NAME___________________ ADM.NO.

____________ CLASS/SEC______ TEACHER’S SIGN ______

HALF YEARLYEXAMINATION (2023-2024)

SUBJECT: SOCIAL SCIENCE
CLASS: VIII (SAMPLE PAPER ANSWER KEY)
Time: 2½ hours+ Reading time (10 minutes) M.M.: 60
General Instruction:
 This question paper consists of 18 questions.

SECTION-A (HISORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE)

S.NO. QUESTIONS MARKS
1. What reforms did the British introduce in the Indian society? 2
The British believed that Indian society had to be reformed. Laws were passed to stop the
practice of sati and to encourage the remarriage of widows. English-language education
was actively promoted. After 1830, the Company allowed Christian missionaries to
function freely in its domain and even own land and property.
2. What is the meaning of the term adivasis? 2
Adivasis – the term literally means ‘original inhabitants’– are communities who lived, and
often continue to live, in close association with forests. Adivasis are not a homogeneous
population: there are over 500 different Adivasi groups in India.
3. Mention any two acts passed by the British government during 1870s and 1880s that 2
dissatisfied Indians.
a) The Vernacular Press Act 1878 - The Act allowed the government to confiscate
the assets of newspapers including their printing presses if the newspapers
published anything that was found “objectionable.
b) Arms Act- Indian rulers were not allowed to possess arms.
4. What is Manual Scavenging and explain The Prohibition of Employment as Manual 2
Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013?
It refers to the manual practice of removing human and animal waste or excreta with the
help of brooms, tin plates and baskets from dry latrines and carrying it on the head to
disposal grounds.
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013
prohibits construction or maintenance of insanitary latrines, and employment of any
person for manual scavenging or hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
5. Write a detailed note on Sulabh organisation. 3
Sulabh, a non-government organisation, has been working for three decades to address the
problems of sanitation facing low-caste, low-income people in India. It has constructed
more than 8,500 public toilet blocks and 1.2 million private toilets, giving access to
sanitation to 10 million people. The majority of the users of Sulabh facilities are from the
poor working class. Work processSulabh enters into contracts with municipalities or other
local authorities to construct toilet blocks with government funds. Local authorities
provide land and funds for setting up the services, whereas maintenance costs are
sometimes financed through user charges for example, Re 1 is charged for use of the
latrines in the cities).

6. Explain the following acts : 3

a) Child Labour Prevention (Amendment) Act 2006 In 2016, Parliament amended
the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, banning the
employment of children below the age of 14 years in all occupations and of
adolescents (14-18 years) in hazardous occupations and processes. It made
employing these children or adolescents a cognizable offence. Anyone found
violating the ban must be penalized with a punishment ranging from a jail term of
six months to two years and/or fine of `20,000 to `50,000. The central government
had asked state governments to develop plans to rescue and rehabilitate children
who are working. The central government had asked state governments to develop
plans to rescue and rehabilitate children who are working as domestic servants.
Even today more than a year after this law was passed 74 per cent of child
 domestic workers are under the age of16.
b) THE ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT,1986 :The EPA 1986 came into
force soon after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. The Act empowers the central
government to undertake all the measures necessary for protecting and improving
the quality of the environment and preventing ,controlling and reducing
environmental pollution. 2)Uttarakhand High Court on March 30, 2017 declared
all the glaciers, including Gangotri and Yamunotri, rivers, streams, rivulets, lakes,
air, meadows, dales, jungles, forests wetlands, grasslands, springs and waterfalls
as living entities

7. Give brief description on Gandhian view of education for Indians. 3

Gandhi ji wanted an education that could help Indians recover their sense of dignity and
self respect. He strongly felt that vernacular languages ought to be the medium of
teaching. He focused on lived experience and practical knowledge, education ought to
develop a person’s mind and soul. People needed to use their hands to work and learn a
craft and gather knowledge about how various things operated.
8. Which religions were practised by Adivasis? 3
Adivasis practise a range of tribal religions that are different from Islam, Hinduism and
Christianity. These often involve the worship of ancestors, village and nature spirits, the
last associated with and residing in various sites in the landscape– ‘mountain-spirits’,
‘river-spirits’, ‘animal-spirits’, etc. Adivasis have always been influenced by different
surrounding religions like Shakta, Buddhist, Vaishnav, Bhakti and Christianity. Adivasi
religions themselves have influenced dominant religions of the empires around them, for
example, the Jagannath cult of Orissa.

