CBSE Class 10 Social Science: 2025 board paper, set 32/2/1

1. The potato famine of the 1840s hit Ireland, where the poor depended heavily on potatoes. Blight destroyed the crop and caused mass starvation and death. So the answer is option (B).

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Answer: (B) Ireland

1. The marking scheme awards 1 mark to all students who attempted this question because it has no correct option. The true order is Leipzig 1813 (I), Vienna 1815 (IV), Greek struggle 1821 (II), Zollverein 1834 (III), i.e. I, IV, II, III. This order is not given among options A-D.

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Answer: True order is I, IV, II, III, which is not among the options. Marks were given to all.

1. Spanish soldiers and colonisers carried smallpox to America in the mid-16th century. The native people had no immunity, so it spread widely. So the answer is option (A).

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Answer: (A) Spanish soldiers

1. Jikji is one of the oldest existing printed books, a Buddhist text. Statement II about Christianity is therefore wrong. Its second volume is in the National Library of France, and UNESCO inscribed it in 2001. So I, III and IV are correct.

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Answer: (C) Only I, III and IV are correct.

1. Manas Tiger Reserve is in Assam. Corbett is in Uttarakhand, Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh and Periyar in Kerala, so the other pairs are wrong. The answer is option (D).

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Answer: (D) Manas Tiger Reserve - Assam

1. The 1972 Act provided habitats for wildlife, published lists of protected species and banned hunting. Forests and wildlife were moved from the State List to the Concurrent List, not the Union List, so IV is wrong. The answer is option (A).

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Answer: (A) Only I, II and III are correct.

1. The correct matches are Chambal - Gandhi Sagar, Ganga - Tehri, Chenab - Salal and Satluj - Bhakra Nangal. That is a-iii, b-iv, c-i, d-ii, option (C).

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Answer: (C) a-iii, b-iv, c-i, d-ii

1. The Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada serves Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The answer is option (B).

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Answer: (B) Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan

1. Cotton grows best in black soil, which retains moisture. It needs light rainfall, high temperature and bright sunshine. The answer is option (B).

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Answer: (B) Black soil, Light rainfall, High temperature and Bright sunshine

1. India lies mostly in the tropical zone and gets sunshine for most of the year, so solar potential is high and (A) is true. (R) says most land is in the cold zone, which is false. The answer is option (C).

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Answer: (C) (A) is true but (R) is false

1. Talcher is in Odisha, Ramagundam in Telangana, Bhusawal in Maharashtra and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. That is a-ii, b-i, c-iv, d-iii, option (A).

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Answer: (A) a-ii, b-i, c-iv, d-iii

1. The European Union has its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The UN is in New York. The answer is option (B).

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Answer: (B) European Union

1. Belgium shared power between the national and state (regional) governments to accommodate its Dutch, French and German-speaking diversity. The answer is option (C).

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Answer: (C) Belgium

1. Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party is a Goa party. JD(S) is from Karnataka, DMK from Tamil Nadu and Forward Bloc from West Bengal. The answer is option (B).

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Answer: (B) Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party - Goa

1. A higher rank number means a lower position. Pakistan has rank 150, the largest number, so it has the lowest rank. The answer is option (D).

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Answer: (D) Pakistan

1. The value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a year is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The paper's option reads "Gross Domestic Production", so the answer is option (D).

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Answer: (D) Gross Domestic Production

1. The picture shows factory workers with metal coils and machinery, which is manufacturing. Manufacturing belongs to the secondary sector, so the answer is option (D).

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Answer: (D) Secondary

1. The organised sector includes teachers (10), factory workers (140) and hospital employees (60). The total is 10 + 140 + 60 = 210. Farmers and handloom weavers are unorganised. The answer is option (D).

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Answer: (D) 210

1. Moneylenders are the largest source of credit for rural households. They are followed by cooperative banks and societies, then relatives and friends, and the government is the smallest. The order is III, II, IV, I, option (B).

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Answer: (B) III, II, IV, I

1. ICT stimulates globalisation, so Statement I is correct. Statement II is correct too: ICT lets people contact each other, get information instantly and reach remote areas. This explains how ICT helps globalisation, so the answer is option (A).

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Answer: (A) Both statements I and II are correct and II explains I.

