History MCQ, Class-10th, Chapter-4, The Age of Industrialization

NCERT based History MCQ of Class 10th, Chapter-4, The Age of Industrialization with brief explanation for competitive exams like TGT HTET, KVS PGT, SSC and all other state competition exams. 
History MCQ, Class-10th, Chapter-4, The Age of Industrialization

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NCERT Based History MCQ, Class-9th

11th Geography MCQ for HTET

NCERT Based MCQ with Explanation:

1. What symbolized progress in the 1900 music book cover by E.T. Paull?

(a) A warrior with a sword

(b) An angel with a flag

(c) A factory worker

(d) A merchant ship

Explanation: The music book cover depicted a goddess-like angel of progress holding a flag, symbolizing the new century, surrounded by symbols of technology like railways and factories, representing industrial advancement.


2. What did the term "Orient" refer to in the context of industrial imagery?

(a) Western Europe

(b) Countries east of the Mediterranean

(c) North America

(d) Sub-Saharan Africa

Explanation: The term "Orient" described regions east of the Mediterranean, mainly Asia, viewed by Westerners as pre-modern, traditional, and mysterious, often contrasted with Western modernity in industrial imagery.


3. In the trade magazine image, who was contrasted with Aladdin?

(a) A factory owner

(b) A modern mechanic

(c) A colonial administrator

(d) A traditional weaver

Explanation: The trade magazine showed Aladdin, representing the East and past, contrasted with a modern mechanic symbolizing the West and modernity, highlighting technological advancements in bridges and ships.


4. What was a key feature of the modern world according to the document’s imagery?

(a) Agricultural dominance

(b) Rapid technological change

(c) Manual labor reliance

(d) Religious reforms

Explanation: The modern world was portrayed as driven by rapid technological changes, with machines, factories, railways, and steamships symbolizing progress and development in the industrial era.


5. Which country is described as the first industrial nation in the chapter?

(a) India

(b) Britain

(c) France

(d) Germany

Explanation: Britain is highlighted as the first industrial nation, leading the way in factory-based industrialisation, with significant developments in cotton and metal industries during the eighteenth century.


6. What term describes the pre-factory phase of large-scale industrial production?

(a) Mechanisation

(b) Proto-industrialisation

(c) Urbanisation

(d) Colonialism

Explanation: Proto-industrialisation refers to the phase before factories, where merchants organized large-scale production in rural households for international markets, without centralized factory systems.


7. Why did European merchants move production to the countryside in the seventeenth century?

(a) Urban guilds restricted trade

(b) Rural areas had better technology

(c) Cities lacked raw materials

(d) Peasants demanded urban jobs

Explanation: Powerful urban craft and trade guilds controlled production, prices, and entry in towns, making it difficult for new merchants to operate, so they shifted to the countryside.


8. What forced peasants to work for merchants in the countryside?

(a) High urban wages

(b) Enclosure of common lands

(c) Government policies

(d) Improved farming techniques

Explanation: The enclosure of common lands reduced peasants’ access to resources like firewood and hay, pushing them to work for merchants to supplement their shrinking income from small plots.


9. How did proto-industrialisation utilize family labor?

(a) Only adult males were employed

(b) Entire households worked together

(c) Children were excluded

(d) Women managed finances

Explanation: Proto-industrialisation involved entire peasant households, including women and children, working together on production tasks, supplementing income from small land plots in rural areas.


10. What role did London play in the proto-industrial cloth trade?

(a) Raw material supplier

(b) Finishing centre

(c) Export hub

(d) Weaver training hub

Explanation: London was a finishing centre where cloth was finalized before being sold in international markets, after being processed by spinners, weavers, fullers, and dyers in the countryside.

12th Biology NCERT Based MCQ

11. When did the earliest factories appear in England?

(a) 1650s

(b) 1730s

(c) 1800s

(d) 1850s

Explanation: The earliest factories in England emerged by the 1730s, but their numbers significantly increased in the late eighteenth century, marking the shift to factory-based production.


