. I have seen otherwise intelligent people grow red in the face at the suggestion that human
beings are not better now - less cruel , more considerate , less animalistic , more humane- than they were when
Nero ruled Rome or when the Pharaohs ruled Egypt or , when the Druids at Stonehenge readied their sacrifices.
In one way we are more likely to have become dull to our potential for evil (and so discover it suddenly and with disastrous consequences) today than we were a few centuries ago. This is because we actively suppress the
kind of self-knowledge that makes intelligent moral decisions possible. Sin and guilt are such old -fashioned
terms that most of us are embarrassed by the very words.

Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follows.
Passage II
Science made some progress in the middle Ages but the spirit of modern science was born with the
Renaissance. Science in the middle ages struggled against restrictions and there were many fetters to be
destroyed before it could continue unhampered. Superstitions were common and to the masses were much
more acceptable then were scientific explanations. The Renaissance brought about an interest in all things
pertaining to men and the thirst for new achievements led to a critical observation of natural phenomena. The
spirit of learning was manifested in science. Scientists of the 16th century made the first effective protest
against the medieval scientific method of accepting theories before investigation had verified them. Francis
Bacon pointed out that classical scientific conclusions did not represent mature knowledge and implored men to
explore the realms of nature. Descartes brought out the necessity of questioning everything. He was the
forerunner of science.

Read the passage carefully and answer the question that follows.
Passage III
How can an organization’s sales operations be improved? One of the keys to becoming more effective is to first
determine the type of “selling process” which needs to be used. In other words, the role the salesperson must
play has to be identified. There are three different processes sales staff can adopt: narrative, suggestive and
consultative. The narrative approach depends on the salesperson moving quickly into a standardized presentation. Every buyer receives the same presentation. Emphasis is on highlighting benefits and how the product or service can help the buyer. This is an effective approach if the buying motive for all customers is the same. This process is well suited where there are a great number of prospectuses to be called on.
The suggestive approach depends on the seller being in a position to offer a lternative recommendations. This is quite different from the narrative approach as the presentation is tailored to the individual customer. Here, the salesperson must initiate some discussion in order to get the buyer in a positive frame of mind.
An example of this process would be a restaurant wine steward who has checked with the wait er what food the
customer has ordered and then opens by saying that either “this or that” particular wine would go best with the
food ordered. This is an exce llent approach where one doesn’t have much time with the customer but is able to acquire some basic information and then offer a particular recommendation. This process is well suited for products and services. However, it does require the salesperson to acquire basic information from the customer before moving on to the presentation. The consultative approach requ ires the salesperson to have a thorough understanding of the customer and what the customer is trying to achieve. The role of the salesperson is to become an adviser or consultant and she must acquire a great deal of information from the customer. With this information, the salesperson can plan what to offer the customer. In this case, the salesperson must tailor the presentation to highlight how the salesperson’s product or service can be of help. This approach will usually require a number of sales calls as the buying process may be complex. The consultative approach requires a wide variety of skills, including probing, listening, analysis, creativity and persuasiveness. The other two approaches typically require fewer skills. Hiring, training, motivating and rewarding sales people needs to be linked to the type of sales process bei ng used and this is where the problem starts. Many organizations, which should be using a consultative approach, use a narrative approach. They use standardized methods and do not tailor presentations to individual customers. You see this in many industries. When this is the case, price becomes a key criterion for the customer. A key issu e in developing a professional sales organization is first establishing the sales process. When that decision has been made, all other sales decision, including hiring, training and rewards can be linked to it.