Ricahrd,
let me offer some words of advice and I hope other candidates will take a few of these things on board.
When I joined as DEFO (I know this is a CCP thread), there were still a lot of stages I had to overcome in order to succeed. Some were pretty easy - i.e sim tests on the 742. Considering I had been flying the buggers for 4 years, there was no problem. Other stages were a little more challenging.
But everything seemed to rest on the cocktail party and the team exercise. You just either had the profile CX were looking for or you didn't. I met some highly experienced FOs during my selction stages; guys with over 10'000 hours on every Boeing you can thing of; guys who flew the checkerboard in the sim in almost typhoon conditions and still landed like it was on rails - with No4 engine out! A lot of these guys I never saw again becasue they just didn't fit.
My point was that you were asking questions on how to approach these essay questions. I'm sure the 2 you are talking about for the CCP are the same for DEFO - why do you want to fly for Cathay etc etc. Providing you are not a 16 year old, I would like to think that you would know how to present yourself to an airline. Do you go the emotional route and say I love flying and if I can't be a pilot I'll kill myself, or do you take a more dignified approach?
If you pass stage 1, you will have 4 more stages I believe including the flight grading. You may score 100% in maths tests (no one ever has from what I hear), get full marks for the motor tests but if you don't present yourself well in the interview or the flight planning team stage, then you just won't get accepted.
I am slightly concerned that you are asking these type of questions so early on and that was what I meant by my earlier sardonic remark.
I wish you all well. The pay is crap as a SO cadet. Thats the basic truth. But after 4 years, it increases dramatically.