PA 1 Sample Paper Class 10 Social Science 2026-27 (Ch 1-2, All Four Books) with Answer Key

Worked answers with the marks each point carries. Where a question says “any two” or “any three”, a student needs only that many correct points — the extra points are given so that a range of correct answers can be marked fairly.

Section A

Q1. (B) The educated middle class. [1]

The landed aristocracy was still the dominant class in Europe at this time, but it was conservative and wanted to protect its own privileges. Liberal and nationalist ideas — equality before the law, constitutional government and the nation state — were carried mainly by the growing educated middle class of professionals, businessmen, industrialists, university teachers and students.

Q2. (B) allowed political prisoners to be detained without trial. [1]

The Rowlatt Act of 1919 gave the government sweeping powers to put down political activity, including the power to detain political prisoners without trial for two years. Indian members of the Imperial Legislative Council opposed the bill, but it was passed anyway, and Gandhiji launched a nationwide satyagraha against it. Option (A) refers to the salt tax attacked later during the Civil Disobedience Movement, (C) to the partition of Bengal in 1905, and (D) to separate electorates.

Q3. (B) Solar energy in the deserts of Rajasthan that is still largely unused. [1]

A potential resource is one that is found in a region but has not yet been used. Rajasthan and Gujarat have enormous potential for solar and wind energy that is still not properly developed. Options (A), (C) and (D) all describe resources that are already in use, which makes them actual resources rather than potential ones.

Q4. (C) Education. [1]

The Union List holds subjects of national importance such as defence, foreign affairs, banking, communications and currency, so (A) and (D) belong there. The State List holds subjects of state and local importance such as police, trade, commerce, agriculture and irrigation, so (B) belongs there. The Concurrent List holds subjects on which both the Union and the State governments may make laws — education, forests, trade unions, marriage, adoption and succession.

Q5. (B) the average income, that is, the per capita income. [1]

The World Bank’s World Development Reports compare countries by their average income, also called per capita income, which is the total income of the country divided by its total population. Total income alone is not used, because countries have very different populations and a comparison of totals would not tell us what an average person earns.

Section B

Q6. Any two of the following. 1 mark for each reason. [2]

(i) Resources are spread very unevenly across India. Some states are rich in minerals but short of water, while others have fertile soil but almost no mineral deposits. Planning is needed so that the resources of one region can be matched to the needs of another.
(ii) Resources are limited, and many of them, such as coal and petroleum, are non-renewable. Careless and wasteful use leads to their depletion and to serious environmental damage, so planning is needed for their judicious use.
(iii) Resource use has to serve both the present generation and future generations, which calls for a planned and sustainable approach rather than short-term exploitation.

Q7. 1 mark for each form, definition and example taken together. [2]

Horizontal power sharing: power is shared among organs of government that stand at the same level — the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. None of them has unlimited power, and each keeps a check on the others. Example: in India the Supreme Court can examine a law passed by Parliament and strike it down if it goes against the Constitution.

Vertical power sharing: power is shared among governments at different levels — a central government, state governments and local bodies. Each level has its own powers, given by the Constitution. Example: in India the Union Government, the State Governments and the Panchayats and Municipalities each look after their own list of subjects.

Q8. 1 mark for the explanation, 1 mark for a suitable example. [2]

People are placed in different situations and want different things from development, so what counts as development for one group may bring loss and hardship to another. A change that improves life for one set of people can therefore be resisted by another set.

Example: building a large dam on a river gives more irrigation water to farmers downstream and more electricity to nearby towns and industries, so for them it is development. But the families whose farmland, homes and villages are submerged by the reservoir lose their land and their livelihood and have to move elsewhere. The same project is development for one group and destruction for the other.

Any other suitable example, such as an industrialist wanting cheaper labour while a worker wants higher wages, should be given full credit.

