Half Yearly Class 9 Social Studies Set 2 (Solutions)

Time Allowed: 3 hours
Maximum Marks: 80
General Instructions:

• There are 38 questions in the Question paper. All questions are compulsory.
• The question paper has Four Sections - A-History, B-Geography C-Political Science, and D-Economics.
• Each Section is of 20 Marks and has MCQs, VSA, SA, LAs and CBQ.
• Very Short Answer Type Questions (VSA), carry 2 marks each. Answers to each question should not exceed 40 words.
• Short Answer Type Questions (SA), carry 3 marks each. Answers to each question should not exceed 60 words.
• Long answer type Questions (LA), carry 5 marks each. Answers to each question should not exceed 120 words.
• There are case based questions (CBQ) with three sub questions and are of 4 marks each. Answers to each question should not exceed 100 words.
• The map-based questions, carry 5 marks with two parts- Q9. In Section A-History (2 marks) and Q19. In Section B-Geography (3 marks)
• There is no overall choice in the question paper. However, an internal choice has been provided in few questions. Only one of the choices in such questions must be attempted.

​Syllabus: The half-yearly question paper is framed from the following chapters: The French Revolution, Socialism in Europe and Russian Revolution, India Size and Location, Physical Features of India, What is democracy? Why is democracy?, Constitutional Design, The story of Palampur, People as Resource.

Section A History

Ans: (c) 
Sol: In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the government between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.

Ans: (c) 
Sol: Napoleon Bonaparte was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815.

Ans: (c) 
Sol: The members of the first estate were the Clergy, invested with special functions in the church.

Ans: (c) 
Sol: The Constituent Assembly rejected Bolshevik measures in January 1918, and Lenin dismissed the Assembly.

Ans: 
i. Treason: The betrayal of one's country or government. For example, Louis XVI was sentenced to death on this charge during the French Revolution.
ii. Tithe: A tax levied by the church, comprising one-tenth of the agricultural produce. This tax was abolished by the National Assembly on the night of August 4, 1789.

Ans: 
A. Liberals opposed the uncontrolled power of dynastic rulers and argued for a representative, elected government, but they were not democrats; they felt that primarily men of property should have the vote. 
B. Radicals wanted a government based on the majority of the country's population and many supported women's suffragette movements. 
C. Unlike Liberals who often were property owners themselves, Radicals disliked the concentration of property in the hands of a few, though they were not against the existence of private property generally.

Ans: 

Ans: i. The Sceptre is the symbol of royal power. 
ii. The symbol of the snake biting its tail to form a ring represents Eternity, as a ring has neither beginning nor end. 
iii. The Bundle of rods or fasces symbolizes Strength in Unity (one rod can be easily broken, but not an entire bundle). The Broken chain stands for the act of becoming free, as chains were used to fetter slaves.

Ans: 
A. Waterloo 
B. Bordeaux (or Nantes)

Section B Geography

Ans: (b) 
Sol: India has a land boundary of about 15,200 km.

Ans: (d) 
Sol: The Maldives Islands are situated to the south of the Lakshadweep Islands.

Ans: (c) 
Sol: The latitudinal and longitudinal extent of the mainland is about 30°.

Ans: (b) 
Sol: Nanga Parbat is one of the highest peaks located in India.

Ans: (d) 
Sol: The Kali and Teesta rivers demarcate the Nepal Himalayas.

Ans: (d) 
Sol: A landmass bounded by sea on three sides is referred to as a Peninsula.

Ans: 
A. The Bhabar is a narrow belt of about 8 to 16 km in width lying parallel to the slopes of the Shiwaliks. 
B. It is characterized by rivers depositing pebbles, and all streams disappear in this belt.

Ans: 
i. Continuity: The Western Ghats are continuous and can be crossed only through passes (like Thal, Bhor, and Pal Ghats), whereas the Eastern Ghats are discontinuous and irregular. 
ii. Elevation: The Western Ghats are higher than the Eastern Ghats; their average elevation is 900-1600 metres as against 600 metres of the Eastern Ghats. 
iii. Dissection: The Eastern Ghats are dissected by large rivers (like the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri) draining into the Bay of Bengal, a feature absent in the Western Ghats. 
iv. Climatic Effect: The Western Ghats cause orographic rain by forcing the rain-bearing moist winds to rise along their western slopes. 
v. Highest Peaks: The height of the Western Ghats increases progressively from north to south (e.g., Anai Mudi, Doda Betta), while the highest peak in the Eastern Ghats is Mahendragiri.

Ans: i. The Deccan Peninsula protrudes into the Indian Ocean. 
ii. India's relationships through the land routes are much older than her maritime contacts. 
iii. India's location is considered strategic because: 
a. It is a southward extension of the Asian continent. 
b. The trans Indian Ocean routes connect Europe in the West and East Asia.

