If we imagine the action of a vaccine not just in terms of how it affects a single body, but also in terms of how it affects the collective body of a community, it is fair to think of vaccination as a kind of banking of immunity. Contributions to this bank are donations to those who cannot or will not be protected by their own immunity. This is the principle of herd immunity, and it is through herd immunity that mass vaccination becomes far more effective than individual vaccination.
Any given vaccine can fail to produce immunity in an individual, and some vaccines, like the influenza vaccine, are less effective than others. But when enough people are vaccinated with even a relatively ineffective vaccine, viruses have trouble moving from host to host and cease to spread, sparing both the unvaccinated and those in whom vaccination has not produced immunity. This is why the chances of contracting measles can be higher for a vaccinated person living in a largely unvaccinated community than they are for an unvaccinated person living in a largely vaccinated community.
The unvaccinated person is protected by the bodies around her, bodies through which disease is not circulating. But a vaccinated person surrounded by bodies that host disease is left vulnerable to vaccine failure or fading immunity. We are protected not so much by our own skin, but by what is beyond it. The boundaries between our bodies begin to dissolve here. Donations of blood and organs move between us, exiting one body and entering another, and so too with immunity, which is a common trust as much as it is a private account. Those of us who draw on collective immunity owe our health to our neighbors.
Based on the passage, which of the following CANNOT be concluded?
- A vaccine cannot guarantee immunity in an individual.
- Our survival, as a community, is largely based on herd immunity.
- A vaccinated person may get infected if her surroundings are largely unvaccinated.
- Collective immunity protects those with compromised immune systems.
- Even, relatively, ineffective vaccines can stop the spread of viruses if enough people are vaccinated.
The Correct Option is B
Approach Solution - 1
To determine which statement cannot be concluded from the provided passage, we'll analyze each option based on the explanations given in the passage regarding the concept of herd immunity and how vaccines work collectively rather than individually.
-
Option 1: A vaccine cannot guarantee immunity in an individual.
- The passage mentions that any given vaccine can fail to produce immunity in an individual. Therefore, this statement can be concluded from the passage.
-
Option 2: Our survival, as a community, is largely based on herd immunity.
- The passage emphasizes the role of herd immunity in collective protection and describes it as a key principle through which mass vaccination becomes effective. However, it does not explicitly state that "our survival" is "largely based" on herd immunity. Therefore, this generalized statement cannot be directly concluded from the passage.
-
Option 3: A vaccinated person may get infected if her surroundings are largely unvaccinated.
- The passage clearly indicates that a vaccinated person in a largely unvaccinated community is vulnerable, implying this statement can be concluded.
-
Option 4: Collective immunity protects those with compromised immune systems.
- The passage discusses how contributions to herd immunity protect those who cannot protect themselves via their own immunity, including those with compromised immune systems. Thus, this can be concluded.
-
Option 5: Even, relatively, ineffective vaccines can stop the spread of viruses if enough people are vaccinated.
- The passage makes it clear that viruses struggle to spread if a significant portion of the population is vaccinated, even with vaccines that are relatively ineffective. Hence, this statement can be concluded from the passage.
The statement that cannot be concluded from the passage is: Our survival, as a community, is largely based on herd immunity.
Approach Solution -2
Step 1: Analyze the passage.
The passage explains the concept of herd immunity and highlights how vaccinations contribute to the community's collective defense against diseases. It mentions that even ineffective vaccines can help if enough people are vaccinated.
Step 2: Evaluate the options.
- Option 1: This is true as no vaccine provides 100% protection.
- Option 2: Herd immunity is the basis of community survival as described in the passage.
- Option 3: This cannot be concluded because the passage does not explicitly state that a vaccinated individual will always get infected in largely unvaccinated surroundings.
- Option 4: The passage supports the idea that herd immunity protects individuals with weaker immune systems.
- Option 5: The passage asserts that even relatively ineffective vaccines can contribute to stopping virus spread through herd immunity.
Final Answer: (2)
Why does the author think about vaccination as a “banking of immunity?”
- Because it creates a reserve of immunity within a person’s immune system.