Q9. Any two of the following. 1 mark each. [2]

(i) The movement was turning violent in many places, most notably when a crowd set fire to a police station and policemen were killed. Gandhiji held that a struggle built on ahimsa could not be continued once its participants had turned to violence.
(ii) He felt that the satyagrahis had not been properly trained for a mass struggle and needed preparation before such a movement could be taken up again.
(iii) By this time some leaders within the Congress were tired of mass agitation and wanted to contest the elections to the provincial councils set up under the Government of India Act of 1919.

Marking note: the NCERT chapter says only that the movement was turning violent in many places, so a student who gives this reason without naming a particular place must be given full credit.

Section C

Q10. Any three of the following. 1 mark each. [3]

(i) Loss of livelihood. Communities living in and around forests collect fuelwood, fodder, fruit, honey, medicinal plants and small timber from them. When the forest cover goes, these free sources of daily needs and of cash income go with it, and poor households are pushed into greater hardship.
(ii) Loss of cultural life and traditional knowledge. Many communities have built up a detailed knowledge of local plants and animals over generations, and treat particular groves, trees and species as sacred. When the forest disappears, this living knowledge and the cultural practices tied to it are lost as well.
(iii) Greater environmental hardship. Forests hold the soil in place and help rainwater seep down to recharge groundwater. Their loss brings soil erosion, the drying up of streams and wells, and more frequent floods and droughts, all of which fall hardest on rural families who depend directly on land and water.
(iv) Loss of biodiversity. The plants and animals a community depends on and lives alongside disappear, which narrows the variety of food, medicine and materials available to it.

Q11. Any three of the following. 1 mark each. [3]

(i) The Union List is the longest of the three lists and holds the subjects of national importance — defence, foreign affairs, currency, banking and communications. Only the Union Government can make laws on these, so the most important powers rest with the Centre.
(ii) On the subjects in the Concurrent List, such as education and forests, both the Union and the State governments may make laws. But where the two laws conflict, it is the law made by the Union Government that prevails.
(iii) Subjects not mentioned in any of the three lists are called residuary subjects. Computer software is an example, since it did not exist when the Constitution was written. The power to make laws on all such subjects has been given to the Union Government.
(iv) The Union Territories do not have the powers that a State has. The Central Government holds special powers in their administration, which again tilts the balance towards the Centre.

Q12. Any three of the following. 1 mark each. [3]

(i) He introduced the Civil Code of 1804, usually called the Napoleonic Code. It did away with all privileges based on birth, established equality before the law and secured the right to property. This code was then carried into the regions that came under French control.
(ii) He abolished the feudal system and freed the peasants from serfdom and from manorial dues. In the towns, the restrictions imposed by the guilds on trade and on crafts were removed.
(iii) He simplified the administrative divisions of the territories he controlled and improved the transport and communication systems. Peasants, artisans, workers and the new businessmen therefore enjoyed a new freedom of movement and a much easier exchange of goods.

Marking note: uniform weights and measures and a common national currency were what businessmen and small producers came to see as desirable under his rule. They should not be credited as administrative steps that Napoleon himself carried out.

Section D

Q13. Case-based answer. [3]

(i) The average income of a family is the total income of the district divided by the number of families, which is 5 in each case.
District P: 12,000 × 5 = ₹60,000; 60,000 ÷ 5 = ₹12,000.
District Q: (3,000 × 4) + 48,000 = 12,000 + 48,000 = ₹60,000; 60,000 ÷ 5 = ₹12,000.
District R: 7,000 + 8,000 + 9,000 + 16,000 + 20,000 = ₹60,000; 60,000 ÷ 5 = ₹12,000.
All three districts have the same average income of ₹12,000 per family per month. (1 mark)

(ii) District P would be the best to live in for most of its families, because every one of its five families actually earns ₹12,000, so each family really does get the average income. In District Q, four of the five families earn only ₹3,000 while a single family earns ₹48,000. In District R, three of the five families earn less than ₹12,000. In both Q and R, therefore, most families are worse off than they would be in P. (1 mark)

(iii) All three districts have exactly the same average income of ₹12,000, and yet the real position of families in them is completely different. This shows that average income tells us nothing about how income is shared among people, so it can make a very unequal district look just as well-off as an equal one. (Accept any correct statement of this limitation.) (1 mark)