Geography 12th Previous Year Paper 2017 SET-I (CBSE)

Geography

Q. 1. State the two groups of factors which affect the profitability of mining. [1/2 + 1/2 = 1]

Answer: Several factors affecting the profitability of mining operations are:

Richness or Grade of the Ore,
Size of Deposit,
Method of Mining,
Accessibility,
Stage of Industrial Development

Q. 2. Which country in the world has the highest road density ?
Answer: Japan with respect to country size/area, Japan has highest road density and is 327 km length of roads per 100 sq. km area.

Q. 3. Name any two garrison (cantonment) towns of India. [1/2 + 1/2 = 1]

Answer: Main cantonment towns of India are

Ambala,
Jalandhar,
Mhow,
Babina and
Udhampur.

Q. 4.Why is West Asia the least developed in rail facilities ? Explain one reason.

Answer: West Asia is the least developed in terms of rail facilities because of vast deserts and sparsely populated regions.

Q. 5. Examine the twin environmental problems that have emerged in the ‘Indira Gandhi Canal Command Area’.

Answer: Due to intensive irrigation and excessive use of water has led to the emergence of problems of water logging and soil salinity and both these have an adverse effect on soil fertility and agricultural productivity.

Q. 6. Classify minerals on the basis of chemical and physical properties. [1/2 + 1/2 = 1]

Answer: Minerals are divided into groups on the basis of chemical and physical properties. These are:

Metallic and
Non-Metallic minerals. Examples of metallic minerals are iron, copper, gold, silver and non-metallic minerals are salt, coal, copper, etc.

Q. 7. How can you help in improving the quality of water in your locality ? [1]

Answer: Quality of water suffers from large scale of pollution almost throughout the country. In the populated locality, we can avoid dumping all waste matter into water and into our rivers.

Q. 8.1. Study the map given below carefully and answer the Questions that follow : [3]

Answer: The canal shown in map is Suez Canal, constructed in 1869 between Port Said and Port Suez in Egypt.

Q. 8.2. Write any four characteristics of this canal.

Answer: The main characteristics of this canal are:

It gives Europe a new gateway to the Indian ocean and reduces sea-route distance between Liverpool and Colombo by 6400 km compared to Cape of Good Hope route.
It is a sea level canal without locks which is 130 km long and 11 to 15 meter deep.
About 100 ships travel daily and each ship takes around 10-12 hours to cross the canal.
As the tolls are heavy, some find it cheaper to go by the longer Cape Route whenever the consequent delay is not important.
A navigable fresh canal also follows from Nile.

Q. 9. Describe any three characteristics of chain stores in the world. [3 × 1 = 3]

Answer: The distinctive features of multiple shops are as under:

Chain stores are able to purchase merchandise most economically to their specification.
They often direct the manufacturers. They employ highly skilled specialists.
The main objective of the chain stores is to establish direct contact with the consumers by eliminating middlemen.
They operate under centralised control and are horizontally integrated.
The layout of these shops is simple and similar. They have the ability to experiment in one store and apply the results to many.

Q. 10. Study the diagram given below and answer the Questions that follow : [3 × 1 = 3]

Q. 10.1. Identify and name the steel plant given above. In which state this plant located ?

Answer: Steel plant is “Bhilai” and located in Chhattisgarh State.

Q. 10.2. Which is the main source of power for this steel plant ? Which rail route provides transport facilities to this plant ?

Answer: Main power source is “Korba Thermal Power Station”. The rail route connecting to this plant is Kolkata-Mumbai rail route.

Q. 10.3. What are the major sources of Iron ore and water for this steel plant ?

Answer: Major source of rich Hematite Iron Ore for this plant is “Dalli-Rajhara range” of mines. The water source is “Tandula Tank”.

Q. 11. “There is no consensus on what exactly defines a village or a town.” Analyse the statement by using different criteria.

Answer: We all live in a cluster of houses which can be called as a village or a town. It is widely accepted that settlements can be differentiated in terms of rural (village) and urban (town), but there is no consensus on what exactly defines a village or a town. Although the population size is an important criterion, it is not a universal criteria since many villages in densely populated countries like India and China have population exceeding than some towns of Europe and USA. In certain countries, urban settlements are defined on the economic basis. For example, in India, towns are called urban towns cities when it has 75% of its work force engaged in non-agricultural activities, whereas in some western countries an urban area is if more than 50% of the economically productive population are engaged in non-agricultural pursuits.

