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Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

AI-generated practice question — model-generated for extra practice, not a previous-year CBSE board question.

Q1. [3] medium initial-understanding
Even after the printing press made books widely available in Europe, a large section of the population still could not access printed knowledge on their own. What methods did publishers adopt to reach this wider audience? Mention any two.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:44 · grounding rag
Model Answer

Even though books became cheaper after the printing press, literacy rates in Europe remained very low. Publishers adopted the following methods to reach a wider audience:

  1. Printing popular ballads and folk tales: Publishers printed popular ballads and folk tales, which were profusely illustrated with pictures. These could be enjoyed without reading skills.
  1. Oral transmission at public gatherings: These printed materials were sung and recited at gatherings in villages and in taverns in towns, so even the illiterate could access the content.

Thus, oral culture entered print, and printed material was orally transmitted, blurring the line between hearing and reading publics.

Source: Chapter 5, Section 3.1 – A New Reading Public

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Explanation

The examiner expects two clearly stated methods from the textbook. The key points are: (i) publishing illustrated ballads/folk tales, and (ii) public reading/recitation at villages and taverns. Avoid vague answers like "they made books cheaper" — the question specifically asks about reaching those who could not read. Mention the blurring of oral and reading cultures for the third mark.

Previous-year CBSE Grade 10 board exam questions, organised by subject and chapter, each with a model answer — free to read and print.