CLASS X CHAPTER 06 - WORK,LIFE AND LEISURE NCERT SOLUTIONS

CHAPTER 06 - WORK,LIFE AND LEISURE
Question 1:
Give two reasons why the population of London
expanded from the middle of the eighteenth century.
Answer :
The city of London was a magnet for the migrant
populations due to the job opportunities provided by
its dockyards and industries. By 1750, one out of
every nine people of England and Wales lived in
London. So, the population of London kept expanding
through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
During the first world war, London began
manufacturing motor cars and electrical goods. This
increased the number of large factories, which in turn
increased the number of people coming to the city in
search of work.
Question 2:
What were the changes in the kind of work available to
women in London between the nineteenth and the
twentieth century? Explain the factors which led to
this change.
Answer :
Changes in the kind of work available to women in
London between the nineteenth and the twentieth
century were primarily based on industrial and
technological advancements. Consequently, women
had to work in households for a living, and this led to
an increase in the number of domestic servants. Some
women also began to earn by lodging out rooms,
tailoring, washing or making matchboxes. With the
coming of the First World War though, women once
again joined the industrial sector.
Question 3:
How does the existence of a large urban population
affect each of the following? Illustrate with historical
examples.
(a) A private landlord
(b) A Police Superintendent in charge of law and
order
(c) A leader of a political party
Answer :
(a) The existence of a large urban population means
that there would be greater number of individuals in
need of a place to stay. This increased demand for
places of residence is profitable for private landlords
who can then rent out rooms at high rates. In
nineteenth-century London, individual landowners
made huge profits by taking advantage of the
helplessness of the hoards of migrants in the city who
needed a place to live.
(b) The existence of a large urban population means
that there are increased cases of crimes, social conflict
and rebellion. Police are responsible for maintaining
the law and order. Hence, a police superintendent
would definitely have increased work on his/her
hands. In nineteenth-century London, policemen had
a tough time controlling crime during the migrant
influx. In the 1870s, there were 20,000 criminals
living in London. The job of a policeman was made
more complex in hunting down pick-pockets, thieves,
cheats and tricksters whose numbers kept multiplying.
(c) The existence of a large urban population implies
the simultaneous presence of several social problems,
such as problems of housing, food, water, etc. These
issues become policial issues when they are taken up
by political parties. A political party and its leaders can
mobilise the masses to support them in these political
causes. This was the case in nineteenth-century
London as well.
Question 4:
Give explanations for the following:
(a) Why well-off Londoners supported the need to
build housing for the poor in the nineteenth century.
(b) Why a number of Bombay films were about the
lives of migrants.
(c) What led to the major expansion of Bombay’s
population in the mid-nineteenth century.
Answer :
(a) Well-off Londoners supported the need to build
housing for the poor in the nineteenth century on
account of three reasons: one-room houses of the
poor came to be seen as the breeding ground of
diseases, and hence, a threat to public health; fire
hazards became a worry in these over-crowded, badly
ventilated, unhygienic homes; lastly, there was a
widespread fear of social disorder, especially after the
1917 Russian Revolution. Housing schemes were
undertaken to avoid a rebellion by the poor.
(b) Bombay became an attractive destination for
people seeking jobs after the British administration
replaced Surat with Bombay as its principal western
port. The consequent increase in trade and industries
led to a great influx of people. Thus, migrants were
(and still are) an important facet of Bombay. Most of
the people in the film industry were migrants
themselves, and wanted to portray the plight of this
class of people through films. Thus, a number of
Bombay films were about the lives of migrants.
(c) In mid-seventeenth century, Bombay became East
India Company’s principal western port, replacing
Surat. Later, by the end of the nineteenth century, it
had become an important administrative as well as
industrial centre. All through these years, the
prospects for trade and commerce, and employment
kept increasing, thereby making Bombay an attractive
destination for migrants.
DISUSS
Question 1:
What forms of entertainment came up in nineteenth
century England to provide leisure activities for the
people.
Answer :
Forms of entertainment that came up in nineteenth-
century England to provide leisure activities for the
people were aplenty. For the upper classes, an annual
“London Season” was one of the sources of leisure. It
comprised the opera, the theatre and classical music
events. For the working classes, pubs, discussions and
meetings for political action served the same purpose.
Libraries, art galleries and museums were new types of
entertainment brought about through the utilisation
of state money. Music halls and cinema theatres too
became immensely popular with the lower classes.
