India · XLRI for XAMI · pg
180 minutes, 95 questions. Part 1 in 170 minutes with no sectional limit; Part 2 GK in 10 minutes. +1 / -0.25; 8 skipped questions free, then -0.1 each.
2025 changes: essay dropped (moved to XLRI's GD-PI), duration 210 to 180 minutes, GK 25 to 20 questions. Pattern page: https://xatonline.in/blog/xat-2025-exam-pattern-and-syllabus. One of the scores IRMA accepts for shortlisting.
Official source: https://xatonline.in
Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.
1. A trader spends exactly 10,000 rupees buying onions at 20 rupees per kg in one market and another 10,000 rupees buying at 25 rupees per kg in a second market. What is the average price paid per kg?
D. 22.22 rupees
Equal money, different prices: use the harmonic mean. Quantities bought are 500 kg and 400 kg; 20,000 / 900 = 22.22, which equals 2 / (1/20 + 1/25). The arithmetic mean 22.50 would be right only if equal quantities were bought; 22.36 is the geometric mean. 11.11 divides only one market's 10,000 by the total 900 kg.
Business Statistics & Quantitative Methods · Measures of central tendency
2. An FPO's board has 8 directors. Using the formula for the number of possible two-way communication channels among n people, how many channels exist on the board?
C. 28
Channels = n(n - 1)/2 = 8 x 7 / 2 = 28. 56 forgets to divide by two, so it counts each pair twice (A to B and B to A); 16 doubles the headcount instead; 64 is n squared, which also counts each person paired with themselves.
Business Communication · The communication process and its barriers
3. Demand for a vegetable is Q = 100 - 2P. What is the point price elasticity of demand at P = 20?
A. -0.67
At P = 20, Q = 60. Elasticity = (dQ/dP)(P/Q) = -2 x 20/60 = -0.67 (inelastic). -2.00 is the slope alone; -0.40 uses P/Q = 20/100 with the intercept in place of Q. -1.50 is the reciprocal, (dP/dQ)(Q/P) = -0.5 x 3.
Business Statistics & Quantitative Methods · Mathematics for economics: differentiation and optimisation
4. A sales letter for a new drip-irrigation kit opens with a question about water bills, describes how the kit works, shows a farmer's saving, and ends with a coupon for a free site visit. It follows the
C. AIDA sequence
AIDA is attention (the opening question), interest (how it works), desire (the saving) and action (the coupon). The 7 Cs are qualities of any message, SQ3R is a reading method and IMRaD is the structure of research papers.
Business Communication · Business letters and e-mail
5. In Fisher and Ury's principled negotiation, a dairy cooperative and a buyer agree to use the published fat-and-solids-not-fat price formula to settle the milk price. This applies the principle of
B. insisting on objective criteria
Using an independent standard such as a published price formula is 'insist on objective criteria'. Separating people from the problem deals with relationships and emotions; inventing options generates alternatives. 'Focus on positions' reverses the actual principle, which is to focus on interests, not positions.
Business Communication · Meetings
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