CBSE Class 12 Sample Paper 2025 for Sociology

CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

SAMPLE PAPER
CLASS 12
2025

SAMPLE QUESTION PAPER
SOCIOLOGY (039)
2024-25
Time: 3 hours Maximum Marks: 80

General Instructions:

1. The question paper is divided into four sections.
2. There are 35 questions in all. All questions are compulsory.
3. Section A includes question No. 1-16. These are MCQ type questions. As per the
4. question, there can be one answer.
5. Section B includes question No.17-25. These are very short answer type questions
carrying 2 marks each. Answer to each question should not exceed 30 words.
6. Section C includes question No. 26-32. They are short answer type questions carrying
4 marks each. Answer to each question should not exceed 80 words.
7. Section D includes question No. 33-35. They are long answer type questions carrying
6 marks each. Answer to each question should not exceed 200 words each.
8. Question no. 33 is to be answered with the help of the given graphics.

SECTION-A
1. Assertion(A): The modern state had begun to take an active interest in the 1
development of early forms of public health management, policing and
maintenance of law and order.
Reason (R): This new and constantly expanding sphere of state activity required
the systematic science of economics.

a) A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
c) A is true but R is false.
d) A is false and R is true.
2. Assertion(A): For most of us who are born and live in India, social inequality and 1
exclusion no longer are facts of our lives.
Reason(R): The everydayness of social inequality and exclusion often make them
appear inevitable, almost natural.

a) A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
c) A is true but R is false.
d) A is false and R is true.
3. While population rises in geometric progression, agricultural production can 1
only grow in arithmetic progression.
Which of the following appropriately explains the progressions?

I. 2,4,8,16 and 2,4,6,8 respectively
II. 2,4,6,8 and 2,4,8,16 respectively
III. 3,6,12,24 and 3,6,9,12 respectively

IV. 3,6,9,12 and 3,6,12,24 respectively

a) I., II.
b) II., IV.
c) I. and III.
d) I. and IV.
4. Assertion(A): It was in the cultural and domestic spheres that caste has proved 1
strongest.
Reason(R): While some boundaries may have become more flexible or porous, the
borders between groups of castes of similar socio-economic status are still heavily
patrolled.

a) A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
c) A is true but R is false.
d) A is false and R is true.

5. Which of the following statements is not true with regard to colonialism and 1
caste?

a) All major social institutions and specially the institution of caste underwent
major changes during the colonial period.
b) All of the changes brought about by colonialism were intended or deliberate.
c) Initially, the British administrators began by trying to understand the
complexities of caste in an effort to learn how to govern the country
efficiently.
d) The 1901 Census under the direction of Herbert Risley was particularly
important as it sought to collect information on the social hierarchy of caste.

“There is no necessary relationship between any specific form of community and
the modern form of the state. Any of the many bases of community identity (like
language, religion, ethnicity and so on) may or may not lead to nation formation
– there are no guarantees.”

Based on the given passage, answer Q6 and 7.

6. 1
Cultural diversity can often be perceived as a source of threat to states because-

I. states see all forms of community identity as dangerous rivals.
II. control is difficult in case of heterogenous identities.
III. Suppressing cultural diversity can be very costly in terms of the subdued
community.
IV. community identities cannot act as the basis of nation-formation.
a) I. and IV. only
b) III. and IV. only
c) I., II., III. only
d) I., II., III., IV.

7. Which of the following is not true for a community conflict? 1

a) Communities become reversed mirror images of each other in a community
conflict.
b) People often react emotionally in case of any perceived threat to their
community identity.
c) Community identities provide a sense of security and satisfaction to its
members.
d) Community conflicts can be resolved easily.
8. Assertion(A): Today, barring the North-Eastern states, there are no areas of the 1
country that are inhabited exclusively by tribal people.
Reason (R): Since the middle of the nineteenth century, non-tribals have moved
into the tribal districts of central India, while tribal people from the same districts
have migrated to plantations, mines, factories and other places of employment.

