Q.1. Give two examples of different types of global exchanges which took place before the 17th century, choosing one example from Asia, and one from America.
(a) Asia: The silk routes are a good example of vibrant pre-modern trade before the 17th century. The historians have identified several silk routes, overland and by sea, linking Asia with Europe and northern Africa. .These routes were used for trades in Chinese pottery, textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia. In return, precious metals – gold and silver – came from Europe to Asia.’ Secondly, Christian missionaries and later Muslim preachers travelled through these routes. It may be mentioned here that in ancient times, Buddhism too spread in several directions through intersecting points on the silk routes.
(b) Americas: After the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus, many of our common foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chilies came from America’s original inhabitants i.e., the American Indians. From the sixteenth century, America’s vast lands, abundant crops and minerals transformed trade and lives everywhere. Precious metals like silver from mines in Peru and Mexico enhanced Europe’s wealth and financed its trade with Asia. Legends spread in seventeenth-century Europe about South America’s fabled wealth. Many expeditions set off in search of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold. Thus there were global exchanges before the seventeenth century.
Q.2. Give two examples from history to show the impact of Science and Technology on food availability.
(i) Availability of cheap food in different markets: Improvements in transport; faster railways, lighter wagons and larger ships helped move food more cheaply and quickly from the far-away farms to the final markets.
(ii) Impact on meat: Till the 1870s, meat from America was shipped to Europe in the form of live animals which were then slaughtered in Europe. But live animals took up a lot of ship space. But the invention of refrigerated ships made it possible to transport meat from one region to another. Now animals were slaughtered in America, Australia or New Zealand, and then transported to Europe as frozen meat. The invention of the refrigerated ship had the following advantages :
- This reduced shipping costs and lowered meat prices in Europe.
- The poor in Europe could now consume a more varied diet.
- To the earlier, monotony of bread and potatoes many, not all, could add meat, butter and eggs.
- Better living conditions promoted social peace within the country, and support for imperialism abroad.
Q.3. What is meant by the Bretton Woods Agreement ?
The main aim of the post-war international economic system was to preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world. The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held in July 1944 at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire in the USA agreed upon its framework.
The Bretton Woods Conference established the following institutions :
- International Monetary Fund: Its aim was to deal with external surpluses and deficits of its member nations.
- The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or World Bank was set “Up to finance post-war reconstruction.
- The above institutions are known as The Bretton Woods institutions or Bretton Woods twins. The post-war international economic system is also often described as the Bretton Woods system. It was based on fixed exchange rates. National currencies were pegged to the dollar at a fixed exchange rate. The dollar itself was anchored to gold at a fixed price of $ 35 per ounce of gold.
- The decision-making in these institutions is controlled by the western industrial powers. The US has an effective right of veto over key IMF and World Bank decisions.
Q 4.
1. Peoples livelihood and local economy of which one of the following was badly affected by the disease named Rinderpest
(a) Asia
(b) Europe
(c) Africa
(d) South America
2. Which of the following powerful weapons were used by the Spanish Conquerors to colonise America during mid 17th century.
