The Simon Commission was greeted in 1928 with black flags and the slogan 'Go back Simon' mainly because it:

had not a single Indian member on it

recommended the partition of Bengal

abolished the provincial legislatures

Sheet erosion of soil takes place when:

water flows as a broad sheet down a slope and carries away the topsoil layer

running water cuts deep channels into soft soil

wind lifts loose soil from flat, dry land

ploughing is done along the contour lines of a hill slope

In the history of Europe, the term 'proto-industrialisation' refers to:

production for a wider market carried on in the countryside before the factory system

large-scale factory production driven by steam power

the mechanisation of farming that followed the enclosures

the migration of rural workers into planned industrial towns

Why did the Roman Catholic Church begin to maintain an Index of Prohibited Books from 1558?

Printed books were spreading readings of religion that the Church treated as heretical

Printers had refused to pay taxes to the Church

Books printed in Latin had lost favour with the clergy

The Church wished to revive the sale of handwritten manuscripts

Which of the following was the central objection raised by movements such as the Narmada Bachao Andolan against large dams?

Large dams submerge farmland and forests and displace local communities who gain little in return

Large dams cannot generate hydroelectricity in a monsoon climate

Large dams make rainwater harvesting impossible anywhere in the basin

Large dams are built without any provision for irrigation canals

Which of the following is the most accurate assessment of democracies with respect to economic inequality?

Democracies grant political equality through one person one vote, yet large economic inequalities usually persist

Democracies reduce economic inequality far more successfully than they reduce political inequality

Democracies remove poverty automatically because the poor form the majority of voters

Democracies have no effect on political equality but do guarantee equal incomes

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CBSE Class 10 Social Science Board Paper Set 1 — MCQs with Answers

Original paper · CBSE patternWritten by our subject team, not a reprint of an official sample paper.

Questions: 20
Time: 25 min
Marking: +1, no negative marking
Mix: 8 Easy · 8 Medium · 4 Hard

Board Paper Set 1 — CBSE Class 10 Social Science is a full 20-question objective paper for Class 10 Social Science, written in the CBSE board pattern and marked the way the board marks: +1 for a correct answer and 0 for a wrong one — no negative marking, exactly like the real board paper. It follows Section A of a real CBSE paper: Q1–Q16 are single-correct MCQs, Q17–Q18 are case-based questions built on a short source, and Q19–Q20 are assertion–reason items using the board's own four option strings.

Difficulty is 8 Easy · 8 Medium · 4 Hard, weighted the way the board weights Section A. You get 25 minutes — about 75 seconds a question, the pace the real paper demands. 8 of the questions are solved in full below, with the correct option and a worked explanation for each; the remaining 12 are timed and scored when you sign in free.

From 2026-27 CBSE Class 10 has two board exams a year: the first around 15 February – 10 March 2027 is compulsory, and an optional improvement exam in May 2027 lets you re-attempt up to three subjects with the better score counting. That gives you two genuine attempts — and makes timed practice between February and May worth far more than it used to be.

8 solved questions from this paper

Answer and worked explanation shown for each. The remaining 12 are timed and scored when you sign in free.

