Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Reasons manuscripts were not widely used:

1. Expensive and fragile – Manuscripts were costly to produce and had to be handled with great care.
2. Difficult to read – The script was written in different styles, making reading hard.
3. Limited copies – They could not be produced in large numbers to reach many people.

Why print solved these problems:

Print reduced the cost of books, allowed multiple copies to be produced quickly and easily, and made texts uniform and readable. This created a wide reading public, bringing books within reach of common people.

Source: Chapter 5 – Print Culture and the Modern World, Section 6.1 Manuscripts Before the Age of Print

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The examiner expects two parts here: reasons for manuscript limitations (from Section 6.1) and how print overcame them (from Section 3.1). Key phrases to include: expensive, fragile, different scripts, limited copies for manuscripts; reduced cost, multiple copies, wider readership for print. Avoid padding — three crisp points per part is enough for 3 marks.