- Because when somebody is vaccinated, it is a deposit of protection against a particular disease.
- Because different vaccines contribute to a diverse portfolio of immune defences.
- Because it is like providing a safety net for those who are more vulnerable to diseases.
- Because it is a way to mitigate health risks for those who may not have access to vaccination.
The Correct Option is
Approach Solution - 1
The question asks why the author likens vaccination to a "banking of immunity." To answer this, we need to understand the concept of herd immunity as explained in the passage.
The passage describes how vaccination, when viewed collectively, acts as a "bank" of immunity that contributes to the protection of the entire community, not just the individual receiving the vaccine. This relates to the principle of herd immunity, where mass vaccination can protect those who cannot be vaccinated, such as infants or those with compromised immune systems.
Let's analyze each option:
- Option 1: "Because it creates a reserve of immunity within a person’s immune system."
This is incorrect because the focus of the passage is on collective immunity, not the individual reserve of immunity. - Option 2: "Because when somebody is vaccinated, it is a deposit of protection against a particular disease."
This option does not capture the broader community aspect that the passage emphasizes. - Option 3: "Because different vaccines contribute to a diverse portfolio of immune defences."
While this might be true, the passage emphasizes community protection rather than diversity in immune defenses. - Option 4: "Because it is like providing a safety net for those who are more vulnerable to diseases."
This aligns with the passage's idea of herd immunity providing collective protection, but it's not the best match for the concept of "banking." - Option 5: "Because it is a way to mitigate health risks for those who may not have access to vaccination."
This is the correct answer. The passage explains that vaccination protects not only those who receive it but also those who are unvaccinated, which accurately reflects the notion of "banking" immunity by contributing to a shared pool that shields the vulnerable.
The passage's focus on herd immunity and the community aspect of vaccination clearly aligns with option 5, making it the most appropriate choice. Vaccination is seen as a way to cover health risks by forming a communal pool of immunity that benefits all, especially those without direct access.
Approach Solution -2
Step 1: Interpret the metaphor.
The "banking of immunity" refers to the idea that vaccination contributes to a collective reserve of immunity, safeguarding those who cannot be vaccinated or who are vulnerable.
Step 2: Evaluate the options.
- Option 1: Misleading as immunity is not reserved in a single person's system.
- Option 2: Incorrect since it simplifies the metaphor to an individual perspective.
- Option 3: The passage does not mention a diverse portfolio of defenses.
- Option 4: Partially correct, but the metaphor extends beyond safety nets.
- Option 5: Best captures the idea of mitigating risks for the unvaccinated or vulnerable population.
Final Answer: (5)
Based on the last paragraph of the passage, which of the following would the author BEST agree with?
- In times of health crises, communities should come together to support and protect each other.
- It is important to express gratitude to those who contribute to the herd immunity by getting vaccinated.
- It is an ethical obligation of individuals to get vaccinated for the greater good.
- In any community, immunity is transactional.
- Immunity of a community is interconnected, and everyone plays a role to keep each other healthy.
The Correct Option is
Approach Solution - 1
To determine the statement with which the author would best agree based on the last paragraph of the passage, we need to understand the core argument the author is making regarding community immunity and the interconnected nature of individual and collective health.
- The passage describes how vaccines contribute not just to individual immunity but to a collective community immunity, or "herd immunity." The analogy of immunity being a "bank" where contributions help those who cannot independently secure immunity highlights the interconnected nature of community health.
- The author concludes the passage by arguing that our protection depends largely on the health status of those around us rather than solely on our individual health measures.
Now, let's analyze the options:
- In times of health crises, communities should come together to support and protect each other. This is a valid statement but not the primary focus of the author's argument in the passage. The emphasis in the passage is more on the systemic interconnectedness rather than community actions in crises.
- It is important to express gratitude to those who contribute to the herd immunity by getting vaccinated. While gratitude can be a part of the narrative, the main argument is about interdependence, not just expressing gratitude.
- It is an ethical obligation of individuals to get vaccinated for the greater good. Although ethical obligation is a related topic, the passage doesn't explicitly focus on individual ethics but rather on the unavoidable interconnectedness of immunity.