1. The British portrayed Indians as backward and primitive, unfit to rule themselves. In reply, Indians began looking into the past to find India's achievements and rebuild national pride.

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2. Nationalist histories praised the glorious ancient age of art, architecture, science, mathematics, religion, law, philosophy, crafts and trade. They said this was followed by decline under colonisation, and urged readers to take pride in the past and struggle against British rule.

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Answer: Reinterpreting history gave Indians pride in a glorious past and inspired them to struggle against colonial rule.

1. The image of Bharat Mata, first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 'Vande Mataram' and later painted by Abanindranath Tagore during the Swadeshi movement, gave people a figure with which to identify the nation.

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2. Flags became symbols too. The Swadeshi tricolour of Bengal had eight lotuses and a crescent moon. Gandhiji's Swaraj flag of 1921 was a tricolour with a spinning wheel, and carrying it aloft in marches symbolised defiance.

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Answer: Bharat Mata images and tricolour flags gave people a visible identity for the nation and unity in the movement.

1. Planning is the accepted strategy for judicious use of resources, especially in India, where resources are distributed very unevenly across regions.

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2. Some regions are rich in certain resources but poor in others. For example, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are rich in minerals and coal. Arunachal Pradesh has plenty of water but little infrastructure. Rajasthan has solar and wind energy but little water. This calls for balanced planning at national, state, regional and local levels.

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Answer: Resources are unevenly spread, so planning is needed to balance their use at all levels.

1. India has no official religion, and the Constitution gives no special status to any religion.

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2. The Constitution gives all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practise and propagate any religion, or none, and prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion. It also lets the state intervene in religious matters to ensure equality, for example by banning untouchability.

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Answer: No official religion and equal freedom of religion with a ban on religious discrimination.

1. Foreign trade between countries has risen rapidly, and MNCs trade heavily in goods and services. More foreign investment integrates production across countries.

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2. Greater trade also links markets across countries. Goods, services, investment and technology move more freely, so most regions are in closer contact than a few decades ago. For example, an MNC's parts are made in several countries.

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Answer: Rising trade, investment and technology flows integrate production and markets across countries.

1. In February 1922 Gandhiji withdrew the movement because it was turning violent in places such as Chauri Chaura. He felt satyagrahis needed proper training before mass struggles.

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2. Many Congress leaders were tired of mass struggle and wanted to contest elections to the provincial councils created by the Government of India Act, 1919. They wanted to oppose British policies from inside the councils.

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3. C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party to return to council politics. Younger leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose wanted more radical agitation and full independence, so the movement lost unity.

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Answer: Violence, leaders' weariness with mass struggle and differences within the Congress led to the withdrawal.

1. Practise crop rotation, growing different crops in turn so that the soil's nutrients are not exhausted.

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2. Use manure, which returns nutrients to the soil, instead of repeated slash-and-burn shifting.

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3. Grow leguminous crops, which fix nitrogen, and manage pests and plant diseases to protect the soil and crops.

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Answer: Crop rotation, use of manure and growing leguminous crops (or pest management).

1. The 1956 Act made Sinhala the only official language and ignored Tamil.

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2. Preferential policies favoured Sinhala applicants for university places and government jobs. The new constitution said the state would protect and foster Buddhism.

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3. Tamils felt that no major party led by Sinhala leaders was sensitive to their language and culture, and that they were denied equal political rights and opportunities, so their alienation grew.

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Answer: Sinhala-only language, job and university preferences and state support for Buddhism alienated Tamils.

1. Parties contest elections by selecting candidates, and they put forward policies and programmes from which voters choose.

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2. Parties play a decisive role in making laws, and they form and run governments by training leaders and making them ministers.

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3. Parties that lose act as the opposition, criticising government failures. They also shape public opinion and give people access to welfare schemes.

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Answer: Contest elections, make policies and laws, form government, act as opposition and shape opinion.

1. Lack of internal democracy: parties often keep no membership registers, hold no organisational meetings and seldom hold internal elections.

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2. Dynastic succession and non-transparent working: top positions are often controlled by one family.

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3. Growing role of money and muscle power, especially at elections, and parties often do not offer voters a meaningful choice.

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Answer: Lack of internal democracy, dynastic control, and money and muscle power.