Ans: 
I. Mahendragiri 
II. Patkai Bum (or Naga Hills, Mizo Hills, Manipur Hills) 
III. Kanniyakumari

Section C Political Science

Ans: (c) 
Sol: Zimbabwe has been ruled by ZANU-PF, the party that led the freedom struggle.

Ans: (c) 
Sol: Sovereign means people have supreme right to make decisions on internal as well as external matters, and no external power can dictate the government of India.

Ans: (b) 
Sol: The fact that the Assembly worked in a systematic, open, and consensual manner, and that Every document presented and every word spoken in the Constituent Assembly has been recorded and preserved (Constituent Assembly Debates), provides sanctity to the Constitution.

Ans: 
A. A constitutional amendment is a change in the constitution made by the supreme legislative body in a country. 
B. The makers of the Indian Constitution felt it had to be in accordance with people's aspirations and changes in society, so they made provisions to incorporate changes from time to time.

Ans: Before 1947, there were two types of states in India:

1. The provinces, which were ruled directly by British officials.

2. The Princely states, which were ruled by local, hereditary rulers.

Ans: 
A. Every country has diverse groups of people with differences of opinion and interests. 
B. A constitution writes down a set of written rules (rules of the game) that everyone agrees to abide by. 
C. These rules lay down how the rulers are chosen and what their powers are, generating a degree of trust and coordination necessary for different kinds of people to live together.

Ans: Democracy is a form of government in which: 
i. Rulers elected by the people take all the major decisions. 
ii. Elections offer a choice and fair opportunity to the people to change the current rulers, where those currently in power have a fair chance of losing. 
iii. This choice and opportunity is available to all the people on an equal basis (upholding the principle of one person, one vote, one value). 
iv. The exercise of this choice leads to a government limited by basic rules of the constitution and citizens' rights.

​Nelson Mandela, the first president of the new South Africa, cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. After the emergence of the new democracy, black leaders appealed to fellow blacks to forgive the whites for the atrocities committed. They agreed to build a new South Africa based on democratic values and social justice. South Africans call themselves a "rainbow nation". The new constitution, therefore, is a solemn pact declaring that they shall never permit a repetition of their racist, brutal, and repressive past.

Ans:
 i. Mandela cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. 
ii. South Africans called themselves a 'rainbow nation'. 
iii. South Africans declared that they shall never permit a repetition of their racist, brutal, and repressive past.

Section D Economics

Q29. What is the aim of production of goods and services? (1 Mark) 
(a) To generate maximum capital 
(b) To utilize all available labour 
(c) To produce the goods and services that we want 
(d) To maximize the use of land

Ans: (c) 
Sol: The aim of production is to produce the goods and services that we want.

Ans: (c) 
Sol: Raw materials and money in hand are called working capital because unlike tools and buildings, they are used up in production.

Ans: (d) 
Sol: Only 25 per cent of the people working in Palampur are engaged in activities other than agriculture.

Ans: (c) 
Sol: Manufacturing is included in the secondary sector.

Ans: (c) 
Sol: Crèches were established in factories for the children of women workers in Soviet Russia.

Ans: (c) 
Sol: The minimum wages for a farm labourer set by the government was Rs 300 per day (March 2019).

Ans: 
A. Small farmers have little surplus production due to the small size of their plots, so they have to borrow money to arrange for capital. 
B. They borrow from large farmers or moneylenders, and the rate of interest on such loans is very high (e.g., Savita agreed to 24% for four months). 
C. In contrast, medium and large farmers have their own savings from farming. 
D. They use their savings to arrange for the working capital for the next season and sometimes invest in increasing their fixed capital (e.g., Tejpal Singh planned to buy another tractor).

Ans:
A. Farm labourers come either from landless families or families cultivating small plots, meaning they are the most abundant factor of production but opportunities are limited. 
B. There is heavy competition for work among the farm labourers in Palampur. 
C. Due to this high competition, people agree to work for lower wages to ensure they get work at all.

Ans: 
A. Chemical fertilisers lead to the loss of soil fertility in the long run. 
B. These chemicals may not be retained in the soil for long; they can escape from the soil and pollute groundwater, rivers, and lakes. 
C. Chemical fertilizers can also kill bacteria and other micro-organisms in the soil, making the soil less fertile than ever before.

Ans: 
i. Definition: Human capital formation occurs when the existing human resource is further developed by becoming more educated and healthy. ii. Investment: This development is achieved through investment in human capital in the form of education, training, and medical care. 
iii. Superiority: Human capital is considered superior because the human resource can make use of land and capital. 
iv. Limitation of Physical Capital: Land and physical capital cannot become useful on their own, they require human knowledge and enterprise to be productive. 
v. Return: Investment in human capital yields a return in the form of higher incomes earned because of the higher productivity and greater contribution to society by educated or healthier persons.