Industrial workers were encouraged to undertake
seaside vacations to rejuvenate from the banes of
working in the polluting environment of factories.
Question 2:
Explain the social changes in London which led to the
need for the Underground railway. Why was the
development of the Underground criticised?
Answer :
The development of suburbs as a part of the drive to
decongest London led to the extension of the city
beyond the range where people could walk to work.
Though these suburbs had been built, the people
could not be persuaded to leave the city and stay far
away from their places of work in the absence of some
form of public transport. The Underground railway
was constructed to solve this housing problem.
The development of the Underground was criticised
because underground travelling was considered risky.
Many felt that it added to the mess and unhygienic
conditions of the city. Also, to clear the path for the
construction of the Underground, a number of houses
were destroyed. This led to the displacement of a great
number of London poor.
Question 3:
Explain what is meant by the Haussmanisation of Paris.
To what extent would you support or oppose this
form of development? Write a letter to the editor of a
newspaper, to either support or oppose this, giving
reasons for your view.
Answer :
Haussmanisation of Paris refers to the re-building of
Paris by Baron Haussmann in the mid-eighteenth
century. When Louis Napoleon III came to power, he
appointed Haussmann as the chief architect of the new
city. He laid out new streets, straight sidewalks,
boulevards and open avenues, and planted full-grown
trees. Haussmann’s architectural plans had positives as
well as negatives. His name has become a
representation of forcible reconstruction to enhance
the beauty of a city and impose order. This is because
his plans led to the displacement of 350,000 people
from the centre of Paris. This included many poor
people who were now rendered homeless.
Nevertheless, this “Haussmanisation of Paris” had its
boons too. Public works employed nearly one in five
working people. Haussmann’s work was criticised by
the wealthy and poor alike during his time, but Paris
became a symbol of civic pride for the French and it
became the nucleus of many new architectural, social
and intellectual developments that influenced other
parts of the world in the twentieth century.
(Base your letter on these facts)
Question 4:
To what extent does government regulation and new
laws solve problems of pollution? Discuss one example
each of the success and failure of legislation to change
the quality of
(a) public life
(b) private life
Answer :
Government laws play an important role in controlling
the rates of pollution in a city. However, simply
passing laws is not enough. They need to be properly
enforced as well. It is also a fact that people tend to
find ways of getting around laws. So, apart from
legislations, government also needs to carry out
intensive public awareness programmes aimed at
educating the public about the need and ways of
controlling pollution; and about how they too have a
stake in environmental governance.Example to show
the success of legislation to change the quality of
Public life - The Bengal Smoke Nuisance Commission,
established as per the Bengal Smoke Nuisance Act of
1905, was successful in controlling industrial smoke in
colonial Calcutta.
Private life - The British government passed the Clean
Air Act in 1956. This law was aimed at controlling
domestic sources of smoke pollution, and to do so, it
introduced the concept of smokeless zones. In these
areas, smokeless fuels had to be burnt. As a result, air
pollution in British cities was substantially
reduced.Example to show the failure of legislation to
change the quality ofPublic life - By the 1840s, British
cities such as Derby, Leeds and Manchester had smoke
control laws in place. However, these laws did not
succeed much in controlling smoke emission. Since
smoke is not easy to monitor or measure, it was easy
for factory and steam engine owners to get away with
small adjustments to their machinery, and this did
nothing to stop smoke.
Private life - During the colonial period, a huge
population depended on dung and wood as fuel in
their daily life. This was an important source of air
pollution in Calcutta. Though successful in controlling
industrial smoke, the Bengal Smoke Nuisance
Commission found it difficult to control this domestic
smoke.
[Note: The following can also be a possible answer to
the second part of this question.]
Example to show the success of legislation to change
the quality of
Public life - The British state used public funds to
provide for entertainment forms such as museums, art
galleries and libraries for the working classes.
Private life - British administrative officials built houses
in new suburbs for fulfilling the housing needs of the
working classes.Example to show the failure of
legislation to change the quality of
Public life - The Underground railway enhanced
transport, but caused the demolition of many houses,
rendering their inhabitants homeless.
Private life - The availability of one-room tenements
and no housing facilities for a major part of the
industrial revolution time period caused the family to
get divided into smaller units. There were even cases
where rural people had to leave their families behind
and live alone in the urban areas where they worked.