Q1. What is the primary sector? How is it different from the secondary sector? Give two examples.
Answer (120–150 words):
The primary sector includes all activities that depend directly on nature for raw materials. Examples are farming, fishing, forestry, livestock rearing, and mining. People engaged in these activities produce goods directly from natural resources.
The secondary sector uses raw materials from the primary sector and processes or manufactures them into finished products. For example, cotton is turned into cloth in textile factories, and sugarcane is processed into sugar.
Difference:
- Primary = extraction of raw materials from nature.
- Secondary = conversion of raw materials into finished goods.
Examples:
- Primary: Agriculture, mining.
- Secondary: Automobile manufacturing, flour mills.
Q2. How does the secondary sector depend on the tertiary sector? Illustrate with a few examples.
Answer (120–150 words):
The secondary sector cannot function without the services provided by the tertiary sector. Factories need:
- Transport services to carry raw materials like coal, iron, and cotton from mines and fields to factories, and to distribute finished goods to markets.
- Banking services to provide loans, manage salaries, and enable business transactions.
- Communication services like mobile phones and the internet to coordinate with suppliers and customers.
- Warehouses and retail stores to store and sell products.
For example, a textile mill needs cotton (primary), machines and workers (secondary), and then relies on transport, banks, and shops (tertiary) to sell clothes to customers. Thus, the tertiary sector supports both production and distribution.
Q3. Give an example of interdependence between primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. Show it using a flow diagram.
Answer (Example: Dairy industry):
- Primary sector: Farmers rear cows and produce milk.
- Secondary sector: Milk is processed into butter, cheese, and milk powder in factories.
- Tertiary sector: Trucks, railways, and shops transport and sell these products to customers.
Flow Diagram:
Farmer (milk production) → Dairy factory (milk products) → Transport & shops (distribution and sales).
Extra Questions – Chapter 14: Economic Activities Around Us
Very Short Answer Questions
- What is meant by economic sector?
Answer: A group of economic activities with similar features, such as primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. - Give two examples of primary sector activities.
Answer: Farming and fishing. - Give two examples of secondary sector activities.
Answer: Automobile manufacturing and textile production. - Give two examples of tertiary sector activities.
Answer: Banking and transportation. - Which sector is also called the service sector?
Answer: The tertiary sector.
Short Answer Questions
Q6. Why is the tertiary sector becoming increasingly important in modern times?
Answer: With globalisation and technology, services like IT, banking, communication, and transport have become crucial. They connect producers to markets, improve efficiency, and provide jobs.
Q7. Explain the importance of cooperatives like AMUL in economic life.
Answer: AMUL brought farmers together to sell milk collectively, set up processing plants, and eliminate middlemen. This improved farmers’ income and gave India a strong dairy industry.
Long Answer Questions
Q8. Explain how all three economic sectors are interdependent with the help of the book-making process.
Answer (150–180 words):
The making of a textbook shows interdependence among sectors. The primary sector provides wood from forests, which is processed into pulp. The secondary sector turns pulp into paper, and printing presses produce textbooks. The tertiary sector distributes books through transport, warehouses, and bookshops. Even software and education services play a role when books are digitised as e-books. If any one sector is missing — no trees, no paper factories, or no transport — the whole chain breaks down. This example proves that while each sector has its own function, they must work together for the economy to function smoothly.