CBSE Sample Papers for Class 12 Sociology Set 1 with Solutions

Students must start practicing the questions from CBSE Sample Papers for Class 12 Sociology with Solutions Set 1 are designed as per the revised syllabus.

CBSE Sample Papers for Class 12 Sociology Set 1 with Solutions

Time Allowed: 3 Hours
Maximum Marks: 80

General Instructions :

All questions are compulsory except where internal choice has been given.

1. The question paper is divided into four sections.
2. There are 38 questions in all. All questions are compulsory.
3. Section A includes question No. 1-20. These are MCQ type questions. As per the question, there can be one answer.
4. Section B includes question No. 21-29. These are very short answer type questions carrying 2 marks each. Answer to each question should not exceed 30 words.
5. Section C includes question No. 30-35. They are short answer type questions carrying 4marks each. Answer to each question should not exceed 80 words.
6. Section D includes question No. 36-38. They are long answer type questions carrying 6 marks each. Answer to each question should not exceed 200 words each. Question no. 36 is to be answered with the help of the given graphics.
7. Question no. 37 is to be answered with the help of the given passage.

Section A
Section A consists of 20 questions of 1 mark each

Question 1.
In the question below, there are two statements marked Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read the statements and choose the correct option.

Assertion (A) Modern industry created all kinds of new jobs for which there were no caste rules.
Reason (R) Urbanisation and the conditions of collective living in the cities made it difficult for caste-segregated patterns of social interaction to survive. (1)
Codes
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false and R is true
Answer:
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A

Question 2.
Which of the following stages, as per the * Theory of Demographic Transition, is that of high population growth? (1)
(a) First Stage
(b) Both first and second stage
(c) Second Stage
(d) Third Stage
Answer:
(c) Second Stage

Question 3.
In the question below, there are two statements marked Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read the statements and choose the correct option.

Assertion (A) Castes are not only unequal to each other in ritual terms, they are also supposed to be complementary and non¬competing groups.
Reason (R) Each caste has its own place in the system which cannot be taken by any other caste. (1)
Codes
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false and R is true
Answer:
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A

Question 4.
Which of the following reasons are responsible for the invisibility of the caste system in the upper castes and upper middle class? (1)
(a) Policy of reservation
(b) Special programmes for upper caste
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) Education and employment in private sector
Answer:
(d) Education and employment in private sector

Question 5.
In the question below, there are two statements marked Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read the statements and choose the correct option. (1)

Assertion (A) By the 1970s all the major definitions of tribe were shown to be faulty. Reason (R) It was pointed out that the tribe-peasantry distinctions did not hold in terms of any of the commonly advanced criteria: size, isolation, religion and means of livelihood.
Codes
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false and R is true
Answer:
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A

Question 6.
“Considering from an urban point of view, the rapid growth in urbanisation shows that the town or city has been acting as a magnet for the rural population.” Choose the incorrect statement about urbanisation in India? (1)
(a) Rural- to-urban migration has increased due to decline in common property resources.
(b) Urban areas are a decisive force in terms of political dynamics.
(c) People go to cities in search of work.
(d) Cities offer anonymity to the poor and oppressed class.
Answer:
(b) Urban areas are a decisive force in terms of political dynamics.

Question 7.
In which ways Adivasis struggles are different from Dalit struggle? (1)
(a) They were not discriminated against like the Dalits.
(b) Their social and economic conditions were better than the Dalits.
(c) They did not face social exclusion like the Dalits.
(d) Adivasis were concentrated in contagious areas and could demand statehood.
Answer:
(d) Adivasis were concentrated in contagious areas and could demand statehood.

Question 8.
Stereotypes fix whole groups into single …….. categories, they refuse to recognize the …… across individuals and across context or across time. (1)
(a) homogeneous, variation
(b) heterogeneous, similarities
(c) broad, similarities
(d) diverse, differences
Answer:
(a) homogeneous, variation

Question 9.
Cultural diversity can present tough challenges. Which of the following is not a reason for challenge? (1)
(a) It can arouse intense passions among its members and mobilise large numbers of people.
(b) Economic and social inequalities among the communities.
(c) Equal distribution of scarce resources like river water, jobs or governments funds.
(d) Injustices suffered by one community provoke opposition from same communities.
Answer:
(c) Equal distribution of scarce resources like river water, jobs or governments funds.

Question 10.
Policies promoting integration involve. (1)
(a) Outright suppression of identities of groups which are in minority.
(b) Complete erosion of cultural differences between groups.
(c) Elimination of ethno-national and cultural differences from the public arena.
(d) All of the above
Answer:
(c) Elimination of ethno-national and cultural differences from the public arena.