- In any community, immunity is transactional. The passage describes immunity as a shared trust, more so than a transaction, implying a broader societal interconnection than a trade or exchange.
- Immunity of a community is interconnected, and everyone plays a role to keep each other healthy. This statement best captures the essence of the passage. The author emphasizes that our health is protected by those around us, representing the interconnected nature of community immunity. Contributions to the "immunity bank" highlight this interconnectedness, aligning closely with the underlying message.
Thus, the author would best agree with the statement: Immunity of a community is interconnected, and everyone plays a role to keep each other healthy.
Approach Solution -2
Step 1: Focus on the final paragraph.
The last paragraph emphasizes collective responsibility and interconnectedness of immunity.
Step 2: Evaluate the options.
- Option 1: True, but it is not the central idea of the paragraph.
- Option 2: Gratitude is implied but not the main argument.
- Option 3: Ethical obligation is addressed, but it's secondary to interconnectedness.
- Option 4: The term "transactional" misrepresents the author's argument.
- Option 5: Accurately captures the core argument about interconnectedness in herd immunity.
Final Answer: (5)
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
- Acrucial moderating factor in how people experience comparisons is self-esteem. Individuals with high self-esteem are more likely to interpret upward comparison as informative rather than threatening. They are more resilient in the face of others’ success and more likely to believe they can reach their own goals. In contrast, people with low self-esteem are more prone to interpret comparison as judgment, reinforcing negative self-views and triggering feelings of inadequacy.
This dynamic creates a self-reinforcing loop. People with high self-esteem are less vulnerable to upward comparison, which intensifies those doubts. Those with a secure sense of self are more likely to use comparison as a learning tool. The same external stimulus—a colleague’s achievements, a friend’s popularity—can have radically different effects depending on internal stability.
Self-esteem also influences how people choose their comparison targets. Research has found that individuals often engage in “selective comparison,” seeking out those who confirm their existing beliefs about themselves. This can become a subtle form of self-sabotage. Someone who feels unworthy may subconsciously seek out targets that reinforce that sense, perpetuating a narrative of inferiority. One of the most promising antidotes to social comparison is temporal comparison—evaluating oneself not against others, but against one’s own past. This method has been shown to increase motivation and satisfaction, especially when individuals can see concrete progress. Temporal comparison activates the same reward circuits as social comparison but avoids the threat systems associated with social ranking. It also reinforces agency: individuals focus on what they can control and improve rather than what others control. In therapeutic and coaching settings, temporal comparison is used to help clients build self-efficacy and track growth over time.
Moreover, people who focus on self-improvement rather than social dominance are less likely to fall into cycles of envy or self-pity. They can still use others as inspiration, but they do so without attaching their self-worth to the outcome. This is not to say they never compare—but that they focus on learning, rather than judgment. The most skilful approach to comparison may lie in eliminating it, but in reframing it as feedback. When we interpret comparison as information rather than a verdict, we can ask, “What can I learn from this?” This shift turns comparison into a growth tool. Teachers mentor their students, not as rivals. Psychologists emphasize that the key variable here is mindset.
A fixed mindset sees comparison as a threat. If someone else is better, it means we are worse. A growth mindset sees comparison as a map. If someone else has reached a certain level, it means the path exists. This reframing is not just a cognitive trick. It changes the emotional tone of comparison, making it more likely to inspire than to wound. Reframing also requires emotional regulation—the ability to notice an initial pang of envy or shame without reacting impulsively. With practice, individuals can learn to pause, reflect, and reinterpret their emotional responses. Over time, this builds resilience and self-trust, allowing comparison to become a learning tool rather than a cage.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
When people who are talking don’t share the same culture, knowledge, values, and assumptions, mutual understanding can be especially difficult. Such understanding is possible through the negotiation of meaning. To negotiate meaning with someone, you have to become aware of and respect both the differences in your backgrounds and when these differences are important. You need enough diversity of cultural and personal experience to be aware that divergent world views exist and what they might be like. You also need the flexibility in world view, and a generous tolerance for mistakes, as well as a talent for finding the right metaphor to communicate the relevant parts of unshared experiences or to highlight the shared experiences while demphasizing the others. Metaphorical imagination is a crucial skill in creating rapport and in communicating the nature of unshared experience. This skill consists, in large measure, of the ability to bend your world view and adjust the way you categorize your experiences. Problems of mutual understanding are not exotic; they arise in all extended conversations where understanding is important.