9.
Write a brief note on Cabinet Mission.
In March 1946 the British cabinet sent a three-member mission to Delhi to examine this
demand and to suggest a suitable political framework for a free India. This mission
suggested that India should remain united and constitute itself as a loose confederation
with some autonomy for Muslim-majority areas. But it could not get the Congress and the
Muslim League to agree to specific details of the proposal. Partition now more or less
inevitable. After the failure of the Cabinet Mission, the Muslim League decided on mass
agitation for winning its Pakistan demand.
10. a) Explain the non cooperation movement. 5
The Non-Cooperation Movement gained momentum through 1921-22. Thousands of
students left government controlled schools and colleges. Many lawyers such as Motilal
Nehru, C.R. Das, C. Rajagopalachari and Asaf Ali gave up their practices. British titles
were surrendered and legislatures boycotted. People lit public bonfires of foreign cloth In
Kheda, Gujarat, Patidar peasants organised nonviolent campaigns against the high land
revenue demand of the British. In coastal Andhra and interior Tamil Nadu, liquor shops
were picketed. In the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, tribals and poor peasants staged a
number of “forest satyagraha”, sometimes sending their cattle into forests without paying
grazing fee. They were protesting because the colonial state had restricted their use of
forest resources in various ways. In Assam, tea garden labourers, shouting “Gandhi
Maharaj ki Jai”, demanded a big increase in their wages. They left the British-owned
plantations amidst declarations that they were following Gandhiji’s wish.

b) Write about the strategy of Moderates leaders.

THE STRATEGY OF MODERATES -The Moderate leaders wanted to develop public
awareness about the unjust nature of British rule. They published newspapers, wrote
articles, and showed how British rule was leading to the economic ruin of the country.
They criticised British rule in their speeches and sent representatives to different parts of
the country to mobilise public opinion. They felt that the British had respect for the ideals
of freedom and justice, and so they would accept the just demands of Indians. What was
necessary, therefore, was to express these demands, and make the government aware of
the feelings of Indians.
11. Label and locate the following on the political map of India. 5
a) Begums of Bhopal played a notable role in promoting education among women.
 They founded a primary school for girls at- Aligarh
b) In 1905 Viceroy Curzon partitioned the biggest province of British India- Bengal
c) In the Telugu-speaking areas of the_______ Presidency, Veerasalingam Pantulu
formed an association for widow remarriage – Madras (Chennai)
d) Pandita Ramabai founded a widows’ home at_______ to provide shelter to
widows- Pune
e) Rammohun Roy founded a reform association known as the Brahmo Sabha (later
known as the Brahmo Samaj) in - Calcutta

SECTION B -GEOGRAPHY
12. What are the manufacturing process of the iron and steel industry? 2
Answer - Iron and steel industry comprise various inputs, processes and outputs. This is a
feeder industry whose products are used as raw material for other industries. The inputs
for the industry include raw materials such as iron ore, coal and limestone, along with
labour, capital, site and other infrastructure. The process of converting iron ore into steel
involves many stages. The raw material is put in the blast furnace where it undergoes
smelting. It is then refined. The output obtained is steel which may be used by other
industries as raw material.

13. Explain the aims of disaster management to mitigate impact of any disaster. Write four 2
points.
Answer:. Disaster management aims to manage a disaster and tries to mitigate its impact.
➢The government must be fully prepared to tackle all kinds of disasters.
➢Governments to developing nations need to set up a special department for disaster
management.
➢They should set aside funds for relief and disaster management.
➢Efficient warning system should have to be developed and modern information
technology tools must be applied to the management of disasters.
➢Government should also set up organizations to coordinate relief work.
➢Rehabilitation and reconstruction plans should be given top priority.
➢Sound communication networks must be in place to forecast floods, cyclones etc. Most
importantly governments need to create public awareness for disaster preparedness
through various programmes.

