CLASS 8

SOCIAL SCIENCE
HALF YEARLY EXAM
Time:-3 Hours MM-80 mARKS
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
 The question paper has 52 questions in all.
 Marks are indicated against each question.
 Questions from serial number 1 to 22 are objective type questions. Each question carries 0.5 mark.
Answer them as instructed.
 Questions from serial number 23 to 40 are very short type questions. Each question carries 1 mark.
 Questions from 41 to 45 are 3 marks questions. Answer of these questions should not exceed 80
words each.
 Questions from 46 to 51 are 5 marks questions. Answer of these questions should not exceed 120
words each.
 Question number 52 is a map question of6 marks with two parts – 52 a. from history ( 2marks) and
o 52 b. from Geography (4 marks)

SECTION –A (0.5*22=11)
1. Bhadur Shah Zafar ,the Mughal emperor at the time was seen as the natural leader.Once the revolt was
put down by the company, Bhadur Shah Zafar forced to leave the kingdom, and his sons were shot in
cold blood.
On the basis of the above reading, identify the leader of the revolt which broke out in the year 1857?
a. Nana Saheb
b. Tantia Tope
c. Bahadur Shah Zafar
d. None of these

2. Study the picture and answer the question that follow:

Bahadur Shah Zafar was arrested by the British soldiers after the suppression of revolt because
a. he had supported the revolt of 1857.
b. he had not supported the revolution.
c. he was weak emperor
d. None of these
3. Robert Clive accepting the diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1765.
On the basis of above reading, answer the question that follows;
Choose the correct option, the East India Company as diwani of Bengal was appointed by
a. The Mughal Emperor
b. Queen Elizabeth
c. Nana Saheb
d. None of these
4. The three presidencies that were established by the British with a Governor General in each presidency.
Warren Hastings, the first governor general, introduced several administrative reforms, notably in the
sphere of justice.

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 Choose the correct presidencies which were established by the British in India.
a) Madras, Bombay and Calcutta
b) Madras, Kanpur and Delhi
c) Delhi, Madras and Bombay
d) Bombay, Delhi and Kanpur
5. On 8 April 1857, young soldier Mangal Pandey was hanged to death what are attacking his officer in
Barrackpore, some days later some sepoys of the regiment at Meerut refused to do army drill using the
new cartridges which were suspected of being coated with the fat of cows and pigs. Eighty-five sepoys
were dismissed from the service and sentenced to ten years in jail for disobeying their officers.
On the basis of above reading, answer the following question that follows:
The Indian soldiers in the British army refused to use cartridges because
a) cartridges were suspected of being coated with the fat of cows and pigs
b) Because Soldiers wanted other weapon
c) Because they don’t want to support Britishers
d) None of these
6. The adopted son of Peshwa Bajirao II pleaded that he be given his father’s pension when the latter died.
However the company confident of its superiority and military powers, turned down this pleas.
Name the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Roa II?
a) Tatia tope
b) Nana Saheb
c) Baji Rao I
d) None of these
7.In 1934 the Indian national Congress made the demand for a Constituent Assembly. During the second
world war this assertion for an independent constituent assembly formed only of Indians gained
momentum and this was convened in December 1946.
The Indian national Congress demanded for the Constituent Assembly because
a. For participating in freedom struggle
b. They wanted to make a constitution for the country.
c. Expansion of their power
d. None of these
8. The power that a country has to control its own government is called sovereignty. It is the supreme
authority within a territory.
Independent people in a democratic form of government in called
a) Sovereign
b) Ideal
c) Polity
d) Trafficking
9. It is possible that every society is prone to the tyranny of the majority. The constitution usually contains
rules that insures that minorities are not excluded from anything that is routinely available to the majority.
___________ refers to the cruel and unjust use of power or authority.
a) Monarchy
b) Tyranny
c) Constitutional Monarchy
d) None of these

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10. Study the picture and answer the question that follows:

Identify the above picture that signifies?

