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Reading Comprehension on Character Skills vs Cognitive Skills

XAT 2025 · Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning · Medium · Reading Comprehension

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Passage / data set

Recently, a team of social scientists launched an experiment to test that hypothesis. They recruited 1,500 entrepreneurs in West Africa—a mix of women and men in their 30s, 40s, and 50s—who were running small startups in manufacturing, service, and commerce. They randomly assigned the founders to one of three groups. One was a control group... The other two were training groups: cognitive skills training vs character skills training... Character skills training had a dramatic impact. After founders had spent merely five days working on these skills, their firms' profits grew by an average of 30 percent over the next two years... Personality is your predisposition—your basic instincts for how to think, feel, and act. Character is your capacity to prioritize your values over your instincts.

Question 1 of 3

Which of the following views would the author BEST agree with?

  1. A.

    Putting our values and principles to practice requires transcending our personality.

  2. B.

    Our values and principles are always put to test by our personality.

  3. C.

    Our behavior is a function of our character not our personality.

  4. D.

    Character skills risk abandoning your personality along with your instincts.

  5. E.

    Because principles clash with your personality, character is needed.

Answer

A

Explanation

The text states 'Character skills enable you to transcend that tendency [personality] to be true to your principles.'

Question 2 of 3

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

  1. A.

    Cognitive skills unlike character skills are always reactive.

  2. B.

    Being aware of your character skills enable you to exercise them.

  3. C.

    Sustainable success in life requires strong character skills.

  4. D.

    Character skills can compensate for poor cognitive skills.

  5. E.

    Character skills can be built only if one believes in them.

Answer

C

Explanation

The long-term profit growth and resilience shown by character-trained founders supports the conclusion that sustainable success requires character skills.

Question 3 of 3

Based on the passage, why would character skills help entrepreneurs more than cognitive skills?

  1. A.

    Character skills are industry agnostic in application.

  2. B.

    One can be poor in finance and quantitative skills but really good in character skills

  3. C.

    Character skills prepare you for an uncertain future.

  4. D.

    Entrepreneurs are already aware of their business and are only missing character skills.

  5. E.

    Character skills enable you to generate opportunities rather than capitalize on existing ones.

Answer

C

Explanation

Character skills like proactivity and discipline help anticipate market changes, overcome obstacles, and navigate an uncertain future.

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