Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Handwritten manuscripts could not meet the growing demand for books in medieval Europe for the following reasons:

1. Expensive and laborious: Copying was an extremely expensive, laborious, and time-consuming process, even when booksellers employed more than 50 scribes at a time.
2. Fragile and inconvenient: Manuscripts were fragile, awkward to handle, and could not be carried around or read easily.
3. Limited circulation: Due to these limitations, their circulation remained restricted and could not keep pace with ever-increasing demand.

Thus, there was a clear need for quicker and cheaper reproduction of texts, which eventually led to Gutenberg's printing press.

Source: Print Comes to Europe, Chapter 5

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The examiner expects three distinct points drawn directly from the passage. The key phrase from the source is: "Copying was an expensive, laborious and time-consuming business. Manuscripts were fragile, awkward to handle, and could not be carried around or read easily. Their circulation therefore remained limited." Make sure to mention all three aspects — cost/time, fragility/handling difficulty, and limited circulation — for full 3 marks. Avoid vague general statements; use precise textbook language.