Question 11.
In the question below, there are two statements marked Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read the statements and choose the correct option. (1)

Assertion (A) Urbanisation in the colonial period saw the formation of new urban centres.
Reason (R) These urban centres were designed to functions as trading posts alone.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false and R is true
Answer:
(d) A is false and R is true

Question 12.
In the question below, there are two statements marked Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read the statements and choose the correct option.

Assertion (A) The impact of Sanskritisation is many sided.
Reason (R) Its influence can be seen in language, literature, ideology, music, dance, drama, style of life and ritual. (1)
Codes
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false and R is true
Answer:
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A

Question 13.
What is the meaning of the term Begar in the Indian agrarian context? (1)
(a) Bonded labour
(b) Free Labour
(c) Landlords
(d) Tenant
Answer:
(a) Bonded labour

Question 14.
In the question below, there are two statements marked Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read the statements and choose the correct option.

Assertion (A) In most of the states, land ceiling act proved to be toothless.
Re’ason (R) There were many loopholes and most landowners were able to escape from having their surplus land taken over by the state. (1)
Codes
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is true but R is false
(d) A is false and R is true
Answer:
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A

Question 15.
Most of the New Year festival in different regions of India such as Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Bihu in Assam, Baisakhi in Punjab and Ugadi in Karnataka to name just a few actually celebrate the main harvest season and herald the beginning of a new agricultural season. (1)

Assertion (A) There is a close connection between agriculture & culture.
Reason (R) Many of our cultural practices and patterns can be traced to our agrarian background.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false and R is true
Answer:
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A

Question 16.
In the question below, there are two statements marked Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read the statements and choose the correct option.
Assertion (A) The rural in Kerala is a mixed economy.
Reason (R) The economy in Kerala integrates agriculture with a wide network of retail sales and services where a large number of families are dependent on remittances from abroad. (1)
Codes
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is true, but R is false
(d) A is false and R is true
Answer:
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A

Question 17.
Major difference between developing and developed countries is in the number of people in …… salaried employment. (1)
(a) daily Wages
(b) regular
(c) irregular
(d) Both (b) and (c)
Answer:
(b) regular

Question 18.
Many items like paper and wood products, glass and ceramics were reserved for the …….. sector by the government. (1)
(a) Medium- scale
(b) Large- scale
(c) Small- scale
(d) Both (b) and (c)
Answer:
(c) Small- scale

Question 19.
Before independence, industries were located mainly in which types of cities? (1)
(a) Metropolitan
(b) Port
(c) Town
(d) Urban
Answer:
(b) Port

Question 20.
Introduction of machinery such as tillers, tractors, threshers and harvesters led to the ……. (1)
(a) displacement of the service castes
(b) greater wages for the service castes
(c) equality in the agrarian structure
(d) low production output
Answer:
(a) displacement of the service castes

Section B
Section B consists of 9 questions of 2 marks each

Question 21.
In Modern Foods, which was set up by the government to make healthy bread available at cheap prices, and which was the first company to be privatised, 60% of the workers were forced to retire in the first five years. (2)
Based on the given passage, answer the following question.
What do you mean by disinvestment? How did disinvestment impact the workers?
Or
In Maruti Udyog Ltd. two cars roll off the assembly line every minute. Workers get only 45 minutes rest in the entire day – two tea breaks of 7.5 minutes each and one lunch break of half an hour. Most of them are exhausted by the age of 40 and take voluntary retirement. (2)
Based upon above passage, answer the following question. What, according to you, is the impact of the factory’s working condition on the workers and on the factory?
Answer:
Disinvestment is the act of selling the equity shares of public enterprises to the private sector and the government tries to sell its share in several public sector companies. Many government workers are scared that after disinvestment they will lose their jobs. In Modern Foods Company, 60% of the workers were forced to retire in the first five years and increases job insecurity due to disinvestment.
Or
According to us, the impact of the factory’s working condition on the workers and factories are as follows:

1. Impact on factory
   • It increases cost cutting for profit.
   • It reduces the number of permanent employees in the factory.
2. Impact on workers
   • Many workers opting for voluntary retirement.
   • It reduces the number of permanent employees.
   • Workers are always very disturbed due to the practices such as just-in-time and outsourcing.

Question 22.
Why does Jan Breman use the term ‘footloose’ for labour? (2)
Answer:
Jan Breman uses the term ‘footloose’ for the labour because these migrant workers came mainly from drought-prone and less productive regions, and they works for part of the year on farms in Punjab and Haryana, or on brick kilns in UP or construction sites in big cities. The migration and lack of job security have created very poor working and living conditions for these workers.