12. What was the first symbol of the new industrial era in Britain?

(a) Steam engine

(b) Cotton

(c) Iron

(d) Coal

Explanation: Cotton was the first symbol of the new industrial era, with its production booming in the late eighteenth century due to technological innovations and factory systems.


13. By how much did Britain’s raw cotton imports increase from 1760 to 1787?

(a) From 2.5 to 10 million pounds

(b) From 2.5 to 22 million pounds

(c) From 10 to 50 million pounds

(d) From 22 to 100 million pounds

Explanation: Britain’s raw cotton imports for its cotton industry surged from 2.5 million pounds in 1760 to 22 million pounds by 1787, driven by technological advancements.


14. Who invented the cotton mill in Britain?

(a) James Watt

(b) Richard Arkwright

(c) Mathew Boulton

(d) Thomas Newcomen

Explanation: Richard Arkwright created the cotton mill, centralizing production processes under one roof, improving supervision, quality control, and efficiency compared to rural household production.


15. What allowed better supervision in cotton mills?

(a) Decentralized production

(b) Centralized processes

(c) Manual tools

(d) Rural labor

Explanation: Cotton mills brought all production processes under one roof, enabling careful supervision, quality control, and labor regulation, which was challenging in scattered rural production.


16. Which industry led Britain’s industrialisation up to the 1840s?

(a) Iron and steel

(b) Cotton

(c) Coal mining

(d) Shipbuilding

Explanation: Cotton was the leading sector in Britain’s industrialisation until the 1840s, growing rapidly due to technological innovations and high demand, before iron and steel took over.


17. What drove the demand for iron and steel in Britain from the 1840s?

(a) Textile production

(b) Railway expansion

(c) Agricultural tools

(d) Shipbuilding

Explanation: The expansion of railways in England from the 1840s and in colonies from the 1860s significantly increased the demand for iron and steel for construction.


18. By 1873, how much was Britain’s iron and steel export worth?

(a) £22 million

(b) £50 million

(c) £77 million

(d) £100 million

Explanation: By 1873, Britain’s iron and steel exports were worth about £77 million, double the value of cotton exports, reflecting the growing importance of these industries.


19. What percentage of Britain’s workforce was in advanced industrial sectors by the late nineteenth century?

(a) 20%

(b) 50%

(c) 80%

(d) Less than 20%

Explanation: By the end of the nineteenth century, less than 20% of Britain’s workforce was employed in technologically advanced industrial sectors, with most in traditional crafts.


20. Which traditional industry saw growth through small innovations?

(a) Textile factories

(b) Food processing

(c) Steam engine production

(d) Railway construction

Explanation: Traditional industries like food processing grew through small innovations, contributing to industrial progress without relying on steam-powered mechanization, unlike cotton or metal industries.