a) A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
c) A is true but R is false.
d) A is false and R is true.
A great many students and office-workers around the world go to work only for
five or six days and rest on the weekends. Yet, very few people who relax on their
day off realise that this holiday is the outcome of a long struggle by workers. That
the work-day should not exceed eight hours, that men and women should be paid
equally for doing the same work, that workers are entitled to social security and
pension — these and many other rights were gained through social movements.
Social movements have shaped the world we live in and continue to do so.
Based on the given passage, answer Q9 and 10.
9. Which of the following statements is incorrect? 1

a) The rights we enjoy just happened to exist.
b) Social movements not only change societies; they also inspire other social
movements.
c) Movements are directed against the state and takes the form of demanding
changes in state policy or practice.
d) A social movement requires sustained collective action over time.
10. Social Movements is an important subject matter of Sociology because- 1

I. These protests were perceived by elites as a major threat to the established
order of society.
II. ‘crowd’ and the ‘mob’ were not made up of anarchic hooligans out to destroy
society. Instead, they too had a ‘moral economy’.
III. Public resorted to protest because they had no other way of expressing their
anger and resentment against deprivation.
IV. There was an anxiety among people to maintain the prevailing social order.
a) I. and IV.
b) III. and IV.
c) II., IV. and III.
d) I., II., and III.

11. Which of the following statements is true for the Indian government’s policy of 1
liberalisation?

a) Private companies, especially foreign firms, are encouraged to invest in
sectors earlier reserved for the government.
b) Foreign products are now easily available in Indian shops.
c) Indian companies have ensured that they work within national boundaries.
d) Licenses are no longer required to open industries.
12. Which of the following is not true for stereotypes? 1

a) In a country such as India, many of these stereotypes are partly colonial
creations.
b) They are flexible characterisations of a group of people.
c) Stereotypes are often applied to ethnic and racial groups and to women.
d) Prejudices are often grounded in stereotypes.
13. Assertion (A): Sanskritisation normally presupposes either an improvement in 1
the economic or political position of the group concerned or a higher group self-
consciousness resulting from its contact with a source of the ‘Great Tradition’.
Reason (R): In a highly unequal society such as India there were and still are
obstacles to any easy taking over of the customs of the higher castes by the lower.

a) A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
c) A is true but R is false.
d) A is false and R is true.
14. Assertion (A): No social group howsoever weak or oppressed is only a victim. 1
Reason (R): Human beings are always capable of organising and acting on their
own – often against very heavy odds–to struggle for justice and dignity
a) A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
c) A is true but R is false.
d) A is false and R is true.
15. Which of the following statements is true for the tea plantations established by 1
the British in India?

a) The colonial administrators were clear that the measures taken on the
plantation for labourers was different vis-à-vis the planters.
b) Coolies lived a comfortable life on the tea plantations.
c) Planters and coolies had a cordial relationship.
d) Colonial administration stuck to democratic norms.

16. Put the following statements in the correct order. 1

I. The worker works without wages until the loan is repaid.
II. He will loan them some money.
III. The contractor goes to villages and asks if people want work.
IV. They can break the contract and find another employer.
a) III., II., I., IV.
b) I., II., III., IV.
c) IV., III., II., I.
d) I., II., IV., III.
SECTION-B
17. The dependency ratio is equal to the population below 15 or above 64, divided by 2
population in the 15-64 age group. This is usually expressed as a percentage.
In 2020, the average Indian was only 29 years old, compared with an average age
of 37 in China and the United States, 45 in Western Europe, and 48 in Japan. What
inference can you draw from this statement?
18. Prejudice can be either positive or negative. Support the statement with suitable 2
examples.
OR
Discrimination can be very hard to prove because it may not be open or explicitly
stated. Support the statement with suitable examples.
19. State how communalism is all about politics, not about religion. 2
20. Give an example of an anomalous instance with regard to minority groups. 2
OR
People constituting a nation may actually be citizens or residents of different
states.
21. Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was born in a well-to-do Bengali Muslim 2
family, and was lucky to have a husband who was very liberal in outlook and
encouraged her education first in Urdu and later in Bengali and English. She was
already a successful author in Urdu and Bengali when she wrote Sultana’s Dream
to test her abilities in English.
Why was Sultana’s Dream considered a remarkable short story, in context of
struggle for women’s equality and rights?
22. Agrarian society can be understood in terms of its class structure. But we must 2
also remember the structure is itself through the caste system. In rural areas, there
is a complex relationship between caste and class. This relationship is not always
straightforward.
Give two examples to prove that the relationship is not straightforward.
23. In the old social movements, the role of political parties was central. Political 2
scientist Rajni Kothari attributes the surge of social movements in India in the
1970s to people’s growing dissatisfaction with parliamentary democracy. As a
result of this people joined social movements or non-political party formations.
What were the reasons for this growing dissatisfaction?
24. “You need energy. The eyes move, the neck, the legs and the hands, each part 2
moves. Weaving is done under a continuous gaze - one cannot go anywhere, the
focus must be on the machine. When four machines run all four must move
together, they must not stop. (Joshi 2003)

