XAT 2020 Question Paper

Rakesh, in his current job, came across incidences of bribing by private sector officials. He wondered if he might have to bribe government officials while at G&P.
He reflected on his interview with G&P:
1. The interviewers were puzzled how Rakesh could manage his EMIs with his current income.
2. One interviewer was constantly probing how Rakesh managed to meet his project deadlines with little cooperation from his subordinates.
3. “What would you do if your project has a fortnight’s deadline and it takes a month to obtain a permit?,” asked another interviewer.
4. A question that intrigued Rakesh was, “Should a pack of dacoits share their loot with one of their gang, who had killed a bystander against their motto ‘Thou shalt not kill’?”

Which of the following sequences of the above statements is in the MOST appropriate DESCENDING order of bribing undertones?

Jagdeep has decided to open a branch in Ramnagar. Which of the following facts about Ramnagar will BEST support his decision?

Jagdeep wishes to open a 100% eggless branch in Ramnagar. To explore feasibility, he collected the following facts:
1. Eggless products account for 30% of Le Baguette’s sales.
2. At least 20% of all bakery sales in Ramnagar is from eggless products.
3. The eggless varieties of Le Baguette contain minute traces of egg.
4. Le Baguette currently makes 3% of its revenue from Ramnagar customers and all of it comes from eggless products.
5. Le Croissant’s Ramnagar branch struggles with a market share of 10%.

From the combinations below, in the DESCENDING order of effectiveness, choose the one that BEST supports Jagdeep’s decision.

From a newspaper, Jagdeep has learnt that Americans use their own ovens to bake ready-to-bake products, sold by some bakeries. This idea is apparently catching up in Indian metros as well.
Jagdeep wants to try this out in his bakery. He has gathered the following facts:
1. US bakeries that also sell ready-to-bake products earned higher revenues compared to those that do not.
2. Around 7% of Jagdeep’s regular customers own baking ovens in their homes.
3. The sale of baking ovens in India is forecast to increase by 12% every year, for the next three years.
4. 50% of Jagdeep’s regular customers are fulltime working couples.
5. In Indian metros, ready-to-bake products give higher profit margins compared to finished products.

Select the BEST of the following sequences of the above facts, in DESCENDING order of effectiveness, to support Jagdeep.

The increasing prosperity of the plains people tempted those in the mountains to divert forest land for agriculture. Vanamali was afraid that expansion of agriculture would result in deforestation of the mountains.

Which of the following is the BEST course of action for Vanamali to conserve the mountain forest?

Vanamali, afraid of further deforestation, issued a diktat against felling of trees in the mountains. In due course, thanks to the booming agriculture, the king along with plains people began to prosper. However, mountain people became relatively poor, thanks to Vanamali’s diktat.

Which of the following options should mountain people choose to BEST protect their long-term interests?

The village elders of the mountains had informed Vanamali about the presence of a precious metal in abundance under a large part of the forest. They pleaded with him to repeal his diktat and permit felling of trees for mining.
Vanamali knew that the precious metal would make his kingdom prosper. However, he was worried that mining would reduce the flow of nutrients, water and forest produce to the plains.
Vanamali’s advisor Vanapandit presented the following action plans for his consideration:
1. Repeal the forest diktat and charge hefty royalty for mining in the mountains
2. Permit mining in the mountains and enforce rainwater harvesting in the plains
3. Permit mining in the mountains and begin afforestation in the plains
4. Continue with the forest diktat in the mountains
5. Permit limited mining in rotation but maintain the forest diktat in the rest of the mountains

Which of the following sequences of action plans, in the DESCENDING order of their ability to contribute to Vanarajya’s sustainable prosperity, will be the MOST appropriate for Vanamali?

Nalini has received a total of 600 WhatsApp messages from four friends Anita, Bina, Chaitra and Divya. Bina and Divya have respectively sent 30% and 20% of these messages, while Anita has sent an equal number of messages as Chaitra. Moreover, Nalini finds that of Anita’s, Bina’s, Chaitra’s and Divya’s messages, 60%, 40%, 80% and 50% respectively are jokes. What percentage of the jokes, received by Nalini, have been sent neither by Divya nor by Bina?

Two friends, Ram and Shyam, start at the same point, at the same time. Ram travels straight north at a speed of 10km/hr, while Shyam travels straight east at twice the speed of Ram. After 15 minutes, Shyam messages Ram that he is just passing by a large telephone tower and after another 15 minutes Ram messages Shyam that he is just passing by an old banyan tree. After some more time has elapsed, Ram and Shyam stop. They stop at the same point of time. If the straight-line distance between Ram and Shyam now is 50 km, how far is Shyam from the banyan tree (in km)? (Assume that Ram and Shyam travel on a flat surface.)