When it really counts, meaning is almost never communicated according to the CONDUIT metaphor, that is, where one person transmits a fixed, clear proposition to another by means of expressions in a common language, where both parties have all the relevant common knowledge, assumptions, values, etc. When the chips are down, meaning is negotiated: you slowly figure out what you have in common, what it is safe to talk about, how you can communicate unshared experience or create a shared vision. With enough flexibility in bending your world view and with luck and charity, you may achieve some mutual understanding.
Communication theories based on the CONDUIT metaphor turn from the pathetic to the evil when they are applied indiscriminately on a large scale, say, in government surveillance or computerized files. There, what is most crucial for real understanding is almost never included, and it is assumed that the words in the file have meaning in themselves—disembodied, objective, understandable meaning. When a society lives by the CONDUITmetaphor on a large scale, misunderstanding, persecution, and much worse are the likely products.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
Later, I realized that reviewing the history of nuclear physics served another purpose as well: It gave the lie to the naive belief that the physicists could have come together when nuclear fission was discovered (in Nazi Germany!) and agreed to keep the discovery a secret, thereby sparing humanity such a burden. No. Given the development of nuclear physics up to 1938, development that physicists throughout the world pursued in all innocence of any intention of finding the engine of a new weapon of mass destruction—only one of them, the remarkable Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard, took that possibility seriously—the discovery of nuclear fission was inevitable. To stop it, you would have had to stop physics. If German scientists hadn’t made the discovery when they did, French, American, Russian, Italian, or Danish scientists would have done so, almost certainly within days or weeks. They were all working at the same cutting edge, trying to understand the strange results of a simple experiment bombarding uranium with neutrons. Here was no Faustian bargain, as movie directors and other naifs still find it intellectually challenging to imagine. Here was no evil machinery that the noble scientists might hide from the problems and the generals. To the contrary, there was a high insight into how the world works, an energetic reaction, older than the earth, that science had finally devised the instruments and arrangements to coart forth. “Make it seem inevitable,” Louis Pasteur used to advise his students when they prepared to write up their discoveries. But it was. To wish that it might have been ignored or suppressed is barbarous. “Knowledge,” Niels Bohr once noted, “is itself the basis for civilization.” You cannot have the one without the other; the one depends upon the other. Nor can you have only benevolent knowledge; the scientific method doesn’t filter for benevolence. Knowledge has consequences, not always intended, not always comfortable, but always welcome. The earth revolves around the sun, not the sun around the earth. “It is a profound and necessary truth,” Robert Oppenheimer would say, “that the deep things in science are not found because they are useful; they are found because it was possible to find them.”
...Bohr proposed once that the goal of science is not universal truth. Rather, he argued, the modest but relentless goal of science is “the gradual removal of prejudices.” The discovery that the earth revolves around the sun has gradually removed the prejudice that the earth is the center of the universe. The discovery of microbes is gradually removing the prejudice that disease is a punishment from God. The discovery of evolution is gradually removing the prejudice that Homo sapiens is a separate and special creation.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
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 II faded from view. But they did not go away.
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 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 restrains 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 liberal 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
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
Beware of the old newspapers
stacked
on that little three legged stool over there.
Don’t disturb them.
I know it for a fact
that snakes have spawned in between these sheets.
Don’t even look in that direction.
It’s not because of breeze
that their corners are fluttering.
It’s alive, that nest of newspapers.
new born snakes, coiling and uncurling,
are turning their heads to look at you.
That white corner has spread its hood.
A forked tongue
shoots out of its mouth.
Keep your eyes closed.
Get rid of the whole goddamn pile if you
want to
in the morning.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
Questions Asked in XAT exam
- Arrange the following generations from the oldest to the youngest:
1. Generation X
2. Silent Generation
3. Generation Alpha
4. Baby Boomers
5. Millennials
- XAT - 2026
- Current Affairs
- Read the following scenario and answer the THREE questions that follow.