Question 23.
What is meant by ‘Great Tradition’? (2)
Answer:
Great tradition refers to the formal literate tradition of a civilisation, which is regulated by the elites of the society. It is the tradition of the lettered people who are few in number. By using sanskritic rites, people want to improve their status through adoption of names and customs of culturally high-placed groups.

Question 24.
With an example show how being a minority group can be disadvantageous in one sense but not in another. (2)
Answer:
A minority group can be disadvantageous in one sense but not in another: The privileged minorities such as extremely wealthy people are not usually referred to as minorities; if they are, the term is qualified in some way, as in the phrase ‘privileged minority’.

When minority is used without any qualification, it implies a relatively small and also, disadvantaged group of society. The sociological sense of minority implies that the members of the minority form a collectivity i.e. they have a sense of group solidarity, a feeling of togetherness.

Question 25.
Westernisation gave rise to the formation of a sub-culture of Indian intellectuals. Give two characteristics of this sub-cultural group. (2)
Answer:
The two characteristics of the sub-cultural group formed by westernisation are as follows:

1. The emergence of a westernised sub-cultural pattern through a minority section of Indian who first came in contact with the western culture.
2. Some intellectual group who not only adopted many cognitive patterns or ways of thinking but also styles of life and supported its expansion.

Question 26.
City offers relative anonymity to those migrating to it. What do you mean by relative anonymity? (2)
Answer:
Relative anonymity describes the situation where the acting person’s identity is unknown. It includes the poorer section, those are not known by ascriptive identities. It provides partial protection to socially oppressed people. The poorer sections of socially dominant groups can engage in low status work.

Question 27.
“If hard labour were such a good thing the rich would keep it all for themselves.” Which social phenomena is reflected in this proverb? Give any two characteristics of this phenomena. (2)
Answer:
This proverb reflects the phenomenon ‘Social stratification’ which describes that our society unequally distributes social resources among categories of peo pie. Two characteristics of social stratification are

1. It persists over generations.
2. It is based on beliefs and not a function of individual differences.

Question 28.
The family is linked to the economic sphere. Highlight the link using any two scenarios. (2)
Answer:
The family serves as an economic unit. In the pre-industrial, tribal and agrarian societies unit of production is the family. Two scenarios are:

1. All members of the family equally contribute to the family occupation, such as cultivation, craft, cottage-industry, cattle-rearing etc.
2. Every family needs an economic provision to satisfy the economic needs. The head of the family carries on a certain profession and earns money to maintain the family.

Question 29.
Rabindranath Tagore on the evils of exclusive nationalism ….. where the spirit of the Western nationalism prevails, the whole people is being taught from boyhood to foster hatred and ambitions by all kinds of means – by the manufacture of half-truths and untruths in history, by persistent misrepresentation of other races and the culture of unfavorable sentiments towards them …… Never think for a moment that the hurt you inflict upon other races will not infect you, or that the enmities you sow around your homes will be a wall of protection to you for all time to come?

To imbue the minds of a whole people with an abnormal vanity of its own superiority, to teach it to take pride in its moral callousness and I?ll be gotten wealth, to perpetuate humiliation of defeated nations by exhibiting trophies won from war, and using these schools in order to breed in children? minds contempt for others, is imitating the West where she has a festering sore… Source: On Nationalism by Rabindranath Tagore. First published in 1917, Reprint Edition of Macmillan, Madras 1930.

Read the passage and show any two ways in which exclusive nationalism is practiced. (2)
Or
Is statehood always based on linguistic identity? Give reasons for your answer. (2)
Answer:
Two ways in which exclusive nationalism is practiced are as follows (Any two)

1. When the culture of unfavorable sentiments ‘towards other races emerged in our society.
2. To perpetuate humiliation of defeated nations by exhibiting trophies won from wars.
3. Use of schools to breed in children’s mind contempt for others.

Or
No, statehood does not always based on linguistic identity. The combination of ethnicity based on tribal identities, language, regional deprivation and ecology provides the basis for intense regionalism resulting in Statehood.

Section C
Section C consists of 6 questions of 4 marks each

Question 30.
Work in the IT sector is also subjected to Taylorist labour processes. Substantiate this statement with a suitable example. (4)
Or
“After independence, the government took over the commanding heights of the economy.” What were the initiatives taken by the government to do the same? (4)
Answer:
Work in the IT sector is also subjected to Taylorist labour processes as it have 10-12 hours average workday, and it is not uncommon for employees to stay overnight in the office, when faced with a project deadline. Long working hours are central to the industry’s work culture. Overwork is built into the structure of outsourced projects. Project costs and timelines are usually under-estimated in terms of mandays because mandays are based on an eight-hour day.

