CBSE Class 10 Social Science Print Culture in the Modern World Important Questions Set 03

Question 1. Assertion: In 1517, the religious reformer Martin Luther wrote the Ninety-Five Theses, criticising many practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church.
Reason: This led to a division within the Church and to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
(a) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) Assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) Assertion is false but reason is true.
Answer:
(a) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
A printed copy of Luther's theses was posted on a Church door in Wittenberg, challenging the Church to debate his ideas.
His writings were immediately reproduced in large numbers and widely read, directly leading to the split that became the Protestant Reformation.

Teacher's Note:
a) 1517 is the key date to remember for this event.

Question 2. Assertion: The new reading culture was accompanied by a new technology.
Reason: There was a gradual shift from hand printing to mechanical printing.
(a) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) Assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) Assertion is false but reason is true.
Answer:
(a) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
The import of Western printing techniques and mechanical presses in the late nineteenth century did indeed accompany, and drive, the growth of a new reading culture.

Teacher's Note:
a) This links the technological shift (mechanical presses) directly to the cultural shift (a growing reading public).

Question 3. Assertion: The production of handwritten manuscripts could not satisfy the ever-increasing demand for books.
Reason: Chinese paper reached Europe via the Silk Route.
(a) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) Assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) Assertion is false but reason is true.
Answer:
(b) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
Copying manuscripts by hand was slow, costly and limited, so it genuinely could not meet rising demand, making the assertion true.
Paper reaching Europe via the Silk Route is also a true historical fact, but it explains how paper became available, not specifically why hand-copied manuscripts fell short of demand.

Teacher's Note:
a) Two true facts, loosely related by topic (paper/books) but not directly cause-and-effect here.

Question 4. Assertion: The first book that Gutenberg printed was the Bible.
Reason: About 500 copies were printed, and it took two years to produce them.
(a) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) Assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) Assertion is false but reason is true.
Answer:
(c) Assertion is true but reason is false.
The Bible was indeed the first book Gutenberg printed, so the assertion is true.
The reason is false: in fact, about 180 copies were printed, and production took three years, not two.

Teacher's Note:
a) Remember the correct figures: about 180 copies, three years — not the 500/two years given in the false reason.

Question 5. Assertion: Print and popular religious literature stimulated many distinctive individual interpretations of faith, even among little-educated working people.
Reason: Through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, literacy rates rose in most parts of Europe.
(a) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) Assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) Assertion is false but reason is true.
Answer:
(b) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
Both statements are true on their own: Menocchio, the Italian miller, is the chapter's own example of an individual interpretation of faith shaped by reading.
Rising literacy rates are also true, but this specific reason does not directly explain why interpretations became so individually distinctive.

Teacher's Note:
a) Menocchio is the single most important named example for this specific point about individual religious interpretation.

Question 6. Assertion: As literacy and schools spread in European countries, there was a virtual reading mania.
Reason: People wanted books to read, and printers produced books in ever-increasing numbers.
(a) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) Assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) Assertion is false but reason is true.
Answer:
(d) Assertion is false but reason is true.
This assertion was corrected — see the note below.
As literacy and schools spread across European countries (not African, as the uncorrected source mistakenly stated), there was indeed a virtual reading mania, with printers producing books in growing numbers to meet rising demand.

Teacher's Note:
a) This chapter's 'reading mania' section is entirely about Europe — Africa is not part of this particular historical account.

Question 7. Assertion: Children became an important category of readers.
Reason: Primary education became compulsory from the late nineteenth century.
(a) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) Both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) Assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) Assertion is false but reason is true.
Answer:
(a) Both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
As primary education became compulsory from the late nineteenth century, children indeed became an important new readership, and school textbook production became a critical part of the publishing industry.

Teacher's Note:
a) This directly connects a policy change (compulsory education) to its market effect (demand for children's books/textbooks).

Question 8. How was hand-printing technology introduced in Japan?
Answer:
Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand-printing technology into Japan around AD 768-770.

Teacher's Note:
a) Chinese Buddhist missionaries brought hand-printing to Japan around 768-770 AD.
b) This spread the woodblock printing technique eastward across Asia.

Question 9. Explain the meaning of the term 'Calligraphy'.
Answer:
Calligraphy is the visual art of giving form to signs and writing or lettering in an expressive, harmonious and skilful manner, usually produced with a pen or brush.

Teacher's Note:
a) Calligraphy means stylish, expressive handwriting as an art form.
b) It was especially valued in hand-copied Chinese and Japanese texts.

Question 10. Name the first book printed by the Gutenberg Press.
Answer:
The Bible was the first book printed by the Gutenberg Press.

Teacher's Note:
a) The Bible was Gutenberg's first printed book.
b) It marked the start of the print revolution in Europe.

Question 11. Name the oldest Japanese book.
Answer:
The Diamond Sutra is the oldest Japanese book.

Teacher's Note:
a) The Diamond Sutra is Japan's oldest printed book.
b) It was printed using the woodblock method introduced from China.

Question 12. What is Calligraphy?
Answer:
Calligraphy is the art of beautiful and stylish writing.

Teacher's Note:
a) Calligraphy is simply the art of elegant handwriting.
b) It was prized as a skilled craft in hand-copied manuscripts.

Question 13. Who introduced hand-printing technology in Japan?
Answer:
Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand-printing technology in Japan.

Teacher's Note:
a) Chinese Buddhist missionaries brought the technology to Japan.
b) This link shows how printing spread along religious and trade routes.

Question 14. Which method of hand-printing was developed in China?
Answer:
Woodblock printing was the method of hand-printing developed in China.

Teacher's Note:
a) Woodblock printing originated in China.
b) It later spread to Japan and, via Marco Polo, towards Europe.

Question 15. What is a manuscript? Mention any two limitations of manuscripts during the nineteenth century.
Answer:
Manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or handmade paper, with pages often beautifully illustrated.
Two limitations: manuscripts were highly expensive but fragile, and they were written in various vernacular languages in differing scripts and styles, which made them difficult to read easily.

Teacher's Note:
a) Manuscripts were hand-copied, expensive and fragile.
b) Varying scripts and vernacular languages also made them hard to read widely.

Question 16. How had the earliest printing technology developed in the world? Explain with an example.
Answer:
The earliest kind of print technology was developed in China, Japan and Korea, where woodblocks were used for hand printing in China.
Up to the 6th century, print was used only by scholar officials, but later it became more common.
Buddhist missionaries introduced hand-printing technology from China to Japan.
Marco Polo, the great explorer, brought knowledge of woodblock printing from China to Italy.

Teacher's Note:
a) Woodblock printing began in China and spread via Buddhist missionaries and Marco Polo.
b) This chain of transmission eventually carried printing technology to both Japan and Europe.

Question 17. Who developed the first printing press?
Answer:
Johann Gutenberg developed the first known printing press, in the 1430s.

Teacher's Note:
a) Johann Gutenberg built the first known printing press in the 1430s.
b) His press used movable metal type, a major technological leap from woodblock printing.

Question 18. Who wrote the 'Ninety-Five Theses': (a) Martin Luther (b) Johann Gutenberg (c) Charles Dickens (d) Louis Sebastien Mercier?
Answer:
(a) Martin Luther — who wrote the Ninety-Five Theses, criticising the Roman Catholic Church.

Teacher's Note:
a) Martin Luther wrote the Ninety-Five Theses.
b) Its wide printed circulation helped fuel the Protestant Reformation.