a. Proceedings British Parliament
b. Drafting of Indian Constitution in the constituent assembly
c. Drafting of South African constitution
d. None of these
11. Indirect election for the members of Rajya Sabha but but ____________members of rajya Sabha vah
are directly nominated by the president of India.(Application Based)
a) 12
b) 15
c) 16
d) 19
12. The supreme court in the early 1980 is device the mechanism of Public Interest litigation or PIL to
increase justice it allowed any individual or organisation to file a PIL in the high Court or the supreme court
on behalf of those whose rights were being violated. .
Choose the correct option, the idea of the Public Interest Litigation given by
a) President of India
b) Prime Minister of India
c) Supreme Court
d) Parliament
13.Constituition tell us what is the fundamental nature of our society. A country is usually made up of
different communities of people who share certain beliefs but may not necessarily agree on all issues. It is
a set of rules and principles that all persons in a country can agreed upon as the basis of the way in which
they want the country to be governed.
The supreme law of the land is known as________ .
a) Constitution
b) Preamble
c) Assembly
d) None of these
14. Choose the article which states that the fundamental right to life guaranteed the right to food.
a) Article21
b) Article 22
c) Article 32
d) Article 33
15.Resources that are found everywhere is known as___________.
a) Localised
b) Biotic
c) Ubiquitous
d) Non-Renewable
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16. An object or substance becomes a resource due to
its _________.
a) Origin
b) Stock
c) Patent
d) Utility
17. Name the type of resources which have the capacity or ability to reproduce or renew quickly.
a) Localised Resources
b) Non-Renewable resources
c) Renewable Resources
d) None of these
18. land which is owned by the community is called____________..
a) Individual Land
b) Community Land
c) Both a and b.
d) None of these
19.The method in which the bare ground between plants is covered with a layer of organic matter like
straw and helps to retain soil moisture. Name the method of soil conservation.
a) Mulching
b) Contour Farming
c) Terrace Farming
d) Inter-Cropping
20. In India there is potential of producing electricity with the help of thermal power plant.Thermal power
is electricity generated from __________.
a) Coal
b) Hydel Power
c) Firewood
d) Iron
21. To reach mineral deposits, deep bores have to be made.this process is called(Understanding Based)
a) Shaft Mining
b) Drilling
c) Quarrying
d) Open Cast Mining
22. …………… is the leading producer of tin in the world.
a) China
b) Pakistan
c) Switzerland
d) USA
SECTION B
23. Can you explain any two difficulties faced by the ryots, when they started cultivation of Indigo for the
British under ryoti system of indigo cultivation?
Ans 1. The Ryots were payed very low salary
2. After growing indigo the land was no more capable of growing any other crop
24. According to the Permanent Settlemen ,people were given responsibility of revenue collection from
the peasants. Who were those people? 1
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Ans. Zamindars
25.In which year the Mughal emperor appointed the East India Company as the Diwan of Bengal.
Ans 1765
26. In the question given below, there are two statements marked as Assertion A and reason R.read the
statements and choose the correct option
Assertion (A): in 1600, the East India Company acquired a license to trade from queen Elizabeth I.
Reason (R): British moved to different parts of the world to trade.1
a.Both A and R are true and R is the correct Explanation of A
b. Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A
c. A is true but R is wrong
d. R is true but A is wrong
27. “Governor-general Canning decided that he will be the last emperor of mugal dynasty.”
In the above given statement, who was he?
Ans Bahadur Shah Zafar 1
28. Mention the reason for transferring the Company’s power to the British Crown.
Ans The Company wasn’t able to Adminstrate India properly and there was a fear of another revolt
29. In the question given below, there are two statements marked as Assertion A and reason R. Read the
statements and choose the correct option: 1
Assertion (A): The Indian Constitution is a set of rules and laws which governs the nation.
Reason (R): There is provision of fundamental rights in the Indian Constitution.
a. Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
b. Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A
c. A is true but R is wrong
d. R is correct but A is wrong
30. Mention one reason ,why the people of Nepal wanted a democratic government? 1

Ans. The People of Nepal wanted Democratic government

because The King was not administrate the Country properly

31. Which label of Court’s picture is shown below? Explain one feature of judiciary.
Ans. Supreme Court
32. Correct the statement and re-write.
Indian parliament is a body of representatives of fewer group of people.
Ans. Indian parliament is a body of representatives of Larger group of people.
33. Mention one financial power of the parliament of India.
Ans. 1 It passes Budget
34. Indian parliament has bicameral legislature i.e having two houses;Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Both of
these houses constituted of the representatives of the people.
Distinguish between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha .

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Ans 34
Lok Sabha 1 The Supreme Of lok Sabha is Prime minister
2 Lok sabha consists of 545 members
Rajya Sabha 1 The supreme is President
2 Rajya Sabha Consists 245 1
35. “Resources are the symbol of the economical development”. Justify the statement.
Ans. Madam Ke naam
36. Mention two reasons for conserving non-renewable resources.1(Application Based)
Ans 1 They take a lot of time to renew
2 They Are Limited And sooner or later would get exhausted
37. State the reason why more emphasis given on Sustainable development in today’s world of
industrialisation?
Ans Sustainable development in today’s world of industrialization Because Potential resource are not used
today because of non availability of resources

38. There is need to control the land degradation. Mention one way through which the land degradation
can be controlled.
Ans. 1 We need to plant more trees to stop the top fertile layer getting eroded
1
39. Differentiate between potential resources and actual resources with one example each.
Ans
Potential Resource
1 Resources whos quantinties are not know
Eg. Uranium , Hydrogen
Actual Resource
1 Whoes Quantites are known
Eg Aluminium , Iron, Coal, Petroleum
40. Make a list of items which contain minerals that we use in our day today life (Five Items).
Ans 1. Iron
2.Aluminum
3 Gold
4 Platinum
5 Silver
6 Salt 1

SECTION –C
41. Explain the reasons why the Company was not satisfied with the revenue collection through Permanent
Settlement System.
Ans 1 . The Price was Fixed And didn’t differ on the crop production
2. The Zamindars weren’t Investing in Improvement of Land
3. The Price of Crop Increased In Market after 19 th century But due to fixed rate they were not
getting profit
42. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
On hearing the news of the fall of Calcutta, Company officials in Madras sent forces under the commands
of Robert Clive, reinforced by naval fleets. Prolonged negotiations with the Nawab followed. Finally in
1757,Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Sirajuddaulah at Plassey. one of the main reasons for

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the defeat of the Nawab was that the forces led by Mir Jafar, one of Sirajuddaulah’s commanders, never
fought the battle. 1*3=3
42.a who was the leader of forces sent by Company officials?
A Robert Clive
42.b Mention the main reason for the defeat of Sirajuddaulah.
B The reason for his defeat is that the forces led by Mir zafar never fought
42.c Mention the reason why Mir Jafar not supported Sirajuddaulah at the battle of plassey.
Mir Zafar didn’t supported The nawab because the EIC offered him to become the next nawab.
43. Define Constitution. What purpose does it serve?
Ans . Constitution is a set of rules . It Defends the People’s Fundamental rights.
44. There are three different levels of courts in our country. There are several courts at the lower level
while there is only one at the apex level. The courts the most people interact with are what are called
subordinate or district courts. Each state is divided into districts that are presided over by a district
judge.Each state has a High Court which is the highest court of that state. At the top is the Supreme
court that is located in New Delhi and is presided over by the Chief Justice of India. 1*3=3
44.a which is the apex court of India?
Supreme Court Situated in Delhi
44.b what is the role of judiciary in a country?
Giving people Justice
44. c who presided over district level courts?
District Judge
45. Resources that are drawn from nature and used without much modification are called natural
resources. The air we breathe, the water in our rivers and lake , soils, minerals are all natural resources.
Many of these resources are the free gifts of nature and can be used directly. In some cases tools and
technology may be needed to use a natural resources in the best possible way. (1*3=3)
45.a Define Resources.
A Anything that have utility to satisfy human needs are called Resources
45.b How the resources can be extracted more efficiently?
B Open Cast Mining , Quarrying
45 .c “ All the resources are the free gifts of nature.”is it true? If not ,justify your statement.
C True
SECTION D
46. Mention the reasons for discontentment among the Indian sepoys which led to sepoy’s mutiny.
Ans. 1 Less Salary Then British Soldier
2 less Allowance
3 The New Cartridges were greased in Pig and Cow fat that harmed the religious sentiments of them
4 The highest post given to a Indian Soldier was Subhedhar
5 They were forced to go overseas in War Scenarios
47. How did the East India Company begin trade in Bengal?
Ans. First The EIC started Trading in Hooghly River, at that time it traded Gold, Silver for Good quality of
cotton, Silk and spices. It used to buy these goods at a low cost and used to sell them at high costs in
Europe, In They Took Farman from Aurangzeb to buy goods duty free. There was a high demand of Jute
and Indigo in Europe
48. Define Non-Conventional sources of energy. How did these resources can be used judiciously?
The Resources that are continuously replenished by Natural processes
49. What do you understand from Hydrological cycle .Explain with diagram? 5
50. State, why the judiciary should be separated from the other organs of the government. 5
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51.” Opposition party is the watch dog in the democracy.” Justify the statement with appropriate
reasons. 5
SECTION E (Map Skills)
52. (a) Two places A and B have been marked on the given outline map of India. Identify them and write
their correct nameson the lines draw near them. (Application Based)
2+4=6
(A) The place where indigo revolution took place.
(B) The place where champaran movement took place.
(b) On the map of the world locate and label the following
i) Country which is the leading producer of copper.
ii) The country which has larger coal deposits.
iii) The part of India which is enrich with natural gas resources.
iv) The leading producer of Hydel power in the world.

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