Syllabus note
Note: This chapter is not part of the CBSE Class 12 Sociology syllabus for 2026-27 (CBSE has deleted it). Students of other boards should check their board’s latest syllabus.
20 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in the common exam-style shapes. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markWhich term refers specifically to the range of policy decisions the Indian state took since 1991 to open the Indian economy to the world market?
(A) Glocalisation(B) Liberalisation(C) Globalisation(D) Disinvestment - 1 markSociological imagination, as the chapter uses it, connects which pairs?
(A) Only the rich and the poor(B) The past and the present only(C) The micro and the macro, the local and the global(D) Only the rural and the urban - 1 markThe book describes Panini, the greatest grammarian in Sanskrit, as being of which origin?
(A) Roman origin(B) Afghan origin(C) Chinese origin(D) Persian origin - 1 markIn which century did the Chinese scholar Yi Jing learn Sanskrit in Java, on his way from China to India?
(A) 3rd century CE(B) 12th century(C) 7th century(D) 4th century BCE - 1 markWhat does the kupamanduka (well-frog) parable, cited by the book, warn against?
(A) Isolationism(B) Overpopulation(C) Excess consumption(D) Excessive globalisation - 1 markThe Silk Route, per the book, connected India centuries ago to great civilisations in which regions?
(A) Only China and Japan(B) Only Rome and Greece(C) China, Persia, Egypt and Rome(D) Only Persia and Arabia - 1 markAccording to the book, what was possibly the greatest historical movement of people?
(A) Europeans migrating to the Americas and Australia(B) The Silk Route caravans(C) Indian traders travelling to Southeast Asia(D) Refugees of the 1947 Partition
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): Liberalisation and globalisation mean exactly the same thing in the book. Reason (R): The book explicitly states these two terms are related but not the same.
(A) A is true, but R is false(B) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(C) A is false, but R is true(D) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A - 1 markAssertion (A): Nike production kept moving from country to country because labour costs kept rising wherever it was based. Reason (R): The book explains that as labour costs rose in one country, production shifted to a country with cheaper labour.
(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 false, but R is true(D) A is true, but R is false
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch the organisation in Column A with its type in Column B, then choose the option with all four matched correctly.
Column A: 1. WTO 2. Greenpeace 3. ASEAN 4. IMF
Column B: (i) Regional political grouping (ii) INGO (iii) IGO regulating trade (iv) International lending institution
(A) 1-ii, 2-iii, 3-iv, 4-i(B) 1-iii, 2-ii, 3-i, 4-iv(C) 1-i, 2-iv, 3-ii, 4-iii(D) 1-iv, 2-i, 3-iii, 4-ii - 1 markMatch the decade in Column A with the production location Column B shows Nike moving to.
Column A: 1. 1960s 2. Mid-1970s 3. 1980s 4. Since 1990s
Column B: (i) India (ii) Japan (iii) South Korea (iv) Thailand and Indonesia
(A) 1-iii, 2-ii, 3-i, 4-iv(B) 1-i, 2-iv, 3-iii, 4-ii(C) 1-iv, 2-i, 3-ii, 4-iii(D) 1-ii, 2-iii, 3-iv, 4-i
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markConsider these statements about liberalisation in India: (1) Reforms since July 1991 covered agriculture, industry, trade, foreign investment and technology. (2) Liberalisation involved taking loans from institutions such as the IMF. (3) Liberalisation meant the state increased its direct control over the Indian market.
(A) Only (2) and (3) are correct(B) Only (1) and (2) are correct(C) Only (1) and (3) are correct(D) (1), (2) and (3) are all correct - 1 markConsider these statements about India’s historical global links: (1) India was not isolated from the world even two thousand years ago. (2) The Silk Route connected India to China, Persia, Egypt and Rome. (3) Global interconnections are a new development unique to modern India.
(A) Only (1) and (3) are correct(B) Only (2) and (3) are correct(C) (1), (2) and (3) are all correct(D) Only (1) and (2) are correct
5 Chronological Ordering
Chronological Ordering
- 1 markArrange Nike’s production locations in the chronological order the book describes.
1. Thailand and Indonesia
2. South Korea
3. Japan
4. India
(A) 1-2-3-4(B) 3-2-1-4(C) 4-3-2-1(D) 2-1-4-3 - 1 markArrange these telecom milestones in chronological order.
