XAT 2020 Question Paper

Instructions

Read the passage below and answer the 3 associated questions:

The nature of knowledge cannot survive unchanged within this context of general transformation. It can fit into the new channels, and become operational, only if learning is translated into quantities of information. We can predict that anything in the constituted body of knowledge that is not translatable in this way will be abandoned and that the direction of new research will be dictated by the possibility of its eventual results being translatable into computer language. The “producers” and users of knowledge must know, and will have to, possess the means of translating into these languages whatever they want to invent or learn. Research on translating machines is already well advanced. Along with the hegemony of computers comes a certain logic, and therefore a certain set of prescriptions determining which statements are accepted as “knowledge” statements.
We may thus expect a thorough exteriorisation of knowledge with respect to the “knower,” at whatever point he or she may occupy in the knowledge process. The old principle that the acquisition of knowledge is indissociable from the training (Bildung) of minds, or even of individuals, is becoming obsolete and will become ever more so. The relationships of the suppliers and users of knowledge to the knowledge they supply and use is now tending, and will increasingly tend, to assume the form already taken by the relationship of commodity producers and consumers to the commodities they produce and consume - that is, the form of value. Knowledge is and will be produced in order to be sold, it is and will be consumed in order to be valorised in a new production: in both cases, the goal is exchange.
Knowledge ceases to be an end in itself, it loses its “use-value.”

Question 21

Which of the following options will the author agree the MOST with?

Video Solution
Instructions

Read the passage below and answer the 3 associated questions:

It’s as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs just for the sake of keeping us all working. And here, precisely, lies the mystery. In capitalism, this is precisely what is not supposed to happen. Sure, in the old inefficient socialist states like the Soviet Union, where employment was considered both a right and a sacred duty, the system made up as many jobs as it had to. (This is why in Soviet department stores it took three clerks to sell a piece of meat.) But, of course, this is the very sort of problem market competition is supposed to fix. According to economic theory, at least, the last thing a profit-seeking firm is going to do is shell out money to workers they don’t really need to employ. Still, somehow, it happens. While corporations may engage in ruthless downsizing, the layoffs and speed-ups invariably fall on that class of people who are actually making, moving, fixing, and maintaining things. Through some strange alchemy no one can quite explain, the number of salaried paper pushers ultimately seems to expand, and more and more employees find themselves—not unlike Soviet workers, actually—working forty- or even fifty-hour weeks on paper but effectively working fifteen hours just as Keynes predicted, since the rest of their time is spent organizing or attending motivational seminars, updating their Facebook profiles, or downloading TV box sets. The answer clearly isn’t economic: it’s moral and political. The ruling class has figured out that a happy and productive population with free time on their hands is a mortal danger. (Think of what started to happen when this even began to be approximated in the sixties.) And, on the other hand, the feeling that work is a moral value in itself, and that anyone not willing to submit themselves to some kind of intense work discipline for most of their waking hours deserves nothing, is extraordinarily convenient for them.

Question 22

Which of the following options, if true, BEST makes the author’s assertion on pointless jobs erroneous?

Video Solution
Question 23

Which of the following can be BEST inferred from the passage?

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Question 24

Which of the following statements will BEST explain the principle underlying the theme of the passage?

Video Solution
Instructions

For the following questions answer them individually

Question 25

Go through the statements below and answer the question that follows:

P. Fast food intake for more than three times a week is associated with greater odds of atopic disorders such as asthma, eczema or rhinitis. Thus, it should be definitely and strictly controlled in children as it does no good.
Q. Regular junk food intake can lead to physical and psychological issues among children.
R. Lack of Vitamins such as A and C, and minerals such as magnesium and calcium, encourage the development of deficiency diseases and osteoporosis, as well as dental caries due to higher intake.
S. Junk food, which are rich in energy with lots of fat and sugar, are relatively low in other important nutrients such as protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals.
T. Emotional and self-esteem problems, along with chronic illnesses in later life due to obesity, are the issues associated with the junk food.

Which of the following combinations is the MOST logically ordered?

Video Solution
Question 26

Go through the statements below and answer the question that follows:

P. Surabhi’s Instagram profile has 1.4 million followers. It is filled with pictures of her posing in different settings.
Q. In India, reports suggest that WhatsApp (Much more than Facebook or Twitter) is the primary tool for the dissemination of political communication.
R. Political campaigns pay social media companies to promote their content.
S. Political advertising on social media comes in many forms and remains underexamined in India.
T. Social media influencers are used for the dissemination of content.

Which of the following combinations is the MOST logically ordered?

Video Solution
Instructions

Read the situation below and answer the 3 associated questions:
Vindhya, Shabnam and Amala are interning at a software organization as part of the requirement of their B-school curriculum.
The organization has allotted each of them a project based on their area of specialization. In the first meeting with the HR head, they are informed of a PPO possibility (pre-placement offer, i.e., an offer to join the company after their MBA), based on their performance. All of them are eager to convert their internship into a job offer.
Each of them is assigned a mentor who evaluates the intern's performance along with the HR head.

Question 27

In the second week of her eight-week internship, Amala realizes that the project requires inputs from subjects she studied in her third trimester. However, during the third trimester, Amala was significantly distracted by an inter-college sports meet, affecting her grasp of the subjects.
Which of the following is the MOST appropriate way forward for Amala?

Video Solution
Question 28

Vindhya’s project is about understanding employee perception regarding the organization’s HR policies. Against her own instinct, she is suggested by her mentor to interview only the good performers identified by his office because poor performers, he believes, usually crib against the policies.

Which of the following courses of action will BEST enable Vindhya to provide the organization with a complete picture?

Video Solution
Question 29

Shabnam, who is working on sales executives’ work-life balance, has collected the following details about their frequent travels:

1. Frequent meetings help strengthen relationships with key customers.
2. Travelling has no effect on the personal lives of the sales executives as most of them are single.
3. Travel enhances the financial health of the sales executives since their fixed salaries are low.
4. Frequent travel has no significant impact on market budget, given the current high margins from sales.
5. The sales executives have the autonomy to decide the frequency of their travel.

Shabnam thinks that the frequency of travel is higher than required.
Which of the following combinations of the above reasons can enable Shabnam BEST substantiate her thinking?

Video Solution
Instructions

Read the situation below and answer the 3 associated questions:
A Multinational Company (MNC) sources pristine natural spring water from Bori, a village in Satpura mountains. The unprocessed natural spring water is directly bottled by the MNC. The company brands it as “Natural Spring Water” and sells at 50% premium vis-a-vis other brands that sell processed water.

The local panchayat, under the Panchayati Raj Act, 1992 controls the spring water usage. Hence, the company signed a 30-year contract with the panchayat for exclusive access to the spring water for business purposes. This contract contributes 50% to the panchayat’s revenues besides providing 250 jobs in the panchayat. The spring also meets domestic and agricultural needs of the people of Bori and the surrounding villages.

Question 30

Chanchala owns a small parcel of farming land in Bori. She grows cannabis in some part of her land and earns a significant amount of money from it. Soon after the bottling plant was commissioned, Chanchala, instigated by a landlord with a vested interest, starts accusing the MNC of robbing her of water and impacting her livelihood. She threatens to take the MNC to court.
Which of the following options will BEST solve the MNC’s problem?

Video Solution
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