For example, in IT Company the working hours are long as the engineers have to put in extra hours and days in order to meet the deadlines. Extended working hours are legitimised by the common management practice of ‘flexi-time’, which in theory gives the employee freedom to choose his or her working hours (within limits) but which in practice means that they have to work as long as necessary to finish the task at hand.
Or
After independence, the government took over the commanding heights of the economy.The initiatives taken by the government are:

1. This involved defence, transport and communication, power, mining and other projects which only government had the power to do and which was also necessary for private industry to flourish.
2. In India’s mixed economy policy, some sectors were reserved for government, while others were open to private sector.
3. The government tried to ensure, through its licensing policy, that industries were spread over different regions. This was because before independence, industries were located mainly in the port cities like Madras, Bombay and Calcutta. But since then, due to government efforts, we see that places like Baroda, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Pune, Faridabad and Rajkot have become industrial centres.
4. Government also tried to encourage small scale sectors through special incentives and assistance. Many items like paper and wood products, stationery, glass and ceramics were reserved for the small scale sector.

Question 31.
The post independent Indian state’s caste considerations had some contradictions. Elucidate on these contradictions. (4)
Caste system stood for different connotations in different time periods. Do you agree with the given statement? Give reasons for your answer. (4)
Answer:
The post-Independence Indian state inherited and reflected some contradictions. On the one hand, the state was committed to the abolition of caste and explicitly wrote this into the Constitution.
On the other hand, the state was both unable and unwilling to push through radical reforms which would have undermined the economic basis for caste inequality.

At yet another level, the state assumed that if it operated in a caste-blind manner, this would automatically lead to the undermining of caste based privileges and the eventual abolition of the institution. For example, appointments to government jobs took no account of caste, thus leaving the well-educated upper castes and the ill-educated or often illiterate lower castes to compete on ‘equal’ terms.
Or Yes, I am agree with the statement that caste system stood for different connotation in different time period.

The reasons for this statement are:

1. It is misleading to think of the same system continuing for three thousand years.
2. In its earliest phase, in the Late Vedic period roughly between 900 – 500 BC, the caste system was really a Vama system and consisted of only four major divisions of society. These divisions were not very elaborate or very rigid and they were not determined by birth, but the movement across the categories seems to have been not only possible but quite common.
3. In the Post Vedic period, the caste became the most rigid institution.

Question 32.
Using an example, show how the treatment of Indian plantation labour was different from the way colonial administration treated their own labour back home. (4)
Answer:
The treatment of Indian plantation labour was different from the way colonial administration treated their own labour back home because Tea industry began in India in 1851. It is one of the examples where Britishers used different ways to exploit the Indian people and resources. Tea gardens were mostly situated in Assam. Britishers used unfair means to hire and forcibly keep labourers. The workers worked under unjust contract and unfavorable conditions. The workers were recruited from far off homes into strange fevers.

They were forced to do extra work on low wages where as their won labours were avoided. The government helped the planters by providing for penal sanction i.e. punishment for the commission of a specific crime such as fines or imprisonment, in case of non-.fulfillment of the contract by the labourers

Question 33.
Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx offer two different interpretations of social movements. Explain these two interpretations. (4)
Answer:
Emile Durkheim’s writings reflected anxiety about maintaining social order. He focused on the division of labour in society and mirrors his concern about how social structures enable social integration. Social movements were seen as forces that led to disorder. The ideas of Karl Marx offered a different view of social movement. His work showed that the ‘crowd’ and the ‘mob’ not meant to destroy society. They too had a ‘moral economy’.

In other words they have their own shared understanding of right and wrong that informed their actions. Their research showed that poor people in urban areas had good reasons for protesting. They often resorted to public protest because they had no other way of expressing their anger and resentment against deprivation.

Question 34.
During a communal conflict, communities construct matching but opposite mirror images of each other. Explain this statement. (4)
Answer:
During a communal conflict, communities construct matching but opposite mirror images of each other. The corlflicts that involve our communities (whether of nation, language, religion, caste or region) are very hard to deal with. Each side in the conflict thinks of the other side as a hated enemy and there is a tendency to exaggerate the virtues of one’s own side as well as the vices of the other side.

Thus, when two nations are at war, patriots in each nation see the other as the enemy aggressor; each side believes that God and truth are on their side. In the heat of the moment, it is very hard for people on either side to see that they are constructing matching but reversed mirror images of each other.