Brijbhushan, a microfinancier, lends money at the rate of Rs.10 per square meter to small farmers at a village. He charges an annual interest rate of 10%. All the farming plots in that village are rectangular, with areas varying between a minimum of 1000 square meters and a maximum of 10,000 square meters.
This year, Brijbhushan has lent money only to five farmers: Aditya, Binod, Chhuttan, Dabloo and Govind. The perimeter of Chhuttan’s plot is 250 meters, with the length and width being at a ratio of 4:1. Aditya’s plot has an area three times the area of Govind’s plot. The area of Aditya’s plot is also the average of the areas of Govind’s plot and Dabloo’s plot. The plots belonging to Aditya, Binod and Dabloo are of the same width, but of different lengths. Moreover, the length of Binod’s plot is the sum of the lengths of Aditya’s plot and Dabloo’s plot.- XAT - 2026
- Mensuration
Light Chemicals is an industrial paint supplier with presence in three locations: Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The sunburst chart below shows the distribution of the number of employees of different departments of Light Chemicals. There are four departments: Finance, IT, HR and Sales. The employees are deployed in four ranks: junior, mid, senior and executive. The chart shows four levels: location, department, rank and gender (M: male, F: female). At every level, the number of employees at a location/department/rank/gender are proportional to the corresponding area of the region represented in the chart.
Due to some issues with the software, the data on junior female employees have gone missing. Notice that there are junior female employees in Mumbai HR, Sales and IT departments, Hyderabad HR department, and Bengaluru IT and Finance departments. The corresponding missing numbers are marked u, v, w, x, y and z in the diagram, respectively.
It is also known that:
a) Light Chemicals has a total of 210 junior employees.
b) Light Chemicals has a total of 146 employees in the IT department.
c) Light Chemicals has a total of 777 employees in the Hyderabad office.
d) In the Mumbai office, the number of female employees is 55.
- XAT - 2026
- Pie Charts
An investment company, Win Lose, recruit's employees to trade in the share market. For newcomers, they have a one-year probation period. During this period, the employees are given Rs. 1 lakh per month to invest the way they see fit. They are evaluated at the end of every month, using the following criteria:
1. If the total loss in any span of three consecutive months exceeds Rs. 20,000, their services are terminated at the end of that 3-month period,
2. If the total loss in any span of six consecutive months exceeds Rs. 10,000, their services are terminated at the end of that 6-month period.
Further, at the end of the 12-month probation period, if there are losses on their overall investment, their services are terminated.
Ratan, Shri, Tamal and Upanshu started working for Win Lose in January. Ratan was terminated after 4 months, Shri was terminated after 7 months, Tamal was terminated after 10 months, while Upanshu was not terminated even after 12 months. The table below, partially, lists their monthly profits (in Rs. ‘000’) over the 12-month period, where x, y and z are masked information.
Note:
• A negative profit value indicates a loss.
• The value in any cell is an integer.
Illustration: As Upanshu is continuing after March, that means his total profit during January-March (2z +2z +0) ≥
Rs.20,000. Similarly, as he is continuing after June, his total profit during January − June ≥
Rs.10,000, as well as his total profit during April-June ≥ Rs.10,000.
- XAT - 2026
- Logical and Analytical Reasoning Skills
Business schools’ (B schools) curriculums are filled with group assignments and case competitions. Even when students have just joined the B schools, corporate houses try 38 to catch good talent early by promising them internships based on case competitions. These competitions involve solving the problems presented by the organizations, analyzing the challenges they currently face, and presenting solutions in a manner that convinces the organizations’ representatives.
For students who are just joining a B school, the capability to actually solve such problems is quite limited. Because of that, the corporate houses generally are more focused on the presentations made by groups. Hence, the groups that communicate better, most often, win these competitions.
Abirami joins MBS, a B school. As a fresher, she believes she needs to learn a lot about how organizations work and wants to work with others who have joined MBS and have work experience.- XAT - 2026
- Statements and Assumptions