CBSE Class 10 Social Science (087) sample paper 2026–27, with marking scheme

Johann Gottfried Herder is known for:

1. hosting the Congress of Vienna (1815)
2. founding Young Italy and Young Europe
3. the idea of das volk
4. prints of a world of democratic and social republics (1848)

The Rowlatt Act of 1919 allowed political prisoners to be held without trial for:

1. ten years
2. two months
3. six months
4. two years

The East India Company’s paid servant who supervised weavers was the:

1. jobber
2. gomastha
3. fuller
4. stapler

The earliest hand printing developed in China, Japan and:

1. India
2. Italy
3. Korea
4. Germany

What was ukiyo? Name the Japanese artist best known for it.

Apart from making salt, how did people in the villages and forests take part in the Civil Disobedience Movement? Explain three points.

OR

How did people in the areas conquered by Napoleon react to French rule? Explain three points.

Explain how the expansion of colonial rule in the late nineteenth century shaped the world economy. Give five points.

OR

Compare the Non-Cooperation Movement with the Civil Disobedience Movement. Give five points.

Amritsar, April 1919

Protests against the Rowlatt Act spread through many towns in the spring of 1919, with strikes and shutdowns. In Amritsar, local leaders were picked up by the police, and on 10 April the police fired on a peaceful procession, after which banks, post offices and railway stations were attacked. Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command. On 13 April a large crowd gathered in the walled ground of Jallianwala Bagh. Some had come to protest; many others had come from nearby villages for a fair and did not know about the martial law. Dyer blocked the exits and ordered his men to fire, killing hundreds. He later said he wanted to produce a “moral effect”. As news spread, crowds came out in many north Indian towns, and the government answered with brutal repression.

1. Who was in command of the troops at Jallianwala Bagh?

   1 mark

2. What did General Dyer say was the aim of his action?

   1 mark

3. How did people react to the incident, and how did the government respond? Explain one point each.

   2 marks

On a political outline map of India, locate and label the following: (a) The city where the Indian National Congress held its session in December 1920. (b) The city where Gandhiji organised a satyagraha of cotton mill workers in 1918.

Which of these causes land degradation?

1. contour ploughing
2. industrial effluents
3. shelter belts
4. strip cropping

The Bishnois are known for:

1. declaring their own sanctuary
2. involving villagers in restoring degraded forests
3. protecting blackbuck, nilgai and peacocks
4. resisting deforestation in the Himalayas

Where is coffee mainly grown?

1. Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu
2. Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala
3. West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Odisha
4. Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh

Which describes peat?

1. low carbon and high moisture
2. a placer mineral
3. the most popular commercial coal
4. low-grade brown coal

NW-2 runs along:

1. the Brahmani and Mahanadi delta with canals
2. the Brahmaputra from Sadiya to Dhubri
3. the West Coast Canal in Kerala
4. the Godavari–Krishna stretch with canals

Assertion (A): The monazite sands of Kerala are an important resource for nuclear power. Reason (R): Monazite sands are rich in thorium, which can be used to generate nuclear energy. Choose the correct option.

1. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
2. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
3. A is true, but R is false.
4. A is false, but R is true.

Distinguish between rabi and kharif crops, giving two examples of each.

The groundwater level in a fast-growing city has fallen sharply, and residents now buy water from tankers. Suggest five measures the city and its people could take.

OR

Farmers in a hill district lose their topsoil to rainwater rushing down the slopes, while farmers in a desert district find their fields buried under wind-blown sand. Suggest suitable methods of soil conservation for each district, and explain how each method works.

A city that writes software

The information technology and electronics industry makes a wide range of goods and services, from television sets and telephones to computers and software. Bengaluru has grown into the electronic capital of India. Other major centres include Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Coimbatore. Software technology parks give experts a single place with high-speed data links and other services. The industry has created a very large number of jobs, and many of them are held by women. Its business process outsourcing services earn the country a great deal of foreign exchange.

1. Which city is known as the electronic capital of India?

   1 mark

2. Name any two other centres of the electronics industry mentioned in the passage.

   1 mark

3. Explain two ways in which the IT industry helps the Indian economy.

   2 marks

On a political outline map of India, locate and label the following with suitable symbols: (a) The dam on the Narmada in Gujarat that is one of India’s largest water resource projects (b) Kakrapar nuclear power plant (c) Surat cotton textile centre

Assertion (A): A democratic government is more likely to be legitimate than a non-democratic one. Reason (R): Democratic governments always take decisions faster than non-democratic ones. Choose the correct option.

1. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
2. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
3. A is true, but R is false.
4. A is false, but R is true.

Which of these subjects is on the Concurrent List?

1. communications
2. police
3. education
4. defence

A system that values men more and gives them power over women is:

1. federalism
2. patriarchy
3. feminism
4. decentralisation

According to the book, China has a:

1. no-party system
2. one-party system
3. two-party system
4. federal system

What is meant by the sexual division of labour? Give one example.

Why did the French-speaking community of Belgium accept equal representation in Brussels, where it was in a majority?

Why do voters often feel they have no meaningful choice among political parties? Explain three points.

Why has India adopted a multiparty system? Explain how coalitions and alliances work within it.

OR

Explain five ways in which Indian society remains unequal for women, despite improvements since independence.

A town without parties

Imagine a town council election in which no parties are allowed. Forty candidates stand, each on a separate promise: one wants a new bus stop, another a cleaner market, a third lower water charges. Once elected, the councillors argue for months. No one has promised a plan for the whole town, so nobody can be blamed when the budget goes wrong. The councillors who lost the election have no shared voice either, and nobody organises the questioning of those in charge. Visitors from a nearby town, where parties compete, notice that there the losing side keeps a close eye on the council and voters know whom to hold responsible.

1. What is a political party?

   1 mark

2. Which function is performed by parties that lose an election and criticise the government?

   1 mark

3. Explain two problems that the town in the passage faces because it has no political parties.

   2 marks

In the book’s table (Human Development Report 2025), Pakistan is ranked 168 and Nepal 145. Which country ranks higher in human development?

1. Pakistan
2. Neither is ranked
3. Both rank the same
4. Nepal

What is meant by “intermediate goods”?

1. assets owned by the government
2. assets owned by individuals or companies
3. more workers than needed on a job
4. goods used up in making final goods

The value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a year is its:

1. GDP
2. GVA only
3. per capita income
4. HDI

Which of these is an example of formal credit?

1. a loan from a moneylender
2. credit from a trader
3. a loan from a regional rural bank
4. a loan from an employer

What is meant by “foreign investment”?

1. investment made by MNCs
2. a company producing in more than one country
3. a government restriction on trade
4. a limit on the number of goods imported

Assertion (A): Free trade between two countries tends to bring the prices of similar goods in their markets closer together. Reason (R): Foreign trade connects the markets of different countries, so producers in both countries compete closely for the same buyers. Choose the correct option.

1. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
2. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
3. A is true, but R is false.
4. A is false, but R is true.

(a) What is meant by credit? (b) Give two examples of everyday credit arrangements, naming the lender and the borrower in each.

Distinguish between renewable and non-renewable resources on three points, with an example of each.

(a) Name the two modern forms of money. (b) Explain why the rupee is widely accepted as a medium of exchange, although a currency note has little value as paper.

Arif, a furniture maker, took a bank loan to buy wood for a large wedding-season order. He finished the order on time, repaid the loan and made a good profit. Gita, a farmer, borrowed from a moneylender at a high interest rate; her crop failed and she could not repay, so she borrowed again to repay the first loan. (i) In which case did credit help the borrower? (ii) Explain two reasons why credit helped in that case. (iii) Explain two reasons why the other borrower fell into difficulty.

OR

Two students compare development indicators of three states of an imaginary country. Table: State P — per capita income ₹110,000 a year, infant mortality rate 9 per 1,000 live births, literacy rate 97%, net attendance ratio 95%; State Q — per capita income ₹225,000 a year, infant mortality rate 31 per 1,000 live births, literacy rate 62%, net attendance ratio 67%; State R — per capita income ₹145,000 a year, infant mortality rate 37 per 1,000 live births, literacy rate 84%, net attendance ratio 75%. (i) Which state has the highest per capita income, and by how much does it exceed the lowest? (ii) Which state is likely to have the best human development? Give two reasons from the table. (iii) Suggest two steps State Q should take to improve the well-being of its people.