1. More people are employed in agriculture than are needed. If a few move out, production is not affected, so workers are underemployed.

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2. All family members work on the same plot all year, so no one is idle but each works less than their potential. Their labour effort is divided.

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3. This is hidden or disguised unemployment, unlike open unemployment. It can be reduced by new opportunities such as cold storages, honey collection centres and vegetable processing industries.

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Answer: Underemployment is disguised unemployment, where surplus workers share the same work; extra non-farm activities can absorb them.

1. The French Revolution of 1789 was the first clear expression of nationalism. Sovereignty passed from the monarchy to the French citizens.

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2. Revolutionaries introduced measures and practices to create a collective identity among the French people.

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3. They declared it the mission of the French nation to liberate the peoples of Europe from despotism and help them become nations.

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4. News of the events led students and the educated middle classes in other European cities to set up Jacobin clubs.

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5. Their activities prepared the way for French armies, which moved into Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and much of Italy in the 1790s. In the revolutionary wars the armies carried nationalism abroad.

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Answer: Through transfer of sovereignty, collective identity, Jacobin clubs and the revolutionary wars, nationalism spread across Europe.

1. The Greek war of independence mobilised nationalist feeling among the educated elite across Europe.

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2. Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire since the fifteenth century. Revolutionary nationalism sparked a struggle for independence in 1821.

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3. Greek nationalists received support from Greeks in exile and from West Europeans who admired ancient Greek culture.

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4. Poets and artists praised Greece as the cradle of European civilisation and mobilised public opinion against a Muslim empire. Lord Byron raised funds and went to fight, dying of fever in 1824.

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5. The Treaty of Constantinople, 1832, recognised Greece as an independent nation.

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Answer: The Greek struggle (1821–1832) won sympathy across Europe and ended in recognition of Greece.

1. Role of industries: they release undesirable gases such as sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide, which raise the proportion of harmful gases in the air.

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2. Chemical and paper factories, brick kilns, refineries and smelting plants emit smoke and particulate matter such as dust and mist. Industries burning fossil fuels and ignoring pollution norms add to this, and toxic gas leaks are very hazardous.

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3. Measure: raise the height of chimneys to reduce particulate matter in the air.

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4. Fit smoke stacks with electrostatic precipitators, fabric filters, scrubbers and inertial separators.

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5. Use oil or gas instead of coal, and shift to renewable energy sources.

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Answer: Industries emit harmful gases, smoke and particulates; control by taller chimneys, filters and cleaner fuels.

1. NTPC follows a proactive approach to preserve the natural environment and resources such as water, oil, gas and fuels near its power plants.

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2. It optimally uses equipment, adopting the latest techniques and upgrading existing equipment.

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3. It minimises waste by maximising the utilisation of ash.

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4. It provides green belts to maintain ecological balance and supports afforestation.

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5. It reduces pollution through ash pond management, ash water recycling and liquid waste management, with ecological monitoring and online database management at all stations.

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Answer: NTPC uses optimum equipment, ash utilisation, green belts, waste management and ecological monitoring.

1. Democracy promotes equality among citizens.

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2. It enhances the dignity of the individual.

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3. It improves the quality of decision-making through consultation and discussion.

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4. It provides a method to resolve conflicts and accommodates social diversity.

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5. It allows room to correct mistakes, and it is accountable, responsive and legitimate.

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Answer: Democracy is better because it ensures equality, dignity, better decisions, conflict resolution and correction of mistakes.

1. Democracy strengthens the claims of disadvantaged and discriminated groups for equal status and opportunity.

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2. It is based on political equality, with every individual having equal weight in electing representatives.

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3. It discourages discrimination on the basis of economic status, language, religion and so on.

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4. Democratic governments make special provisions such as reservation in educational institutions and government jobs for weaker sections.

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5. They put forward poverty-eradication schemes and employment-generation programmes, although economic inequalities still exist in democracies.

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Answer: Democracy reduces inequality and poverty through political equality, non-discrimination, reservations and welfare schemes, though some inequality persists.

1. Income is one of the most important attributes for comparing countries: countries with higher income are regarded as more developed than those with lower income.

