CBSE Class 10 Social Science Board Paper Set 3 — 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 3 — 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
Gutenberg built his printing press in the 1440s by adapting which familiar device to press inked type onto paper?
A.The water wheel used in flour millsB.The spinning wheelC.The olive press used for extracting oil✓ CorrectD.The blacksmith's bellowsAnswer: C. The olive press used for extracting oil
Explanation: Gutenberg had grown up watching wine and olive presses on his family's estate, and the olive press supplied the model for the printing press, while moulds already used for casting metal shapes were adapted to cast the individual letters of the alphabet. His achievement lay in combining known devices rather than in inventing an entirely new machine.
- Q2Easy
The female allegory named Marianne, shown wearing the red cap of liberty, stood for which nation?
A.France✓ CorrectB.GermanyC.ItalyD.BritainAnswer: A. France
Explanation: Marianne, carrying the red cap of liberty, the tricolour and the cockade, personified the French nation, and her statues were placed in public squares and her image printed on coins and stamps to remind citizens of the republic. Germania, wearing a crown of oak leaves, was the corresponding allegory of the German nation, and the two are frequently confused.
- Q3Easy
The nineteenth-century system under which Indian workers were carried to Mauritius, Fiji, the Caribbean and the tea gardens of Assam under a contract binding them to one employer for a fixed number of years was known as:
A.the apprenticeship systemB.the indentured labour system✓ CorrectC.the Permanent SettlementD.the plantation lease systemAnswer: B. the indentured labour system
Explanation: Indenture bound a worker by contract to serve a particular employer for a fixed term, usually five years, in return for passage to a distant plantation or mine, and Indian recruits went to Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad, Guyana and Assam. Historians have called it a new system of slavery because recruits were often misled about the work and the conditions awaiting them.
- Q4Medium
The Poona Pact of September 1932 provided for:
A.separate electorates for the depressed classesB.the immediate abolition of the salt taxC.dominion status for India within five yearsD.reserved seats for the depressed classes in the legislative councils, filled by election from the general electorate✓ CorrectAnswer: D. reserved seats for the depressed classes in the legislative councils, filled by election from the general electorate
Explanation: The pact settled the dispute over the Communal Award by giving the depressed classes reserved seats in the provincial and central legislative councils while keeping a single common electorate in which all voters took part. Separate electorates had been Dr Ambedkar's demand and were the very thing Gandhiji fasted against, so the pact replaced them with reservation.
- Q5Medium
Industries such as Bajaj Auto Ltd. and Dabur Industries are classified, on the basis of ownership, as:
A.Private sector industries✓ CorrectB.Public sector industriesC.Joint sector industriesD.Cooperative sector industriesAnswer: A. Private sector industries
Explanation: On the basis of ownership, units owned and operated by individuals or by a group of individuals form the private sector. The public sector covers government-owned undertakings such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, the joint sector is run jointly by the state and private individuals, and the cooperative sector is owned by the producers or suppliers of the raw material themselves, as in the sugar cooperatives of Maharashtra.
- Q6Medium
Reserved forests and protected forests in India are together also referred to as:
A.Unclassed forestsB.Permanent forest estates✓ CorrectC.Sacred grovesD.Community reservesAnswer: B. Permanent forest estates
Explanation: Reserved and protected forests together make up the permanent forest estate, maintained for the production of timber and other forest produce and for protective purposes, and Madhya Pradesh has the largest area under such forests. Unclassed forests are the remaining forests and wastelands held by government, private individuals and communities, while sacred groves are patches guarded by local communities on religious grounds.
- Q7Hard
Which of the following best shows that federalism is actually practised in India, and not merely written into the Constitution?
A.The power of the Union to dissolve any state assembly whenever it wishesB.The appointment of state governors by the central governmentC.The existence of a single citizenship for the whole countryD.A language policy that did not impose Hindi on the non-Hindi speaking states✓ CorrectAnswer: D. A language policy that did not impose Hindi on the non-Hindi speaking states
Explanation: Practising federalism means respecting the autonomy of the states in real decisions, and India's language policy is the clearest example: English was retained alongside Hindi and many languages were given scheduled status instead of one being imposed. Single citizenship and centrally appointed governors are features that tilt the system towards the centre, so they cannot demonstrate federalism at work.
- Q8Hard
Read the extract: 'In Victorian Britain there was no shortage of human labour. Wages were low, and poor peasants and vagrants moved to the cities in large numbers looking for work. Industrialists therefore had no problem of labour shortage.' The passage best explains:
A.why Britain imported workers from its coloniesB.why factory wages rose steadily through the nineteenth centuryC.why the British government banned the use of machinery in millsD.why industrialists were often reluctant to introduce machines that replaced workers✓ CorrectAnswer: D. why industrialists were often reluctant to introduce machines that replaced workers
Explanation: Where hands were plentiful and cheap, expensive machines that needed repair and constant use offered little advantage, particularly in trades where demand was seasonal or fluctuating. Industrialists therefore preferred labour to capital, which is why hand technology and hand-made goods survived alongside the new machines throughout nineteenth-century Britain.
Sit the full paper — free
All 20 questions on a 25-minute timer, scored automatically, with a worked solution for every one — including the 12 not shown above. Sign in with Google — no card needed.
Attempt this paper free →More Class 10 Social Science board papers
- Board Paper — 31 questions
- Board Paper Set 1 — 20 questions
- Board Paper Set 2 — 20 questions
- Board Paper Set 3 — you are here
Prefer chapter-by-chapter revision first? Class 10 Social Science notes & chapter MCQs →
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.