Q. 12. “Nature provides opportunities and humans make use of these and slowly nature gets humanised and starts bearing the imprints of human endeavour.” Justify the statement.

Answer: When the human being makes use of opportunities provided by nature, it starts bearing the imprints of human endeavour and this situation is known as humanisation of nature. Human beings interact with their physical environment with the help of technology. Technology indicates the level of cultural development of society.

Knowledge about nature is extremely important to develop technology and advanced technology loosens the shackles of environment on human beings. In the early stages of their interaction with their natural environment humans were greatly influenced by it. They adapted to the dictates of nature. This is so because the level of technology was very low and the stage of human social development was also primitive. They create possibilities with the resources obtained from the environment. The human activities create the cultural landscape. The imprints of human activities are created everywhere; health resorts on highlands, huge urban sprawls, fields, orchards and pastures in plains and rolling hills, ports on the coasts, oceanic routes on the oceanic surface and satellites in space.

Q. 13. “Indiscriminate use of water by increasing population and industrial expansion has led to degradation of the water quality considerably in India.” Explain the values that can help in maintaining the quality of water.

Answer: Indiscriminate use of water by increasing population and industrial expansion has led to degradation of the quality of water considerably. Values that can help in maintaining the quality of water are:

Judicious/optimum use of water; controlling population and recycle and reuse of water; Watershed Management and Rainwater Harvesting.
Haryali is the watershed development started by the government of India for the same reason.
Industries which are located on the river banks should be monitored for the waste disposals. They should not be throwing the waste in the river.

Q. 14. Mention any four major objectives of the New Industrial Policy, 1991 of India. Describe the role of globalisation in achieving these objectives. [2 + 3 = 5]

Answer: Major objectives of India’s New Industrial Policy 1991 are as follows:

The New Industrial Policy, 1991 seeks to liberate the industry from the shackles of licensing system. Maintain a sustained growth in productivity.
Encourage foreign participation in India’s industrial development.
Gainful employment and attain international competitiveness.

The process of globalisation includes opening up of world trade, development of advanced means of communication, internationalization of financial markets, growing importance of MNCs, population migrations and increased mobility of persons, goods, capital, data and ideas. It refers to the integration of economies of the world through uninhibited trade and financial flows, as also through mutual exchange of technology and knowledge. It also contains free inter-country movement of labour. This implies opening up the economy to foreign direct investment by providing facilities to foreign companies to invest in different fields of economic activity in India, removing constraints and obstacles to the entry of MNCs, allowing Indian companies to enter into foreign collaborations and also encouraging them to set up joint ventures abroad; carrying out massive import liberalisation programs by switching over from quantitative restrictions to tariffs and import duties, therefore globalisation has been identified with the policy reforms of 1991 in India.

Q. 15. “The size of a territory and per capita income are not directly related to human development.” Support the statement with examples.

Answer: Yes, it is true that the size of territory and per capita income are not directly related to human development.

Growth of economy and productivity is generally assessed with the help of gross national product and per capita income.
There are few rich and developed states like Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi have per capita income more than ₹ 4,000/month.
Poverty is reflected in poor quality of life. Hundreds of people suffer from malnutrition, deprivation, illiteracy and consequent low level of human development. It does not depend upon the size of territory.
Often Smaller Countries have done better than larger ones in human development. Similarly, relatively poorer nations have been ranked higher than richer neighbours in terms of human development. For example Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago have a higher rank than India in the human development index despite having smaller economies. Similarly, within India, Kerala performs much better than Punjab and Gujarat in human development despite having lower per capita income.
Some large states like Odisha, Bihar, MP, UP and Tamilnadu have more than 50% population below poverty line while Delhi is much smaller area wise but is a prosperous state.

Q. 16. How is migration a response to the uneven distribution of opportunities over a space ? Explain the economic consequences of migration in India. [2 + 3 = 5]

Answer: Migration is a response to the uneven distribution of opportunities because of the following reasons:

In India many people live in rural areas and they migrate to urban areas mainly due to poverty, high population pressure on land, lack of basic infrastructural facilities like health, education, etc. This proves that migration is responsible for the uneven distribution over space.
People tend to move from a place of low opportunities and less safety to a place which has more opportunities and safe.

