Class 7 Civics Chapter 8 A Shirt in the Market Extra Questions and Answers

Class 7 Civics Chapter 8 A Shirt in the Market extra questions and answers available here. Solving class 7 extra questions help students to revise the Chapter most competently. We prepared these questions as per the latest NCERT book and CBSE syllabus. Practicing these extra questions before the exam will ensure excellent marks in the exam.

A Shirt in the Market Class 7 Civics Extra Questions and Answers

Very Short Extra Questions and Answers

1: When cotton is harvested?

Answer: The bolls carrying cotton takes several days to ripe and after it ripens it is harvested.

2: Name few inputs required for cotton cultivation.

Answer: Seeds, Pesticides, fertilizers etc.

3: ___________________ weaves clothes that have been made on order from the merchant.

Answer: Weaver

4: What links the producer of cotton to the buyer of shirt in the market?

Answer: Chain of market

5: Does everyone associated with chain of market are benefited equally?

Answer: No

6: Farmer requires borrowing money sometimes to meet the inputs required for _________________.

Answer: Cotton cultivation

7: How farmers are depended upon traders?

Answer: To take loans for cultivations, and for other expenses like illness, education of their kids etc.

8: There is time in a year when there is no work and no income for the farmers. True/ False.

Answer: True

9: What is the role of cloth merchant in chain of market?

Answer: These merchants supply clothes on order to garment manufacturers and exporters throughout the country.

10: Weavers spend money on purchase of yarn. True/False.

Answer:  False

11: Who gave yarn to the weavers to weave the clothes?

Answer: Merchant

12: Who gave yarn to the weavers to weave the clothes?

Answer: garment factories

13: Weavers work alone on looms. True/False

Answer: Arrangement between merchant and weaver

14: Give an example of putting out system.

Answer: They use the cloth to make different dress

15: What is the role of garment exporting factories?

Answer: They maximise their own profits by getting maximum work from workers at lowest price and supply the foreign buyers at cheap rates

16: Workers are paid ___________for this work

Answer: Less

17: Arrange following in increasing order on the basis of profit earn by them Garment exporters, foreign business person, workers

Answer: Workers, Garment exporters, foreign business person

18: The foreign business person earns maximum profit, garment exporters made moderate profits and the workers earns minimum for their hard work. True/ False.

Answer: True

19: The foreign business person made huge profit in the market. True/ False

Answer: True

20: What is a ginning mill?

Answer: A ginning mill is a factory where seeds are removed from cotton balls.

21. In what ways are weavers dependent on cloth merchants?

Answer: Weavers are dependent on cloth merchants both for raw materials and markets.

22. Did Swapna get a fair price on the cotton?

Answer: No, Swapna did not get a fair price on the cotton because local trader paid her low price.

23. Who was Swapna?

Answer: Swapna was a small farmer in Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) and grows cotton on her small piece of land.

24. Why did Swapna borrow money from the local trader?

Answer: Swapna had borrowed money from the trader to buy seeds, fertilisers, pesticides for cultivation.

25. What do women workers do in the Impex garment factory?

Answer: They are employed as helpers for thread cutting, buttoning, ironing and packaging.

26. On what condition did the trader agree to give loan to Swapna?

Answer: He agreed to give loan to Swapna on a condition that she would sell all her cotton to him.

Short Extra Questions and Answers

1. How garment exporting factories maximise their own profit?

Answer: They maximise their own profits by getting maximum work from workers at lowest price and supply the foreign buyers at cheap rates.

2. Why do you think more women are employed in the Impex garment factory?

Answer: Women are employed in the Impex garment factory because they agree to work even at the lowest possible wages.

3. What is putting-out arrangement?

Answer: It is an arrangement between the merchant and the weavers whereby the merchant supplies the raw material and receives the finished product. It is prevalent in the weaving industry in most regions of India.

4. What are the reasons that the businessperson is able to make a huge profit in the market?

Answer: Business person do business strictly on their own terms. They demand the lowest prices from the supplier and sells at higher rate to high income group.

5. Why did the trader pay Swapna a low price?

Answer: The trader had lent Swapna money at the beginning of the cropping season on a condition that she would sell all her cotton to him. Thus, Swapna was in his grip. The trader took advantage of this situation and paid her a low price.

6. Merchants hold lot of power. Explain

Answer: The merchant distributes work among the weavers based on the orders he has received for cloth. The weavers get the yarn from the merchant and supply him the cloth. However, this dependence on the merchants both for raw materials and markets means that the merchants have a lot of power.

7. Compare the earnings per shirt of the worker in the garment factory, the garment exporter and the businessperson in the market abroad. What do you find?

Answer: The businessperson in the market abroad makes profit of Rs. 600 on one shirt, the garment exporter gains Rs. 100 on one shirt and worker gets only Rs. 15 per shirt.

8. Explain the following term: Ginning mill, Exporter and Profit.

Answer: Ginning mill: A factory where seeds are removed from cotton bolls. The cotton is pressed into bales to be sent for spinning into thread.

Exporter: A person who sells goods abroad.

Profit: The amount that is left or gained from earnings after deducting all the costs. If the costs are more than the earnings, it would lead to a loss.

9. If the weavers were to buy yarn on their own and sell cloth, they would probably earn three times more. Do you think this is possible? How? Discuss.

Answer:  If the weavers were to buy yarn on their own and sell cloth, they would probably earn three times more. Yes this is possible because they would buy yarn at lowest possible price and sell in the market of their choice at the highest possible price.

10. How do exporters cut down the cost of manufacturing garments?
Or
How do the garment exporters meet the conditions set by the foreign buyers?