14. Read the passage carefully and answer the following questions: 2
Births are usually measured using the birth rate i.e. the number of live births per 1,000
people. Deaths are usually measured using the death rate i.e. the number of deaths per
1,000 people. Migration is the movement of people in and out of an area. Births and
deaths are the natural causes of population change. The population increase in the world is
mainly due to rapid increase in natural growth rate.
a. Define birth rate.
Ans. Births are usually measured using the birth rate i.e. the number of live births per
1,000 people.
b. What is the primary reason behind the increase in population?
Ans. The population increase in the world is mainly due to rapid increase in natural
growth rate.

15. What is meant by population composition? How does it help us to know more about 3
population?
Answer: Population composition refers to the structure of the population.
The composition of the population helps us know-
 how many are males or females,
 which age group they belong to,
 how educated they are,
 what type of occupations they are employed in and what their income levels and health
conditions are

16. What is earthquake? What safety measures should be taken during an earthquake? 1+2
 Answer: The sudden shaking or tremor of the ground due to movement of forces deep
within the Earth is called an earthquake.
Safety measures during Earthquakes:
 If you are indoors during an earthquake, three steps – drop, cover and hold-could save
you from receiving severe injuries.
 If your building is shaking immediately drop to the ground and take cover under a bed
or table.
 If you are outdoors during a tremor, the best strategy would be to move towards an
open area – away from trees, buildings, electricity poles; transmission towers, etc. stay
away from bridges and flyovers during an earthquake and even for a while after it has
subsided.

17. Answer the following questions: 1+2+2

a) What are the factors affecting the population change in a region?
Answer - Birth rate, mortality rate, and migrations are all factors that influence population
change in a region. The birth rate is a figure that represents the number of live births per
1000 people. The death rate is a metric that counts the number of deaths per 1000 persons.
Migration, in addition to birth and death rates, influences population change. Migration is
the migration of people from one location to another. People who leave a country are
known as emigrants, and the phenomenon is known as emigration. Immigrants are people
who arrive in a country, and the phenomenon is known as immigration.

b) How can we say that people are the nation’s greatest resources and human resource is
the ultimate resource?
Answer - Despite the fact that numerous resources exist, human resources are extremely
important since no other resource can be used without human intervention. This is due to
the fact that people contribute value to a resource by applying their knowledge, skills, and
experience. As a result, people are regarded as a precious resource. People from any
country or state contribute to the economy and help it grow. They also work for the
government and a variety of other businesses that contribute to the progress of their
country and state, either directly or indirectly

c) The world population has grown very rapidly. Why?

Answer - The world population has grown rapidly as the death rate has decreased due to
the fact that the production of food has increased rapidly with the advancement in science
and technology along with an improvement in the medical facilities and science which has
aided in the reduction of deaths all over the world. In addition, unlike the death rate, the
birth rate has remained quite high.

18. Answer the following questions: 2+3

a) Write a short note on the iron and steel industry in Pittsburgh.
Answer - Pittsburgh is a major steel city in the United States. The majority of raw
materials, such as coal, are locally available. Iron ore is transported from Minnesota’s
iron mines. The Great Lakes of North America are also a good route for ore shipping.
Trains transport ore from the lakes to the industrial region. Rivers such as the Ohio,
Monongahela, and Allegheny give an ample quantity of water. Steel is delivered to the
market via both land and maritime methods.

b) How are small scale industries different from large scale industries? Give two
complete statements in each.
Answer:
Small scale industries:
These industries are neither too large nor too small and found almost in all countries
of the world. These industries use lesser amount of capital and technology.
For example, Chalk making, wood making, potato chips making, toys making, liquid
soap making, fruit juice production plant etc.
If the investment is less than one crore, then it is known as small scale industries. In
India, small scale industry gives employment to around 35% population
Large Scale Industries:
 These produce large volumes of products-investment of capital is higher- technology
used is superior- Silk weaving and food processing industries are small scale
industries while Production of automobiles and heavy machinery are large scale
industries.
19. On an outline physical map of India, mark the following: 3
a. Kaveri River d. Konkan Coast
b. Kanchenjunga e. Bay of Bengal
c. Gulf of Kachchh f. Anaimudi

Answer: Referred the map uploaded on the portal.