Chapter 5 of History, ‘Print Culture and the Modern World’, is a must-know for every Class 10 board student. It traces how the invention and spread of printing in China, Europe and later India changed the way people read, thought and argued, and how books, newspapers and pamphlets shaped religion, politics, reform movements and nationalisms. By studying this chapter, you understand how print became a powerful tool to spread new ideas, challenge authorities and connect people, laying the foundation of the modern, informed world we live in today.
Must practice these Assertion/Reason questions
Q.1 Assertion (A): Before printing began in India, the art of writing and illustrating by hand was very important.
Reason (R): In the age before print, books were produced in royal workshops where texts were dictated, written and illustrated by hand.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q.2 Assertion (A): Traditional Chinese accordion books could easily be printed on both sides of the page.
Reason (R): The paper used in early Chinese printing was thin and porous.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (D) A is false but R is true.
Q.3 Assertion (A): For a very long time, the imperial state in China was the main producer of printed material.
Reason (R): The imperial state printed textbooks in large numbers to supply candidates appearing for civil service examinations.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q.4 Assertion (A): In seventeenth-century China, print began to be used only by scholar-officials.
Reason (R): Merchants, women and other urban groups showed little interest in reading printed material.
(A) Both 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) Both A and R are false.
Answer: (D) Both A and R are false.
Q.5 Assertion (A): Western mechanical presses had no impact on Chinese print culture.
Reason (R): When Western printing techniques and presses were imported, Shanghai became the hub of a new print culture.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (D) A is false but R is true.
Q.6 Assertion (A): Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand-printing technology into Japan around AD 768–770.
Reason (R): The oldest Japanese book, printed in AD 868, is the Buddhist Diamond Sutra with text and woodcut illustrations.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (B) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
Q.7 Assertion (A): Printing of visual material in Edo helped depict an elegant urban culture of artists, courtesans and teahouse gatherings.
Reason (R): In the late eighteenth century, illustrated collections of paintings in Edo portrayed such scenes in flourishing urban circles.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q.8 Assertion (A): By the early fifteenth century, woodblocks in Europe were used only for religious texts and never for secular purposes.
Reason (R): Woodblocks were widely used to print textiles, playing cards and religious pictures with brief texts.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (D) A is false but R is true.
Q.9 Assertion (A): The Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks show the long tradition of Buddhist printing in Korea.
Reason (R): They are a mid-13th century collection of Buddhist scriptures engraved on about 80,000 woodblocks.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q.10 Assertion (A): Gutenberg’s first printed book was the Bible.
Reason (R): Around 180 copies of this Bible were printed over a period of about three years.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (B) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
Q.11 Assertion (A): The shift from hand printing to mechanical printing led to what historians call the ‘print revolution’.
Reason (R): By the sixteenth century, the number of printed books in Europe had risen to about 200 million copies.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q.12 Assertion (A): Print created the possibility of wide circulation of ideas and a new world of debate and discussion.
Reason (R): Martin Luther called printing “the ultimate gift of God and the greatest one.”
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (B) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
Q.13 Assertion (A): Many religious authorities and monarchs feared that uncontrolled printing might spread rebellious and irreligious ideas.
Reason (R): Therefore, the Church and rulers generously sponsored cheap printed books to promote such thoughts.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (C) A is true but R is false.
Q.14 Assertion (A): Churches of different denominations set up schools in villages.
Reason (R): By the end of the eighteenth century, literacy rates in some parts of Europe had reached as high as 60 to 80 per cent.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (B) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
Q.15 Assertion (A): Many scholars like Erasmus feared that printing would flood the world with too many books and harm real scholarship.
Reason (R): He believed printers produced only serious, carefully checked, scholarly books that always improved learning.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (C) A is true but R is false.
Q.16 Assertion (A): Print created a new culture of dialogue and debate in eighteenth-century Europe.
Reason (R): A public, aware of the power of reason, began to re-evaluate and discuss values, norms and institutions.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q.17 Assertion (A): By the 1780s, print helped spread hostile sentiments against the French monarchy.
Reason (R): Underground literature, cartoons and caricatures mocked royal life and highlighted the sufferings of common people.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q.18 Assertion (A): The Grimm Brothers’ folk tale collections preserved rural stories exactly as peasants told them, without any change.
Reason (R): Stories collected from peasants were edited; parts considered vulgar or unsuitable for children and elites were removed before printing.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (D) A is false but R is true.
Q.19 Assertion (A): Women had no significant role as readers or writers in nineteenth-century print culture.
Reason (R): Penny magazines and housekeeping manuals targeted women, and famous women novelists like Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and George Eliot helped define a new image of womanhood.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (D) A is false but R is true.
Q.20 Assertion (A): India had a very rich and old tradition of handwritten manuscripts in many languages.
Reason (R): Manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or handmade paper, often beautifully illustrated, and preserved by sewing or pressing between wooden covers.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q.21 Assertion (A): The printing press first came to India with British officials in Calcutta in the late eighteenth century.
Reason (R): In reality, Portuguese missionaries brought the first printing press to Goa in the mid-sixteenth century.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (D) A is false but R is true.
Q.22 Assertion (A): Print helped shape the nature of religious debates in colonial India.
Reason (R): New ideas emerged through clashes of opinions that were now circulated widely in pamphlets and newspapers.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q.23 Assertion (A): Printing created an appetite for new kinds of writing among readers.
Reason (R): As more people learnt to read, they wanted books that reflected their own lives, experiences, emotions and relationships.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q.24 Assertion (A): All families eagerly encouraged women’s education in the nineteenth century.
Reason (R): Many conservative Hindus feared a literate girl would be widowed, and some Muslims thought educated women would be corrupted by Urdu romances.
(A) Both 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 but R is true.
Answer: (D) A is false but R is true.
These practice questions will support your exam preparation so go through them carefully. If you spot any wrong detail or want to ask a doubt, do share it with us. Your feedback helps us keep the content accurate and helpful for future learners.
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