Answer: Faced with such pressures from the buyers, the garment exporting factories, in turn, try to cut costs. They get the maximum work out of the workers at the lowest possible wages. This way they can maximise their own profits and also supply the garments to foreign buyers at a cheap price.

11. How are small farmers dependent on local traders?
Or

How are small farmers in the grip of the local trader?

Answer: The trader is a powerful man in the village and small farmers have to depend on him for loans not only for cultivation, but also to meet other exigencies such as illnesses, children’s school fees. Also, there are times in the year when there is no work and no income for the farmers, so borrowing money is the only means of survival.

Long Extra Questions and Answers

1. Where do you think large farmers would sell their cotton? How is their situation different from Swapna?

Answer: Large farmers would sell their cotton in the market. Their situation is different from Swapna. Unlike Swapna, they do not have to depend on traders for loans for raw materials and to meet other exigencies such as illnesses, children’s school fees etc. Thus they are free to sell their produce anywhere they wish.

2. What are the following people doing at the Erode cloth market– merchants, weavers, exporters?

Answer: Merchants – They supply cloth on order to garment manufacturers and exporters around the country. They purchase the yarn and give instructions to the weavers about the kind of cloth that is to be made.

Weavers – The weavers get the yarn from the merchant and supply him the cloth.

Exporters – The garment exporting factory will use the cloth to make shirts.

3. What made Swapna sell the cotton to the trader instead of selling at the Kurnool cotton market?

Answer: At the beginning of the cropping season, Swapna had borrowed

Rs 2,500 from the trader at a very high interest rate to buy seeds, fertilisers, pesticides for cultivation. At that time, the local trader made Swapna agree to another condition. He made her promise to sell all her cotton to him. Thus Swapna had to sell the cotton to the trader instead of selling at the Kurnool cotton market.

4. How do weaver’s cooperatives reduce the dependence of weavers on the cloth merchants?

Answer: In a cooperative, people with common interests come together and work for their mutual benefit. In a weaver’s cooperative, the weavers form a group and take up certain activities collectively. They procure yarn from the yarn dealer and distribute it among the weavers. The cooperative also does the marketing. So, the role of the merchant is reduced, and weavers get a fair price on the cloth.

5. What are the demands foreign buyers make on the garment exporters? Why do the garment exporters agree to these demands?

Answer: They demand the lowest prices from the supplier. In addition, they set high standards for quality of production and timely delivery. Any defects or delay in delivery is dealt with strictly.

The garment exporters agree to these demands because they get the maximum work out of the workers at the lowest possible wages. This way they can maximise their own profits and also supply the garments to foreign buyers at a cheap price.

6. How does market work in favour of the rich and powerful? What are the ways to overcome them?

Answer: It is usually the rich and the powerful that get the maximum earnings from the market. These are the people who have money and own the factories, the large shops, large land holdings, etc. The poor have to depend on the rich and the powerful for various things. They have to depend for loans, for raw materials and marketing of their goods, and most often for employment. Because of this dependence, the poor are exploited in the market.

There are ways to overcome these such as forming cooperatives of producers and ensuring that laws are followed strictly.

7. Think of something common that we use. It could be sugar, tea, milk, pen, paper, pencil, etc. Discuss through what chain of markets this reaches you. Can you think of the people that help in the production or trade?

Answer: Chain of markets to produce Milk

(i) Dairy cooperatives first purchase milk at different locations.

(ii) After that, milk is transported to the milk factories by the dairy cooperatives.

(iii) Milk is processed in the factories and is packed.

(iv) Packets are then given to the traders who transport them to cities where wholesaler purchase these.

(v) Retailers purchase from the wholesalers then sell these packets of milk to the consumers in the open market in booths.

8. How is putting out system advantageous and disadvantageous for the weavers?

Answer: For the weavers, this arrangement seemingly has two advantages.

  • The weavers do not have to spend their money on purchase of yarn.
  • The problem of selling the finished cloth is taken care of.

For the weavers, this arrangement has following disadvantages.

  • They have to depend on the merchants both for raw materials and markets.
  • Under this system the merchants have a lot of power. They give orders for what is to be made and they pay a very low price for making the cloth.
  • The weavers have no way of knowing who they are making the cloth for or at what price it will be sold.

9. Describe the conditions of employment as well as the wages of workers in the garment exporting factory. Do you think the workers get a fair deal?

Answer: Workers are made to work for long hours. They have pressure to produce quality product in limited time. Most of these workers are employed on a temporary basis. This means that whenever the employer feels that a worker is not needed, the worker can be asked to leave. Workers’ wages are fixed according to their skills. The highest paid among the workers are the tailors who get about Rs 3,000 per month. Women are employed as helpers for thread cutting, buttoning, ironing and packaging. These jobs have the lowest wages.

No, the workers do not get a fair deal because they are paid lowest possible wages and on the other hand most of these workers are employed on a temporary basis.

10. Establish relationship between the market and equality.
Or
Do you think that everyone gains equally in the market?
Or
Explain relationship between the market and equality with the help of example.

Answer: The foreign businessperson made huge profits in the market. Compared to this, the garment exporter made only moderate profits. On the other hand, the earnings of the workers at the garment export factory are barely enough to cover their day-to-day needs. Similarly, we saw the small cotton farmer and the weaver at Erode put in long hours of hard work. But they did not get a fair price in the market for what they produced. The merchants or traders are somewhere in between. Compared to the weavers, they have earned more but it is still much less than the exporter. Thus, not everyone gains equally in the market.