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ЦТ Social Studies practice questions

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Question 1Society and Social Institutions

Which term describes the process by which individuals learn the norms, values and behaviours expected of them in a society?

  1. Urbanisation
  2. Stratification
  3. Socialisation Correct answer.
  4. Globalisation

Explanation

Socialisation is the lifelong process through which people internalise the norms, values and roles of their society, beginning in the family and continuing through school, peers and media. The other terms name different social processes entirely.

Question 2Society and Social Institutions

A married couple and their two children living together in one household form which type of family?

  1. Nuclear family Correct answer.
  2. Extended family
  3. Reconstituted family
  4. Single-parent family

Explanation

A nuclear family consists of parents and their dependent children living in one household. An extended family adds other relatives such as grandparents, a single-parent family has one parent, and a reconstituted family includes step-relations from a previous union.

Question 3Society and Social Institutions

Which of the following is a manifest (intended and recognised) function of schooling?

  1. Forming friendship groups among pupils
  2. Transmitting knowledge and skills Correct answer.
  3. Providing childcare so parents can work
  4. Sorting pupils by social background

Explanation

Manifest functions are the deliberate and openly stated purposes of an institution, and for education the central one is the transmission of knowledge and skills. Childcare, friendship formation and background-based sorting are latent consequences rather than declared aims.

Question 4Society and Social Institutions

What is the defining feature of a social institution?

  1. It exists only in industrial societies
  2. It is an organised pattern of norms and roles meeting a basic social need Correct answer.
  3. It always depends on written legal rules
  4. It is a building where officials work

Explanation

A social institution is a stable cluster of norms, values, roles and organisations that fulfils a fundamental need such as reproduction, order or production. It is a pattern of behaviour, not a physical structure, and it need not rest on formal law.

Question 5Society and Social Institutions

Which statement best expresses the sociological idea of achieved status?

  1. A position fixed at birth by biological sex
  2. A position that every member of society holds equally
  3. A position held because of inherited family rank
  4. A position acquired through effort, choice or competition Correct answer.

Explanation

Achieved status is a social position a person obtains through their own action, such as a profession earned by study. Ascribed status, by contrast, is assigned at birth or by inheritance and is largely beyond individual control.

Question 6Society and Social Institutions

A society's population is described as ageing. Which change in the age structure does this label describe?

  1. A rising share of children under fifteen
  2. A rising share of elderly people in the total population Correct answer.
  3. A sudden fall in total population size
  4. A rise in the number of births per woman

Explanation

Population ageing means that the proportion of older people increases relative to the rest of the population, usually through falling fertility and longer life expectancy. It is a shift in the age structure rather than simply a change in total numbers.

Question 7Society and Social Institutions

Which of the following best illustrates the concept of social mobility?

  1. A country's birth rate falling over a decade
  2. A worker's son completing university and becoming a lawyer Correct answer.
  3. A family moving to a larger flat in the same district
  4. A person changing their religious beliefs

Explanation

Social mobility is a change in a person's or family's position in the social hierarchy, and movement from manual work into a profession through education is upward intergenerational mobility. Residential moves, demographic trends and belief changes do not by themselves alter rank.

Question 8Society and Social Institutions

In sociological usage, what does the term 'social group' require?

  1. Any collection of people in one place
  2. A shared income level
  3. Members who interact and recognise themselves as belonging together Correct answer.
  4. A formally registered organisation

Explanation

A social group involves interaction among members and a sense of belonging or shared identity. A mere crowd in one place, an unregistered category or a shared income bracket lacks the interaction and mutual recognition that define a group.

Question 9Society and Social Institutions

Which of the following is an example of a norm as distinct from a value?

  1. A belief that honesty is important
  2. A general ideal of human dignity
  3. A society's preference for democratic government
  4. A rule that passengers queue for a bus Correct answer.

Explanation

Values are broad ideals about what is desirable, while norms are specific rules of conduct telling people how to behave in given situations. Queuing is a concrete behavioural rule that expresses deeper values such as fairness.