Economic Consequences

People migrating send remittance to their families at home and add to economic prosperity.
Remittances from international migrants is one of the major sources of foreign exchange. In 2002, India received US $11 billion as remittances from international migrants. Remittances are used for food, repayment of debts, treatment, marriages, children education, agricultural development, construction of houses, etc. Thousands of poor villages of many states works as live blood for economy.
Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu receive very significant amount from their international migrants. Internal Migrants play an important role in the growth of economy of the source area.

Q. 17. “In modern times international trade is the basis of the world economy.” Support the statement with examples.

Answer: Trade is the base of the world economy. The exchange of surplus goods between different countries is called international trade. It is the index of economic development of the country. The countries which export the commodities earn foreign exchange. Developed countries are major trading countries. It also helps to raise the standards of living of the people of developing countries. Some densely populated countries have to import raw materials to meet their demands for their economic and industrial development.

Such countries are Japan, Sri Lanka and other countries. The actual tonnage of goods traded makes up the volume. However, services traded cannot be measured in tonnage. Therefore, the total value of goods and services traded is considered to be the volume of trade. The total volume of world trade has been steadily rising over the past decades. Trade of primary products was dominant in the beginning of the last century. Later manufactured goods gained prominence and currently, though the manufacturing sector commands the bulk of the global trade, service sector which includes travel, transportation and other commercial services have been showing an upward trend.

Q. 18. Review any five measures adopted to solve the problems of Indian agriculture. [5 × 1 = 5]

Answer: Measures adopted to solve the problems are :

(i) Indian agriculture is totally dependent on monsoon. The crop production in the cultivated land is directly dependent on rainfall. Excessive rainfall causes flood and less rainfall causes drought conditions. For expansion of irrigation dams, rivers and canals have played a crucial role enhancing agriculture output in the country.

(ii) The yield of the crops in the country is low in comparison to international level. Output of most of crops such as rice, wheat, cotton and oil seeds in India is much lower than that of the USA, Russia, Japan. Use of modern agricultural technologies such as high yield variety of seeds, chemical fertilisers, pesticides and farm machinery are introduced in India.

(iii) The inputs of modern agriculture are very expensive for the farmers to afford. So the government is supporting them by introducing the facilities like farmer loans, machinery loans at very low interest rates.

(iv) A large number of farmers produce crops for self consumption. These farmers do not have enough land and resources to produce more than their requirement. Government is encouraging them to use high yield seeds, fertilisers and provide it in competitive rates.

(v) New seed varieties of wheat (Mexico) and rice (Philippines) known as high yielding varieties (HYVs) were available for cultivation by mid-1960s. India took advantage of this and introduced package technology comprising HYVs, along with chemical fertilisers in irrigated areas of Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

Q. 19. Classify intensive subsistence agriculture into two categories practised in the world. How are they different from each other ? Explain. [1 + 4 = 5]

Answer: Basically, there are two types of intensive subsistence agriculture : Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by Wet paddy cultivation : This type of agriculture is characterised by dominance of the rice crop. Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by Non Paddy crops : This type of agriculture is characterised mainly by wheat.

Paddy	Non-Paddy
(i) Rice is the dominant crop.	Wheat, Soyabean, Barley and Sorghum are the main crops.
(ii) Land holdings are very small due to high density of population	Land holdings are big.
(iii) Labour is supplied by the farmer and his family members.	Machinery is deployed for cultivation of non-paddy crops.
(iv) Fertility of soil is maintained by using farm manure.	Fertilisers pesticides are highly used for increasing soil fertility.

Q. 20. Classify means of communication on the basis of scale and quality into two categories. Explain any two characteristics of each category. [1 + 4 = 5]

Answer: Classification of means of communication on the basis of scale and quality : Personal Communication System:

It is the most effective and advanced one and widely used in urban areas.
It enables the user to establish direct connect through Email to get access to the world of knowledge and information.
It is used for e-commerce and carrying out monetary transaction.
It is a huge central warehouse of data, with detailed information on various items. (Letters, Telephone, Fax, Email, Internet, etc).

Mass Communication System

Radio broadcasting started in India in 1923 by the Radio Club of Bombay and changed the socio-cultural life of people.
Television broadcasting emerged as the most.
Use of satellite and synoptic view of larger area effective audio visual medium for information and for economic and strategic reasons.

(Radio, Television, Cinema, Satellite, Newspaper, Magazine and Books, Seminar and Conference, etc.).

Q. 21. Identify the five geographical features shown on the given political outline map of the world as A, B, C, D and E and write their correct names on the lines marked near them with the help of the following information: [5 × 1 = 5]