Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Britain: Even as factories grew, many industrialists preferred hand labour over machines. Work requiring delicate craftsmanship — fine embroidery, intricate designs — could not be mechanised. Hand labour was also cheaper when abundant labour was available, avoiding costly machine investment.

Colonial India: Large industries were concentrated in Bengal and Bombay. Across the rest of India, small workshops and household units dominated. Only 5% of industrial workers were in registered factories in 1911 and 10% in 1931. Handloom weavers survived by adopting technology like the fly shuttle and producing specialised designs mills could not imitate.

Common factor: In both countries, non-factory producers served niche markets requiring skills machines could not replicate, and their labour remained integral to industrialisation despite factories growing alongside them.

Source: Chapter 4 — Small-scale Industries Predominate; Before the Industrial Revolution

---

• The question has two parts + one comparison — address all three explicitly.
• For Britain, draw on proto-industrialisation and preference for hand labour (guild restrictions, cheaper labour, delicate work).
• For India, use the specific statistics (5%, 10%) and the handloom/fly-shuttle example from the passage.
• The "common factor" is the key synthesis point examiners look for: niche/specialised production that factories could not replace.
• Keep statistics precise — examiners reward use of data from the source.