Question 10Society and Social Institutions

What distinguishes a formal social control mechanism from an informal one?

  1. It is enforced by authorised bodies through explicit rules and sanctions Correct answer.
  2. It operates only in small communities
  3. It relies on public opinion alone
  4. It is applied only within the family

Explanation

Formal social control is exercised by bodies with recognised authority, such as courts, police or schools, using codified rules and defined sanctions. Informal control works through everyday reactions such as disapproval, ridicule or praise.

Question 11Society and Social Institutions

Which of the following best describes a matrilineal system of descent?

  1. Descent and inheritance are traced through the mother's line Correct answer.
  2. Marriage is forbidden between different villages
  3. Authority rests with the mother in every household
  4. Property passes only to the eldest son

Explanation

Matrilineal descent traces kinship and often inheritance through the female line, so a person belongs to the mother's lineage. It does not necessarily mean that women hold domestic authority, which is a separate question of power.

Question 12Society and Social Institutions

A sociologist argues that deviance can help clarify the boundaries of acceptable behaviour in a society. Which perspective does this argument reflect?

  1. Exchange perspective
  2. Conflict perspective
  3. Symbolic interactionist perspective
  4. Functionalist perspective Correct answer.

Explanation

Functionalists hold that deviance can be useful because public reaction to it reaffirms shared norms and draws the line between acceptable and unacceptable conduct. Conflict theorists stress power and inequality, while interactionists study how meanings are negotiated in everyday encounters.

Question 13Society and Social Institutions

Which of the following is the clearest example of a total institution?

  1. A public library
  2. A sports club
  3. A shopping centre
  4. A prison Correct answer.

Explanation

A total institution is one in which a large number of people live a closed, formally administered life cut off from the wider society, and prisons are the standard example. Libraries, shops and clubs are open settings that residents enter and leave freely.

Question 14Society and Social Institutions

A person is criticised by neighbours for dressing in a way they consider inappropriate. Which type of sanction is this?

  1. A negative informal sanction Correct answer.
  2. A positive informal sanction
  3. A positive formal sanction
  4. A negative formal sanction

Explanation

Sanctions are rewards or punishments attached to behaviour, and informal ones come from everyday social reactions rather than official bodies. Criticism from neighbours expresses disapproval without formal authority, so it is a negative informal sanction.

Question 15Society and Social Institutions

Which of the following best characterises a post-industrial society?

  1. The economy depends mainly on heavy manufacturing
  2. Most workers are employed in services and information work Correct answer.
  3. The division of labour is minimal
  4. Most workers are employed in agriculture

Explanation

In post-industrial societies the service and information sectors dominate employment, and knowledge becomes a central economic resource. Agriculture-dominated economies are pre-industrial, while manufacturing dominance marks industrial societies.

Question 16Society and Social Institutions

A sociologist studies how the meaning of 'success' is negotiated among pupils in a classroom. Which level of analysis is being used?

  1. Macro-level analysis
  2. Comparative-historical analysis
  3. Micro-level analysis Correct answer.
  4. Demographic analysis

Explanation

Micro-level analysis focuses on small-scale face-to-face interaction and the meanings people construct in everyday situations. Macro-level analysis instead examines large structures such as institutions, classes and whole societies.

Question 17Society and Social Institutions

Which of the following is a key feature of a caste system as opposed to a class system?

  1. Position is achieved mainly through education
  2. Upward mobility is frequent and expected
  3. Status depends on individual wealth alone
  4. Membership is ascribed at birth and endogamy is required Correct answer.

Explanation

In a caste system membership is fixed at birth and marriage outside the group is normally prohibited, so mobility is extremely restricted. Class systems, by contrast, allow a degree of achievement-based movement and do not formally forbid intermarriage.

Question 18Society and Social Institutions

Which statement correctly pairs a sociological theory with its central claim about the family?