Q1Easy
The revolution of February 1848 in France forced which monarch to abdicate, after which a republic was proclaimed?
A.Louis Philippe✓ Correct
B.Charles X
C.Louis XVI
D.Napoleon III
Answer: A. Louis Philippe
Explanation: Food shortages and widespread unemployment brought the people of Paris onto the streets in February 1848; Louis Philippe fled and a republic was proclaimed with suffrage for all adult males. Charles X was the king overthrown in the earlier July Revolution of 1830, and Louis Napoleon rose to power only after this 1848 upheaval.
Q2Easy
The Simon Commission was greeted in 1928 with black flags and the slogan 'Go back Simon' mainly because it:
A.imposed a fresh tax on salt
B.had not a single Indian member on it✓ Correct
C.recommended the partition of Bengal
D.abolished the provincial legislatures
Answer: B. had not a single Indian member on it
Explanation: The statutory commission headed by Sir John Simon was set up to review the working of the constitutional system in India, yet every one of its members was British. Indians of all parties saw this as a denial of their right to shape their own constitution. The salt tax became the target of a different campaign, the civil disobedience movement of 1930.
Q3Easy
Sheet erosion of soil takes place when:
A.water flows as a broad sheet down a slope and carries away the topsoil layer✓ Correct
B.running water cuts deep channels into soft soil
C.wind lifts loose soil from flat, dry land
D.ploughing is done along the contour lines of a hill slope
Answer: A. water flows as a broad sheet down a slope and carries away the topsoil layer
Explanation: When rainwater moves down a gentle slope as a wide unbroken sheet, it strips a thin layer of topsoil evenly from the whole surface, so the loss is noticed only after several seasons. Deep channel cutting is gully erosion, a separate form, and contour ploughing is a method used to check erosion rather than a type of erosion.
Q4Medium
In the history of Europe, the term 'proto-industrialisation' refers to:
A.large-scale factory production driven by steam power
B.the mechanisation of farming that followed the enclosures
C.production for a wider market carried on in the countryside before the factory system✓ Correct
D.the migration of rural workers into planned industrial towns
Answer: C. production for a wider market carried on in the countryside before the factory system
Explanation: Long before the first factories appeared, merchants moved into the countryside and gave money to peasants and artisans who spun and wove inside their own cottages for a distant market. Historians call this early phase of large-scale production without factories proto-industrialisation. Steam-powered mills belong to the later phase that began with the cotton industry in England.
Q5Medium
Why did the Roman Catholic Church begin to maintain an Index of Prohibited Books from 1558?
A.Printers had refused to pay taxes to the Church
B.Books printed in Latin had lost favour with the clergy
C.The Church wished to revive the sale of handwritten manuscripts
D.Printed books were spreading readings of religion that the Church treated as heretical✓ Correct
Answer: D. Printed books were spreading readings of religion that the Church treated as heretical
Explanation: Cheap printed books carried new interpretations of scripture, including Martin Luther's writings, far beyond the control of the clergy, and ordinary readers began interpreting faith for themselves. The Church answered by listing banned titles in an Index from 1558. Print did not raise the cost of books; it lowered it, which is precisely what alarmed Rome.
Q6Medium
Which of the following was the central objection raised by movements such as the Narmada Bachao Andolan against large dams?
A.Large dams cannot generate hydroelectricity in a monsoon climate
B.Large dams make rainwater harvesting impossible anywhere in the basin
C.Large dams submerge farmland and forests and displace local communities who gain little in return✓ Correct
D.Large dams are built without any provision for irrigation canals
Answer: C. Large dams submerge farmland and forests and displace local communities who gain little in return
Explanation: Resistance to big dam projects on the Narmada has centred on the flooding of villages, forests and cultivated land, and on the displacement of tribal and rural communities who rarely receive the irrigation water or the electricity produced. Generating power and supplying canal irrigation are in fact the stated purposes of such dams, so an inability to do either is not the criticism made.
Q7Hard
Which of the following is the most accurate assessment of democracies with respect to economic inequality?
A.Democracies reduce economic inequality far more successfully than they reduce political inequality
B.Democracies grant political equality through one person one vote, yet large economic inequalities usually persist✓ Correct
C.Democracies remove poverty automatically because the poor form the majority of voters
D.Democracies have no effect on political equality but do guarantee equal incomes
Answer: B. Democracies grant political equality through one person one vote, yet large economic inequalities usually persist
Explanation: Democracy delivers political equality by giving every adult a vote of equal value, but it does not by itself redistribute wealth, and in most democracies a small section of the population holds a very large share of income and assets. The poor being numerous does not translate on its own into policies that end poverty, since their votes rarely become organised pressure on economic policy.
Q8Hard
Study the following statement: 'The Bailadila range of hills yields very high grade haematite iron ore, which is railed to Visakhapatnam and exported from there to Japan and South Korea.' The Bailadila hills lie in the state of:
A.Odisha
B.Jharkhand
C.Karnataka
D.Chhattisgarh✓ Correct
Answer: D. Chhattisgarh
Explanation: The Bailadila hills of the Bastar and Dantewada region of Chhattisgarh hold some of the finest haematite in the world, and the ore moves by rail to Visakhapatnam for export to East Asia. Odisha's Mayurbhanj and Kendujhar mines and Karnataka's Bellary and Chitradurga belt are separate iron ore regions that are often confused with it.

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Questions students ask about this paper

Is this an official CBSE sample paper?

No — and that is deliberate. This is an original paper written in the CBSE board pattern by our subject team, not a copy of CBSE's official Sample Question Paper. It means you get fresh questions you have not already seen on a dozen other sites, with instant scoring and worked solutions rather than a PDF.

How is this Class 10 Social Science paper marked?

+1 for a correct answer and 0 for a wrong one — no negative marking, exactly like the real board paper. So attempt every question — there is no penalty for a wrong answer on a board paper, and leaving a question blank can only cost you.

How long should this paper take?

25 minutes for 20 questions, roughly 75 seconds each. The timer runs whether or not you are watching it, which is the point: board marks are lost to pacing at least as often as to gaps in knowledge.

Do I need to pay to attempt it?

No. Sign in free with Google and the full paper opens with a live timer, automatic scoring and a worked solution for every question — including the ones not shown on this page.

Does the May 2027 improvement exam change how I should practise?

It raises the value of timed practice. Because the better of your two scores counts, a February attempt that goes badly is no longer final — but only if you know precisely which topics cost you the marks. A scored full-length paper tells you that; re-reading the chapter does not.

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