Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow :
New Forms of Publication
By the end of the nineteenth century, a new visual culture was taking shape. With the setting up of an increasing number of printing presses. visual images could be easily reproduced in multiple copies. Painters like Raja Ravi Varma produced images for mass circulation. Poor wood gngravers who made woodblocks and were employed by print shops. Cheap prints and calendars, easily available in the bazaar, could be bought even by the poor to decorate the walls of their homes or places of work. These prints began shaping popular ideas about modernity and tradition, religion and politics, and society and culture. By the 1870s, caricatures and cartoons were being published in journals and newspapers, commenting on social and political issues. Some caricatures ridiculed the educated Indians’ fascination with Western tastes and clothes, while others expressed the fear of social change. There were imperial caricatures lampooning nationalists, as well as pationalist cartoons criticising imperial rule.
How did the development of printing technology impact visual culture?
Show Hint
Solution and Explanation
2. Idea Diffusion: It accelerated the propagation of political, social, and religious viewpoints through various media like posters and newspapers.
3. Rise of Commercial Art: Advertising, book illustrations, and calendars utilized artistic visuals, shaping public opinion.
How did Raja Ravi Varma contribute to the mass circulation of art in India?
Show Hint
Solution and Explanation
2. Depiction of Indian Mythology: His art, featuring Hindu deities, promoted Indian culture.
3. Fusion of Indian and Western Art Styles: He combined Indian subjects with European methods, creating a popular, unique style.
How did visual culture shape the memory of the 19th-century social landscape? Explain.
Show Hint
Solution and Explanation
2. Cultural Preservation: Visuals in books and calendars maintained Indian traditions and bolstered nationalist feelings.
3. Photography's Impact: Photography documented historical events, social movements, and daily life, affecting how history is remembered.
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow :
Sacred Groves — a wealth of diverse and rare species
‘Nature worship is an age old tribal belicf based on the premisc that all creations of nature have to be protected. Such beliefs have preserved several virgin forests in pristine form called Sacred Groves (the forests of God and Goddesses). These patches of forest or parts of large forests have been left tintouched by the localpeople and any interference with them is banned, Certain socicties revere from time region worship (cadamba) trees. and the tribals (Tamarindus indica) and and Bihar worship the tamarind weddings. To many of us, (Mangifera indica) trees during o o peepal and banyan trees are considered sacred. Cly comprises several cultures, each with its own set of traditional methods of conservion are often nature and its creations.The mountain peaks, plants and animals which around many temples.“I” find troops of macaques. They are fed daily and treated as a part of temple devotees In and around Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan, herds of blackbuck. nilgai and peacocks can be seen as an integral part of the community and nobody harms them.- CBSE Class X - 2025
- Social Science
- Reading Comprehension
Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow :
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The local government structure goes right up to the district level. A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form what is usually called a panchayat samiti or block or mandal. The members of this representative body are elected by all the panchayat members in that arca. All the panchayat samitis or mandals in a district together constitute the zilla (district) parishad. Most members of the zilla parishad are clected. Members of the Lok Sabha and MLAs of that district and some other officials of other district level bodies are also its members. Zilla parishad chairperson is the
political head of the zilla parishad. Similarly, local government bodies exist for urban areas as well. Municipalities are set up in towns. gi.ig cities are .Conslilulcd into municipal corporations. Both municipalities and municipal corporations are controlled by clected bodies consisting of people’s representatives. Municipal chairperson is the political head of the municipality. In a municipal corporation, such an officer is called the mayor. This new system of local government is the largest experiment in democracy conducted anywhere in the world.- CBSE Class X - 2025
- Social Science
- Reading Comprehension
- Read the following text:
(1) Creativity is our most precious resource and the most inexhaustible one. As anyone who has ever spent any time with children knows, every single human being is born creative; every human being is innately endowed with the ability to combine data and perceptions, materials and ideas and devise new ways of thinking and doing. What fosters creativity? More than anything else: the presence of other creative people, contrary to that creativity is the province of great individual geniuses. In fact, creativity is a social process. Our biggest creative breakthrough comes when people learn from, compete with, and collaborate with other people.
(2) Cities are centres of creativity. With their diverse populations, dense social networks, and public spaces, people can meet spontaneously and spark or catalyse new ideas. With their infrastructure for finance, organization, and trade, they allow the idea to swiftly reach its destination.
(3) A study tracking the decline of unconventional thinking ability as children age states that while 98 percent of 3 to 5-year-olds exhibited creative thinking, this dwindled to 10 percent among 13 to 15-year-olds and a mere 2 percent among 25-year-olds. Thus, adulthood witnesses the erosion of innate creativity. There is a variance in creative vitality across cities. Although all cities harbour creative individuals by default, some are saturated with leaders, institutions, and people that inhibit creativity.
(4) Creativity (or the lack of it) follows the same general contours of the great socio-economic divide– our rising inequality– that plagues us. According to estimates, roughly one-third of people are able to do work which engages our creative faculties to some extent, whether as artists, musicians, writers, techies, innovators, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, journalists, or educators. That leaves a group termed “the other 66 percent”, in which their creativity is subjugated, ignored, or wasted.
(5) Creativity itself is not in danger. It is flourishing all around us– in science and technology, arts and culture, in our rapidly revitalizing cities. But we still have a long way to go if we want to build a truly creative society that supports and rewards creativity for each one of us. (Created for academic usage / 410 words)- CBSE Class X - 2025
- English
- Reading Comprehension
- (1) In today’s contemporary online shopping landscape, a perfect storm of choice engulfs consumers. Research consistently indicates that individuals presented with a limited selection tend to make more confident and efficient decisions compared to those confronted with overwhelming choices.
(2) Consequently, assisting consumers in navigating the vast expanse of options available online has evolved into a thriving industry on a global scale. Many brands and retailers now employ marketing strategies revolving around the aspects given in the table below:
(3) For a relatively new breed of consumer product startups, a different approach emerges entirely. Rather than attempting to navigate the existing sea of products, these companies claim to revolutionize conventional consumer choices. Some brands offer limited, functional,
mid-priced products, instilling customer confidence and breaking the cycle of consumerism.
(4) The global product abundance could be more equitable. Unfortunately, creators often prioritize wealthier consumers.
(5) For startups promising accessible simplicity, their very structure may eventually lead them back to an overwhelming array of choices: Most of these companies rely on hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital funding, and their inventors typically expect rapid growth. (Adapted for academic usage)- CBSE Class X - 2025
- English
- Reading Comprehension
- Want to practice more? Try solving extra ecology questions todayView All Questions