The more mechanised an industry gets, the fewer people are employed.” What
are the reasons for this?
What are the reasons for this?
25. “Someone may be endowed with exceptional intelligence or talent, or may have 2
worked very hard to achieve their wealth and status.”
Does this statement reflect social stratification? Give reasons for your answer.
SECTION-C
26. “An alternative to the nation-state, then, is the “state nation”, where various 4
“nations”— be they ethnic, religious, linguistic or indigenous identities— can co-
exist peacefully and cooperatively in a single state polity.”
What factors are required to build enduring state-nations?
27. “The present form of caste as a social institution has been shaped very strongly 4
by both the colonial period as well as the rapid changes that have come about in
independent India. The development activity of the state and the growth of
private industry affected caste indirectly through the speeding up and
intensification of economic change.”
How has economic change affected caste?
28. “In traditional India caste system operated within a religious framework. Belief 4
systems of purity and pollution were central to its practice. Today it often
functions as political pressure groups.”
Illustrate the process of secularisation of caste.
OR
“The term modernisation has a long history. From the 19th and more so the 20th
century, the term began to be associated with positive and desirable values.
People and societies wanted to be modern. In the early years, modernisation
referred to improvement in technology and production processes. Increasingly,
however, the term had a wider usage.”
What, according to sociologists, constitutes the modernisation process?
29. “A significant change in rural society that is linked to the commercialisation of 4
agriculture has been the growth of migrant agricultural labour. As ‘traditional’
bonds of patronage between labourers or tenants and landlords broke down, and
as the seasonal demand for agricultural labour increased in prosperous Green
Revolution regions, a pattern of seasonal migration emerged.”
Elaborate on this pattern of migration.
30. Enumerate the indicators of the process of globalisation of agriculture. 4
31. Industrialisation in the west is associated with the growth of a middle class. 4
Discuss the Indian experience of the growth of this middle class.
32. “The argument for a tribe-caste distinction was founded on an assumed cultural 4
difference between Hindu castes, with their beliefs in purity and pollution and
hierarchical integration, and ‘animist’ tribals with their more egalitarian and
kinship-based modes of social organisation.”
Is this distinction between tribes and caste viable? Give reasons for your answer.

SECTION-D

33. 6

Based on the reading of the above data, please answer the following questions.
a) What are the different factors which determine in literacy rates in our country? 2
b) How do inequalities in literacy rate lead to inequality across generation? 4
(Q 33. FOR CANDIDATES WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT)
The literacy rate for women is 16.3% less than the literacy rate for men. However,
female literacy has been rising faster than male literacy, partly because it started
from relatively low levels. Female literacy rose by about 10.4 per cent between
2001 and 2011 compared to the rise in male literacy of 7.6 per cent in the same
period. Literacy increased approximately 8% in total. Male literacy rose about 5%
whereas female literacy rose about 10%.
a) What are the different factors which determine in literacy rates in our country? 2
b) How do inequalities in literacy rate lead to inequality across generation? 4
34. ‘Job recruitment as factory worker takes a different pattern’. Discuss. 6
35. How did peasant movements evolve from pre-colonial days to post-colonial 6
times?

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