(a) Coventional Military weapons
(b) Modern Military weapons
(c) Biological weapons
(d) Nuclear weapons
3. Why did the wheat price fall down by 50 per cent between 1928 and 1934?
(a) Due to less production
(b) Due to floods
(c) Due to great depression
(d) Due to droughts
4. Most Indian indentured workers came from
(a) Eastern Uttar Pradesh
(b) North-eastern states
(c) Jammu and Kashmir
(d) None of these
5. Who adopted the concept of an assembly line to produce automobiles ?
(a) Henry Ford
(b) T. Cuppola
(c) V.S. Naipaul
(d) Samuel Morse
6. In ancient period the cowries were used as
(a) jewellery
(b) currency
(c) unit of Weight
(d) utensil
7. Which of the following diseases killed the majority of America’s original inhabitants ?
(a) Cholera
(b) Small Pox
(c) Typhoid
(d) Plague
8. In which place of India were the ‘canal colonies’ set up ?
(a) Punjab
(b) Haryana
(c) Uttar Pradesh
(d) Assam
9. The fast spreading disease of cattle plague is known as
(a) cattle fever
(b) bubonic plague
(c) rinderpest
(d) chicken pox
10. Which of the following place was an important destination for indentured migrants ?
(a) Florida
(b) Melbourne
(c) Carribbean island
(d) Mexico
11. At which of the following states in USA was the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held in 1944?
(a) New Hampshire
(b) New York
(c) San Francisco
(d) New Jersey
12. Which two institutions are well-known as Bretton Wood Institution ?
(a) UNICEF and IMF
(b) WHO and World Bank
(c) IMF and World Bank
(d) UNESCO and UNICEF
13. Who introduced the assembly line method for producing automobiles on a large scale ?
(a) V.S. Naipaul
(b) Henry Morton Stanley
(c) Henry Ford
(d) James Watt
14. Newly irrigated areas to settle peasants of Punjab were known as
(a) Watered colonies
(b) Canal colonies
(c) Punjab colonies
(d) Canalised colonies
15. The group of powers collectively known as the Axis power during the 2nd World War were
(a) Germany, Italy, Japan
(b) Austria, Germany, Italy
(c) France, Japan, Italy
(d) Japan, Germany, Turkey
16. Who among the following is a Nobel prize winner ?
(a) V.S. Naipaul
(b) J.M. Keynes
(c) Shivnarine Chanderpaul
(d) Ramnaresh Sarwan
17. Which of the following combination correctly indicates the three flows of international economic exchange ?
(a) Capital, goods, raw material
(b) Goods, metal, labour
(c) Goods, labour, capital
(d) Labour, capital, food grains
18. Which of the following statement correctly identifies the corn laws ?
(a) Restricted the import of corn to England.
(b) Allowed the import of corn to England.
(c) Imposed tax on corn.
(d) Abolished the sale of corn.
19. Which of the following refers to El Dorado ?
(a) A mythical animal
(b) A legendary god
(c) A fabled city of gold
(d) A sacred place of worship
20. Until 18th century which two countries were considered the richest in the world ?
(a) India and China
(b) China and Japan
(c) England and France
(d) England and Italy
21. Which of the following reflects the cultural fusion between India and Trinidad ?
(a) Native dancing
(b) Chutney music
(c) Religious practices
(d) Cottage industries
22.Transport of perishable goods over long distance was possible because of
(a) improved railways
(b) airline services
(c) refrigerated ships
(d) steamships
23. Which of the following sustained the African lives for centuries ?
(a) Industries and mines
(b) Mines and agriculture
(c) Land and livestock
(d) Production of consumer goods
24. In Trinidad what was referred as Hosay ?
(a) Annual Muharram procession marking a carnival
(b) Christmas Celebration
(c) Easter Festival
(d) New Year Celebration
25. What is meant by tariff ?
(a) Tax imposed on goods.
(b) Tax imposed on a country’s import from the rest of the world.
(c) Tax imposed on countries’ export to other countries.
(d) Tax imposed on handmade goods.
26. The World Bank was set-up to
(a) finance rehabilitation of refugees.
(b) finance post war construction.
(c) finance industrial development.
(d) help third world countries.
27. Mark the correct response out of the following :
(a) The silk route acted as a link between different countries.
(b) The silk route helped in cultural and commercial exchange.
(c) The silk route acted as a route for west bound silk cargos from China.
(d) All the above.
28. Why was the 19th century indenture described as a system of slavery ? Mark the most suitable statement.
(a) Lots of slaves worked in the plantation.
(b) The living and working condition of the indentured labourers were harsh.
(c) The indentured labourers did not have any rights and lived like slaves.
(d) The indentured labourers were not paid any salary.
29. Why did the export of fine Indian textile to England decline in 19th century ?
(a) Production of cotton declined
(b) Demand of Indian textile in England declined
(c) British government imposed heavy tariff on import of cotton textile
(d) Indian merchants refused to sell cotton to the British merchants
30. Which of the following resulted in Britain’s trade surplus ?
(a) British export to India was much higher than British imports from India.
(b) Britain’s export of opium from India increased.
(c) British import from India became higher than British export to India.
(d) Import of cotton from India was profitable for the British merchants.
31. Which of the following factor compelled the Africans to work for wages ?
(a) Poverty
(b) Loss of livestock
(c) Oppression by colonisers
(d) Willingness to work for wages
32. Which of the following is the most important cause for the Great Depression ?
(a) Decline in agricultural production
(b) Agricultural overproduction leading to fall of prices in agricultural goods
(c) Loss of employment leading to poverty
(d) Closure of banks and factories
33. Why were the Europeans attracted most to Africa ?
(a) By its natural beauty
(b) By the opportunities for investment
(c) For its vast land resources and mineral wealth
(d) For recruitment of labour
34. Which of the following enabled the Europeans to conquer and control the Africans ?
(a) Victory in war
(b) Control over the scarce resource of cattle
(c) Death of Africans due to rinderpest
(d) Lack of weapons in Africa to fight against the Europeans
35. Which of the following is the direct effect of Great Depression on Indian Trade ?
(a) Peasants and farmers suffered
(b) Indian exports and imports nearly halved between 1928-1934
(c) Peasants’ indebtedness increased
(d) Led to widespread unrest in rural India