21. Why was the adoption of new technology slow in Britain’s industries?

(a) Lack of skilled workers

(b) High costs and unreliability

(c) Government restrictions

(d) Abundant raw materials


22. How many steam engines were in use in England at the start of the nineteenth century?

(a) 100

(b) 321

(c) 500

(d) 1000


23. Why did British industrialists prefer hand labor in the nineteenth century?

(a) Machines were unreliable

(b) Abundant cheap labor

(c) Government incentives

(d) Lack of raw materials


24. Which industries had seasonal labor demands in Victorian Britain?

(a) Textiles and mining

(b) Gas works and breweries

(c) Railways and shipbuilding

(d) Agriculture and pottery


25. What type of goods required hand labor in mid-nineteenth-century Britain?

(a) Standardized uniforms

(b) Intricate designs

(c) Mass-produced textiles

(d) Heavy machinery


26. Why did Britain’s upper classes prefer handmade products?

(a) They were cheaper

(b) Symbolized refinement

(c) Easier to produce

(d) More durable


27. Where was mechanization prioritized in the nineteenth century?

(a) Britain

(b) America

(c) India

(d) France


28. How did the abundance of labor affect workers’ lives in Victorian Britain?

(a) Increased wages

(b) Job security

(c) Low wages

(d) Better working conditions


29. What made job acquisition difficult for workers in Victorian Britain?

(a) Lack of skills

(b) Reliance on social networks

(c) Government regulations

(d) High wages


30. What percentage of the urban population was extremely poor in mid-nineteenth-century Britain?

(a) 5%

(b) 10%

(c) 20%

(d) 50%


31. Why were workers hostile to the Spinning Jenny in Britain?

(a) It was expensive to operate

(b) It reduced job opportunities

(c) It required skilled labor

(d) It was unsafe


32. What construction activities increased employment in Britain after the 1840s?

(a) Factory building

(b) Road widening and railways

(c) Rural housing

(d) Port expansion


33. Which Indian textiles dominated the international market before machine industries?

(a) Wool and jute

(b) Silk and cotton

(c) Linen and hemp

(d) Synthetic fabrics


34. Which port connected India to Southeast Asian trade routes?

(a) Surat

(b) Hoogly

(c) Masulipatam

(d) Bombay


35. Who financed India’s pre-colonial textile export trade?

(a) European companies

(b) Indian merchants and bankers

(c) British government

(d) Local rulers


36. Why did the port of Surat decline by the 1740s?

(a) Natural disasters

(b) European colonial control

(c) Lack of raw materials

(d) Internal conflicts


37. Which ports grew as colonial power expanded in India?

(a) Surat and Hoogly

(b) Bombay and Calcutta

(c) Masulipatam and Madras

(d) Goa and Cochin


38. How did the East India Company control Indian weavers after the 1760s?

(a) By training them in factories

(b) Through gomasthas and advances

(c) By importing raw materials

(d) By banning exports


39. What was a gomastha in the context of the Indian textile trade?

(a) A weaver

(b) A paid supervisor

(c) A merchant banker

(d) A colonial governor


40. Why did weavers accept advances from the East India Company?

(a) To improve their skills

(b) To supplement income

(c) To buy machinery

(d) To expand farms


41. How did gomasthas differ from earlier supply merchants?

(a) They were local villagers

(b) They had no social ties with weavers

(c) They provided better prices

(d) They used machinery


42. What caused the decline of Indian textile exports by the early nineteenth century?

(a) Increased local demand

(b) British import duties

(c) Lack of skilled weavers

(d) Improved Indian machinery


43. By how much did Indian textile exports fall from 1811-12 to 1850-51?

(a) From 33% to 10%

(b) From 33% to 3%

(c) From 50% to 20%

(d) From 20% to 5%


44. What impact did the American Civil War have on Indian weavers?

(a) Increased cotton exports

(b) Reduced raw cotton supply

(c) Improved weaving technology

(d) Expanded export markets


45. When did the first cotton mill in Bombay start production?

(a) 1854

(b) 1862

(c) 1874

(d) 1880


46. Who set up the first jute mill in Calcutta?

(a) Dwarkanath Tagore

(b) Seth Hukamchand

(c) Jamsetjee Tata

(d) G.D. Birla


47. Where did the capital for early Indian industries come from?

(a) British government

(b) Trade with China

(c) Local agriculture

(d) European banks


48. Which European agencies controlled Indian industries until World War I?

(a) Indian Chambers of Commerce

(b) Bird Heiglers & Co, Andrew Yule

(c) Tata and Birla groups

(d) Local merchant guilds


49. Where did most workers in Bombay’s cotton mills in 1911 come from?

(a) Calcutta

(b) Ratnagiri

(c) Kanpur

(d) Madras


50. Who typically recruited workers for Indian factories?

(a) Government officials

(b) Jobbers

(c) European managers

(d) Local merchants

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