  1. Conflict theory holds that the family is irrelevant to inequality
  2. Functionalism stresses that the family serves reproduction and emotional support Correct answer.
  3. Interactionism argues that family structures never change
  4. Feminism claims that household roles are always symmetrical

Explanation

Functionalism identifies functions such as reproduction, socialisation and emotional support that the family performs for society. Conflict and feminist approaches instead highlight unequal power and unpaid domestic labour, while interactionists study everyday family meanings.

Question 19Society and Social Institutions

A country's death rate falls sharply while its birth rate remains high. What is the most likely immediate demographic consequence?

  1. A rise in the dependency ratio of the elderly
  2. A fall in life expectancy
  3. Rapid population growth Correct answer.
  4. Immediate population decline

Explanation

When mortality falls but fertility stays high, more people survive each year while births continue at a high level, so the population grows rapidly. This pattern corresponds to the early stage of demographic transition.

Question 20Society and Social Institutions

According to labelling theory, what is the main effect of officially designating a person as a deviant?

  1. It can push the person towards a deviant self-identity and further deviance Correct answer.
  2. It always rehabilitates the person
  3. It removes any further social reaction to the act
  4. It has no effect on how others treat the person

Explanation

Labelling theory argues that the reaction of others, especially official labelling, can become part of a person's self-concept and lead to a deviant career. The theory therefore stresses the social definition of deviance rather than the act alone.

Question 21Society and Social Institutions

Which of the following best illustrates the hidden curriculum of schooling?

  1. The examination timetable issued to pupils
  2. Learning to arrive on time and obey authority through daily routine Correct answer.
  3. The list of textbooks approved by the ministry
  4. The published syllabus for a history course

Explanation

The hidden curriculum refers to lessons conveyed implicitly through the routines and organisation of school, such as punctuality, obedience and competition. Published syllabuses and timetables are parts of the formal curriculum.

Question 22Society and Social Institutions

A government raises the legal minimum age for marriage. Which social institution is being directly regulated?

  1. Religion
  2. The economy
  3. The mass media
  4. The family Correct answer.

Explanation

Rules on marriage directly regulate family formation and kinship, which are core concerns of the family as an institution. The economy, religion and media may be affected indirectly but are not the primary target of such a law.

Question 23Society and Social Institutions

Which of the following best explains why industrialisation weakened the economic functions of the family?

  1. Governments banned household production
  2. Families stopped caring for their members entirely
  3. Kinship ties disappeared completely
  4. Production moved from households into factories and firms Correct answer.

Explanation

Industrialisation shifted production out of the household and into factories and firms, so the family lost its role as the main unit of production. Care functions persisted in altered forms, and kinship did not vanish.

Question 24Society and Social Institutions

Which of the following best describes the sociological meaning of secularisation?

  1. The decline in the social significance and influence of religion Correct answer.
  2. The banning of all religious organisations
  3. The spread of one religion across a whole continent
  4. The increase in the number of religious buildings

Explanation

Secularisation refers to the diminishing role of religion in public life and in people's everyday conduct, not to the abolition of religion. It is measured through indicators such as attendance, belief and the influence of religious bodies on law and politics.

Question 25Human Being and Personality

Which concept in social studies refers to a unique individual with consciousness, will, and a set of social roles?

  1. Crowd
  2. Personality Correct answer.
  3. State institution
  4. Social group

Explanation

Personality is understood as the individual taken together with his or her consciousness, will, values and social roles, which makes each person distinct. A crowd, a group or an institution are collective or structural phenomena, not a single conscious individual.

Question 26Human Being and Personality

A person's temperament, according to the standard view in social science, is best described as:

  1. The totality of a person's social roles
  2. The set of learned social norms
  3. An innate feature of mental activity shown in speed and intensity of reactions Correct answer.
  4. A person's system of values and beliefs

Explanation

Temperament is treated as a biologically grounded characteristic of the nervous system that shows itself in the pace, strength and stability of mental reactions. Values and roles are acquired in society, so they belong to other components of personality.

Question 27Human Being and Personality

In the structure of activity, what is the element that consciously directs behaviour toward a result the person wants to achieve?

