XAT 2013 Question Paper with Solutions, Download PDF

Instructions

For the following questions answer them individually

Question 1

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate option that follows:
............. wolf, meeting with .....lamb astray from .....fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea to justify to ....... lamb ........... wolf's right to eat him.

Video Solution

Solution

'A' should precede the wolf and the lamb since they are introduced for the first time. The 'fold' describes the lamb's fold. Therefore, the article 'the' should be used. Since the wolf and the lamb have already been introduced, the last 2 blanks should be filled with 'the'.

The correct order is a, a, the, the, the. Option A is the right answer.

Question 2

. .............. bat who fell upon.................. ground and was caught by................ weasel pleaded to be spared his life. ...... ..weasel refused, saying that he was by nature ................... enemy of all birds. .................. bat assured him that he was not .................. bird, but ............... mouse, and thus was set free.

Video Solution

Solution

'A' should be used to fill the first blank since the bat is introduced for the first time. The article 'the' should be used before 'ground' since the ground is a general term (like the Earth, the Sky). 'A' should be used before the weasel. 'The' should be used before the weasel since the weasel has already been introduced. 'the' should be used before enemy since it states a general concept. 'The' should be used before 'bat' since it has already been introduced. 'A' should be used before both 'bird' and 'rat' since the bat describes himself to be a member of a large group.

A, the, a, the, the, the , a, a is the correct order. Therefore, option D is the right answer.

Question 3

He got .......... next morning, to be sure, and had his meals ................ usual, though he ate .................. and had more, I am afraid, than his usual supply of rum, for he helped himself...... the bar, scowling and blowing.............. his nose, and no one dared................... cross him.

Video Solution

Solution

The first blank can be filled using 'down' or 'downstairs'. The second blank should be filled using 'as'. 'As usual' is a phrase and hence, 'as' should fill the second blank. The third blank can be filled using 'little' or 'a little'. The 4th blank can be filled with 'out', 'of', or 'out of'. The last blank should be filled by 'to'. Therefore, option B is the right answer.

Question 4

Choose the most appropriate option after reading the following statements.
1.Whether due to haste or design, the new laws are marked by vagueness, leaving officials all down the organization's bureaucratic chain great latitude in enforcing them.
2.The opacity of the language leaves the law open to manipulation on political grounds.

Video Solution

Solution

Statement 1 talks about 'the new laws' being vaguely worded. Statement 2 talks about 'the law' being open to manipulation due to its language. Sentence 1 and 2 are unrelated since 1 talks about a set of new laws (plural) and 2 talks about the law (a particular law that should have been introduced in some other statement, singular). Therefore, the 2 statements are independent and hence, option E is the right answer.

Question 5

Choose the most appropriate option after reading the following statements.
1. If there is any endeavour whose fruits should be freely available, that endeavour is surely publicly financed science.
2. There is a widespread feeling that the journal publishers who have mediated the scientific exchange for the past century or more are becoming an impediment to free distribution of knowledge.
3. Internet revolution is happening, making knowledge transfer cheaper. Technology permits it; researchers and politicians want it, more public money can be spent on it.

Video Solution

Solution

Statement 1 argues for the free availability of publically financed science. Statement 2 gives information about some possible impediments to free availability. Statement 3 states that the internet revolution is making knowledge transfer cheaper, and in future, it has the possibility of facilitating statement 1.

Thus, the correct option is B.

Question 6

Choose the most appropriate option after reading the following statements.
I. Business schools are ideally positioned to point out when an action that provides a benefit for an individual comes at a cost to society, but in reality they rarely bother.
2. It is part of the malaise that has befallen the political debate on capitalism, which has been taken over by special interests and people who have no faith in a real market-based system.
3. When governments favours the private sector it is all too often by being "pro-business" rather than "pro-market", meaning that favourable conditions are provided to particular institutions rather than to institutions broadly.

Video Solution

Solution

The second statement starts with the pronoun 'it'. The third statement talks about the government favouring private sector. Therefore, the 'it' in the second statement most probably refers to the favours extended by the government. Sentences 2 and 3 are dependent. Sentence 1 talks about business schools and is unrelated to the remaining 2 sentences (which talk about the government and politics). Therefore, option B is the right answer.

Question 7

Read the following sentence and choose the best alternative which should replace the italicized part of the sentence.
To be a great manager requires, strong inter-personal skills, the ability to think fast, and demands a can-do attitude.

Video Solution

Solution

strong inter-personal skills, the ability to think fast and a can do attitude are on par with each other and all of them are connected to requires. Therefore, additional demands or requires is not necessary when describing each required. Therefore, options A, C, D and E are eliminated. Options B is grammatically correct.

The answer is option B.

Question 8

Read the following sentence and choose the best alternative which should replace the italicized part of the sentence.
The tremendous insight of Einstein was that the passage of time does not appear to be the same while standing still as it does to a person traveling at a speed which is a significant fraction of the speed of light.

Video Solution

Solution

Both parts of the sentence should be the same structurally and grammatically. Only option which satisfies is the option B.

The answer is option B.

Question 9

Read the following sentence and choose the best alternative which should replace the italicized part of the sentence.
Economic theory fails to explain the extent to which savings from personal income has Shifted to short-term bonds, money-market funds, and other near-term investments by the instability in the futures market.

Video Solution

Solution

As savings are in plural form, 'have' should be used. Options A, B and C are eliminated. As the given statement is in passive voice, we use have been instead of have. Therefore, option E is grammatically correct.

The answer is option E.

Question 10

Read the following sentences and choose the option that best arranges them in a logical order.
1. I was scarcely in position ere my enemies began to arrive, seven or eight of them, running hard, their feet beating out of time along the road and the man with the lantern some paces in front.
2. My curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear, for I could not remain where I was, but crept back to the bank again, whence, sheltering my head behind a bush of broom, I might command the road before our door.
3. Three men ran together, hand in hand; and I made out, even through the mist, that the middle man of this trio was the blind beggar.
4. The next moment his voice showed me that I was right.

Video Solution

Solution

Sentences 3 and 4 form a mandatory pair. The author assumes that the man running in the middle is the blind beggar. His assumption gets confirmed on hearing the voice of the beggar.

2 and 1 form a pair. The author first moves out of his position and goes behind the bush. While he is hiding behind the bush, he sees his enemies running on the road. The author thinks that the man running in the middle is the blind beggar and confirms the same on hearing his voice.

2134 is the correct order and hence, option B is the right answer.

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XAT 2013 Question Paper

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate option that follows:
............. wolf, meeting with .....lamb astray from .....fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea to justify to ....... lamb ........... wolf's right to eat him.

Read the following sentence and choose the best alternative which should replace the italicized part of the sentence.
To be a great manager requires, strong inter-personal skills, the ability to think fast, and demands a can-do attitude.

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