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2. Higher income means more of the things people need. With greater income people can buy what they like and need, so higher income is itself an important goal of development.

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3. World Bank (World Development Report 2019) classifies countries by per capita income. High-income (rich) countries have US$ 49,300 per annum and above.

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4. Middle-income countries have per capita income between US$2,500andUS$ 49,300 per annum. Low-income countries have US$ 2,500 per annum or less.

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5. India is in the middle-income category because its per capita income in 2019 was only US$ 6,700 per annum.

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Answer: Higher income means more goods and services to meet needs, so it is used to compare development. World Bank (2019): high income ≥ US$49,300;middleUS$ 2,500–49,300; low ≤ US$2,500.Indiaismiddle-income(US$ 6,700).

1. Groundwater is a renewable resource, replenished by nature through rain.

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2. It can still be overused by excessive irrigation, industries and so on. If we draw more than rain replenishes, the resource is overused.

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3. Evidence shows groundwater is under serious threat in many parts of the country. Many districts report a steep fall in water level, and nearly one-third of the country is overusing its groundwater reserves.

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4. Overuse is especially seen in agriculturally prosperous Punjab and Western U.P., the hard-rock plateau areas of central and south India, some coastal areas and fast-growing urban settlements.

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5. If present use continues, most parts of India will face a serious water crisis. This goes against sustainable development, which requires that future generations also get water.

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Answer: Drawing more groundwater than rain recharges has caused falling water tables in Punjab, Western U.P., the peninsular plateau, coastal and urban areas. Nearly one-third of India is overusing it, so a water crisis looms and sustainability is threatened.

1. (i) Enlightenment writings gave a critical commentary on tradition, superstition and despotism. They urged that everything be judged by reason and rationality rather than custom.

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2. (ii) Print carried attacks on the sacred authority of the Church. Readers began to view religion and the world in a questioning, critical and rational way.

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3. (iii) Print created a culture of dialogue and debate in which all values, norms and institutions were re-evaluated by a public aware of the power of reason.

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4. (iii) People recognised the need to question existing ideas and beliefs, and from this public culture new ideas of social revolution emerged.

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Answer: (i) Reason replaced custom; tradition, superstition and despotism were criticised. (ii) The Church's sacred authority was attacked and people became questioning. (iii) Print created debate that re-evaluated norms and gave rise to ideas of social revolution.

1. (i) Decentralisation is at three levels: Central, State and Local government (rural and urban).

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2. (ii) Many problems are best settled locally because people know their local problems better and have better ideas on where to spend money and how to manage things efficiently.

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3. (iii) Local government ensures representation of diverse groups in the community.

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4. (iii) People can participate directly in decision making, which deepens democracy through wide participation.

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Answer: (i) Three levels: Central, State, Local. (ii) Local people know local problems and how to spend money better. (iii) Local government allows representation and direct participation, deepening democracy.

1. (i) Arun's loan comes from the formal source, since it is a bank loan.

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2. (ii) An important term of credit is the interest rate (others: collateral, documentation, mode of repayment).

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3. (iii) The interest rate is low at 8.5% per annum, so the cost of borrowing is small.

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4. (iii) It can be repaid any time within three years, after the harvest, and he can take a fresh loan against the cold storage receipt. This helps him save capital and buy inputs.

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Answer: (i) Formal source (bank). (ii) Interest rate (or collateral, documentation, mode of repayment). (iii) Low interest of 8.5% and flexible repayment within three years.

1. (a) A is Madras (Chennai), where the Indian National Congress session of December 1927 was held. Write this name on the line near A.

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2. (a) B is Amritsar (Punjab), the place of the Jallianwala Bagh incident. Write this on the line near B.

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3. (b) Silchar (Assam), the eastern terminal of the East-West Corridor: mark it in the north-east with a symbol and label it.

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4. (b) Karnataka, the leading coffee-producing state: mark or shade it in the south-west and label it.

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5. (b) Naraura, nuclear power plant in Uttar Pradesh: mark it in western UP.

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6. (b) Paradwip, major seaport in Odisha: mark it on the Odisha coast. Any three of the four are required.

Answer: A – Madras (Chennai); B – Amritsar. (b) Silchar (Assam); Karnataka; Naraura (UP); Paradwip (Odisha), any three.