Question 35.
The agrarian structure becomes more unequal with high agricultural productivity. Explain with a suitable example. (4)
Answer:
The agrarian structure becomes more unequal with high agricultural productivity because in areas of assured irrigation, that with plentiful rainfall or artificial irrigation works (such as rice-growing regions in river deltas, for instance the Kaveri basin in Tamil Nadu) more labour was needed for intensive cultivation. Here the most unequal agrarian structures developed. The agrarian structures of such regions are unequal because they had large numbers of ‘bonded’ workers belonging to the lowest castes.

Section D
Section D consists of 3 questions of 6 marks each

Question 36.

Based on the given Population Pyramids of India for the year 2026 and 2050, answer the following questions. (6)
(a) What is demographic dividend?
(b) What do you infer, on comparing the given graphics for the age group of 55-59 and 60-64?
(c) What, according to you, are the implications of this inference?
Answer:
(a) Demographic dividend is the economic growth potential that can result from shifts in a population’s age structure, mainly when the share of the working-age population (15 to 64) is larger than the non-working-age share of the population (14 and younger and 65 and older).

(b) On comparing the given data for the age groups, I found the population in the 55-59 age range is decreasing and in the 60-64 age range is increasing. The benefit flowing from the changing age structure.

(c) According to me, India must utilise the potential of the people in the working age group before the demographic window closes. It must also introduce policy changes to provide social security for the increasing number of senior citizens.

Question 37.
Niyamgiri Hills is home to Dongria Kondh, a particularly vulnerable tribal group, who had unanimously voted against a project by state government-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Sterlite Industries which wanted to mine bauxite. The villages? decision followed a landmark Supreme Court verdict on April 18, 2013, that vindicated the decade-long movement. The court said forest clearance for the mining project, which had been withdrawn by the Environment Ministry in 2010, could be given only after taking the consent of the gram sabhas, or village councils, in the region in tandem with the Forest Right Act (FRA).

(Source Development At Cost of Human Lives? Revisiting Adivasi Resistance In Mali Parbat, Niyamgiri Hills, Shreya Basak, 19th January, 2023 12:29 PM, Outlook)

Based on the given passage, answer the following questions. (6)
(a) What is a social movement?
(b) Based on your reading of the passage, identify the issues that the social movement addresses.
Would you classify this social movement as old or new? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer:
(a) When a group of people come together in order to bring about change in society in regard to certain social issues with the aim of changing people’s perspectives about that aspect, it may lead to a social movement.
A social movement requires sustained collective action over time. Such action is often directed against the state and takes the form of demanding changes in state policy or practice. In a social movement collective action must be marked by some degree of organisation.

A social movement cannot be spontaneous and disorganised. This organisation may include a leadership and a structure that defines how members relate to each other, make decisions and carry them out. Social movements often arise with the aim of . bringing about changes on a public issue, such as ensuring the right of the tribal population to use the forests or the rights of displaced people to settlement and compensation.

(b) Identity and cultural practices of tribals and ecological issues were addressed in the social movements of Niyamgiri hills. This social movement is a new social movement as they are neither class based nor about reorganisation of state power. New social movements like women’s group, environmental movements and tribal activists are non-political and not within the frame of political parties.

“It is often assumed that social reform for women’s rights was entirely fought for by male reformers and that ideas of women’s equality are alien imports.” Is this true or false? Give reasons for your answer. (6)
Answer:
“It is often assumed that social reform for women’s rights was entirely fought for by male reformers and that ideas of women’s equality are alien imports.” These assumptions are not true, for this we should read the following extracts from two books written by women, Stree Purush Tulana written in 1882 and Sultana’s Dream written in 1905.

Stree Purush Tulana (or Comparison of Men and Women) was written by a Maharashtrian housewife, Tarabai Shinde, as a protest against the double . standards of a male dominated society. A young Brahmin widow had been sentenced to death by the courts for killing her newborn baby because it was illegitimate, but no effort had been made to identify or punish the man who had fathered the baby. Stree Purush Tulana created quite a stir when it was published.

Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was born in a well-to-do Bengali Muslim family and was lucky to have a husband who was very liberal in outlook and encouraged her education first in Urdu and later in Bengali and English.
She was already a successful author in Urdu and Bengali when she wrote Sultana’s Dream to test her abilities in English. This remarkable short story is probably the earliest example of science fiction writing in India and among the first by a woman author anywhere in the world. In her dream, Sultana visits a magical country where the gender roles are reversed.