XAT 2026 Question Paper
For the following questions answer them individually
XAT 2026 - Question 51
Read the following excerpt carefully.
When we encounter new situations, concepts, or problems, we make _________of them by________them onto older experience and structures. Far from being a_______ mental shortcut, analogy is a process by which humans generalize, adapt, and grow in______________.
Which of the following options BEST fills up the blanks in the above excerpt?
XAT 2026 - Question 52
Which of the following options BEST explains the underlying message of the cartoon?
XAT 2026 - Question 53
Read the following sentences carefully.
1. The hybrid workplace is failing to live up to expectations in a number of ways.
2. By one estimate, spending an average of three days each week in the office can limit encounters between any two workers by 64% compared with pre-pandemic norms.
3. Many people hanker after the socializing, camaraderie and shared experience, even if getting used to it may take time.
4. For one thing, it is no substitute for the buzz and the chatter of the pre-pandemic office.
5. Even small amount of remote work can have a big impact on the frequency of face-to-face interactions in the office.
Which of the following options BEST arranges the above sentences in a logical sequence?
XAT 2026 - Question 54
Read the following sentences carefully.
1. She described about the journey.
2. We are awaiting her reply.
3. She is superior to us.
4. She requested for more time.
5. She is angry with her friend.
6. She insisted for an apology.
Which of the following options contains only grammatically INCORRECT sentences?
XAT 2026 - Question 55
Read the following excerpt carefully.
Reliability is magnetic because humans are hardwired to avoid risk, so once you prove yourself trustworthy and reliable, you become the default choice for opportunities without ever asking for them.
Which of the following options, IF TRUE, will BEST CONTRADICT the idea of the excerpt?
XAT 2026 - Question 56
Read the following sentences carefully.
1. Any viewer of crime dramas might think, though, that there is a better way.
2. What would really speed things up would be a means of sampling an entire habitat at one go.
3. But, these, too must first be detected and collected—and they will identify only the animal that dropped them.
4. Ecologists have thought of this, and it certainly works for things like animal droppings.
5. Just as DNA traces on an unwashed glass or a carelessly discarded cigarette butt can place a suspect as having been in a particular place, so can DNA shed by a creature as it goes about its business.
Which of the following options BEST arranges the above sentences in a logical sequence?
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XAT 2026 - Question 57
Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.
Of the six American winners of science Nobels this year, three were born outside the United States. In this century, the émigré fraction of U.S. Nobels in physics, chemistry and medicine now stands at 40 percent.
The nation’s long history of scientific feats, exemplified by Nobels, helped build a number of trillion-dollar companies in Silicon Valley as well as the world’s most dynamic economy and its wealth of social benefits, economists say.
Which of the following can be BEST concluded from the above passage?
XAT 2026 - Question 58
Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.
When it comes to innovation and entrepreneurship, most of us now believe that failure isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it is often a necessary ingredient on the road to success. Because we know that success might come after numerous attempts, many of which might fail but eventually add up to that elusive success. Yet, when it comes to our individual careers, if there is one thing we still consider taboo, it is the dreaded pay cut.
A pay cut is still considered as a mark of personal failure. We instinctively baulk from career options, no matter how interesting they might be, the moment we realize that we must accept a salary cut.
Which of the following can be BEST concluded from the passage?
Read the following passage and answer the THREE questions that follow.
As the post-World War II generation of liberal democratic leaders forged new, highly successful domestic and international institutions and policies throughout the West, the weaknesses of liberal democracy that dominated the two decades after World War I faded from view. But they did not disappear.
First, because liberal democracy restrains majorities, it slows the achievement of goals that majorities support. This generates frustration with institutional restraints, and an unacknowledged envy of authoritarian systems that can act quickly and decisively. China can build huge cities in the time that it takes the United States to review the environmental impact of small highway projects. Liberal democracy requires more patience than many possess.
Second, liberal democracy requires tolerance for minority views and ways of life to which many citizens are deeply opposed. It is natural to feel that if we consider certain views or ways of life to be odious, we should use public power to suppress them. In many such cases, liberal democracy requires us to restrain this impulse, a psychological burden that some will find unbearable.
This leads directly to the third inherent problem of liberal democracy—the distinction it requires us to make between civic identity and personal or group identity. For example, although we may consider certain religious views false and even dangerous, we must, for civic purposes, accept those who hold these views as our equals. They may freely express these views; they may organize to promote them; they may vote, and their votes are given the same weight as ours. The same goes for race, ethnicity, gender, and all the particularities that distinguish us from one another.
This requirement often goes against the grain of natural sentiments. We want the public sphere to reflect what we find most valuable about our private commitments. Liberal democracy prevents us from fully translating our personal identities into our public lives as citizens. This too is not always easy to bear. The quest for wholeness—for a political community, or even a world, that reflects our most important commitments—is a deep yearning to which illiberal leaders can always appeal.
Nor is the fourth inherent difficulty of liberal democracy—the necessity of compromise—easy to bear. If what I want is good and true, why should I agree that public decisions must incorporate competing views? James Madison gives us the answer: in circumstances of liberty, diversity of views is inevitable, and unless those who agree with us form a majority so large as to be irresistible, the alternative to compromise is inaction, which is often more damaging, or oppression, which always is.
XAT 2026 - Question 59
According to the passage, which of the following BEST explains why liberal democracy needs patience?
XAT 2026 - Question 60
According to the passage, how does the second problem of liberal democracy lead to the third problem?