1. India has 25 million+ telephone lines, world’s 9th-largest network
2. India gains Independence with 84,000 telephone lines
3. Only 3% of India’s villages have telephones
4. About 650,000 PCOs provide reliable telephone service
(A) 1-2-3-4(B) 4-3-2-1(C) 3-1-2-4(D) 2-3-1-4
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 mark_______ refers to the growing interdependence between different people, regions and countries as social and economic relationships stretch worldwide.
(A) Glocalisation(B) Globalisation(C) Liberalisation(D) Disinvestment - 1 markThe mixing of the global with the local is called _______.
(A) Glocalisation(B) Structural adjustment(C) Fordism(D) Homogenisation
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markWhich one is the odd one out among these organisations named in the book?
(A) General Motors(B) Coca Cola(C) Greenpeace(D) Mitsubishi
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
An ILO report, “Labour and Social Trends in Asia and the Pacific 2005”, states that the largest number of poor people lives in South Asia, and that the poverty rate is particularly high in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. The report provides a stark analysis of a growing ’employment gap’ in the Asia region: the creation of new jobs has failed to keep pace with the region’s impressive economic growth. Between 2003 and 2004, employment in Asia and the Pacific increased by a ‘disappointing’ 1.6 per cent, or by 25 million jobs, to a total of 1.588 billion jobs, compared to the strong economic growth rate of over 7 per cent.
- 1 markPer the passage, in which three countries is poverty stated to be particularly high?
(A) India, Nepal and Bangladesh(B) India, Pakistan and Nepal(C) India, Sri Lanka and Nepal(D) China, India and Bangladesh
9 True / False
True / False
- 1 markState whether each is True or False: (1) Mumbai is called India’s financial capital. (2) The electronic economy allows funds to move internationally instantly. (3) Globalisation of finance happened for the first time mainly due to television broadcasting.
(A) True, False, True(B) True, True, False(C) False, True, True(D) True, True, True
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (B) The book uses ‘liberalisation’ for India’s own 1991 policy decisions; globalisation is the wider worldwide process.
- (C) The book defines sociological imagination as making sense of the connections between the individual and society, the micro and the macro, the local and the global.
- (B) The book states Panini, who systematised Sanskrit grammar and phonetics around the fourth century BCE, was of Afghan origin.
- (C) The book names Yi Jing as ‘the seventh-century Chinese scholar’ who learned Sanskrit in Java.
- (A) The book cites the kupamanduka parable, via Amartya Sen, as a warning against isolationism.
- (C) The book names China, Persia, Egypt and Rome as the civilisations the Silk Route connected India to.
- (A) The book states that perhaps the greatest movement of people was the migration of Europeans who settled in the Americas and Australia.
Assertion-Reason
- (C) A is false: the book says the terms are related but not identical. R is true and is exactly why A is false.
- (A) Both are true, and R explains exactly why A happened: production moved from Japan to South Korea to Thailand/Indonesia to India as costs rose.
Match the Following
- (B) WTO regulates trade (iii), Greenpeace is an INGO (ii), ASEAN is a regional grouping (i), and IMF is a lending institution (iv).
- (D) Nike shoes were made in Japan in the 1960s, moved to South Korea in the mid-1970s, widened to Thailand/Indonesia in the 1980s, and reached India from the 1990s.
Statement-Based Questions
- (B) (1) and (2) are exactly as the book states. (3) is wrong: liberalisation meant the steady removal of rules that regulated Indian trade and finance, not more control.
- (D) (1) and (2) are stated directly in the book. (3) is wrong: the book explicitly says global interactions are ‘not novel developments unique to the modern period or unique to modern India’.
Chronological Ordering
- (B) The book’s order is Japan (1960s) -> South Korea (mid-1970s) -> Thailand and Indonesia (1980s) -> India (since the 1990s), i.e. 3-2-1-4.
- (D) Order: Independence 1947 (2) -> 1980, only 3% of villages had telephones (3) -> 1999, 9th-largest network (1) -> 2000, ~650,000 PCOs (4).
Fill in the Blanks
- (B) This is the book’s own definition of globalisation.
- (A) The book defines glocalisation as the mixing of the global with the local.
Odd One Out
- (C) Coca Cola, General Motors and Mitsubishi are all named as TNCs/MNCs; Greenpeace is named as an INGO, a different category.
Passage-Based Questions
- (A) The passage names India, Nepal and Bangladesh as the countries with particularly high poverty rates.
True / False
- (B) (1) and (2) are true, as the book states. (3) is false: the book credits the information technology revolution, not television broadcasting, for the first-ever globalisation of finance.
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