  1. Goal Correct answer.
  2. Operation
  3. Motive
  4. Habit

Explanation

The goal is the conscious image of the expected result toward which the activity is directed. The motive is what prompts the activity, while operations are the automatic ways of carrying it out.

Question 28Human Being and Personality

Which term describes the process of a person mastering social norms, values and patterns of behaviour in society?

  1. Stratification
  2. Socialisation Correct answer.
  3. Integration
  4. Differentiation

Explanation

Socialisation is the lifelong process through which an individual learns norms, values and behaviour patterns and becomes a member of society. Stratification concerns social inequality, integration concerns the cohesion of groups, and differentiation concerns division of functions.

Question 29Human Being and Personality

A student studies hard because she wants to enter a university and later become a doctor. In terms of activity structure, the university entrance is best seen as:

  1. A goal Correct answer.
  2. A reflex
  3. A need
  4. An operation

Explanation

A goal is the consciously anticipated result toward which activity is aimed. Entering a university is a future result the student consciously seeks, so it functions as a goal rather than as a physiological need or an automatic operation.

Question 30Human Being and Personality

Which of the following is an example of a person's achieved social status?

  1. Being a citizen by birth
  2. Being a university professor Correct answer.
  3. Being a member of a family by birth
  4. Being a member of an ethnic group

Explanation

Achieved status is acquired through a person's own efforts, choices or merit, such as a professional position. Ascribed status is assigned at birth, including ethnicity, citizenship and family membership.

Question 31Human Being and Personality

Which type of temperament is characterised by high activity, quick reactions and a tendency toward strong emotional responses?

  1. Sentimental
  2. Phlegmatic
  3. Choleric Correct answer.
  4. Melancholic

Explanation

The choleric type is associated with strong, fast and unstable nervous processes, so reactions are quick and emotional expression is intense. Phlegmatic types are calm and slow, melancholic types are sensitive and easily fatigued, and sentimental is not one of the classical temperament types.

Question 32Human Being and Personality

According to the classical description of temperament, which type is typically slow to adapt, calm, and persistent, with low emotional expressiveness?

  1. Choleric
  2. Phlegmatic Correct answer.
  3. Sanguine
  4. Melancholic

Explanation

The phlegmatic type is associated with a stable, slow nervous system, which shows itself in calmness, patience and low emotional expressiveness. Sanguine types adapt quickly, choleric types are explosive, and melancholic types are highly sensitive.

Question 33Human Being and Personality

Which of the following best illustrates the concept of a person's self-esteem?

  1. A student following school rules because of fear of punishment
  2. A student forgetting his homework at home
  3. A student comparing his exam result with the class average and concluding he is capable Correct answer.
  4. A student copying a classmate's homework without thinking

Explanation

Self-esteem is a person's evaluation of his own qualities, abilities and achievements, formed by comparing himself with others and with his own standards. Copying, obeying from fear or forgetting homework do not involve a conscious evaluation of the self.

Question 34Human Being and Personality

What distinguishes a person's needs from his interests?

  1. Needs exist only in childhood, while interests exist only in adulthood
  2. Needs reflect a state of dependence on conditions of existence, while interests express selective attention to an object Correct answer.
  3. Needs are learned, while interests are innate
  4. Needs are always spiritual, while interests are always material

Explanation

Needs express the individual's dependence on conditions of existence that are necessary for life and development. Interests reflect a person's selective, emotionally coloured attention to a particular object or activity, and neither category is limited to a single age or to material things only.

Question 35Human Being and Personality

A person's worldview is best defined as:

  1. A set of automatic habits performed without awareness
  2. A system of views on the world, on man's place in it, and on the values that guide behaviour Correct answer.
  3. A temporary emotional state caused by external events
  4. A list of social roles performed by the individual

Explanation

A worldview is an integrated system of views about nature, society and the individual's place in them, together with the values and ideals that guide behaviour. It is conscious and relatively stable, unlike habits, moods or role lists.

Question 36Human Being and Personality

Which of the following is an example of a person's spiritual need?

  1. The need for knowledge and understanding of the world Correct answer.
  2. The need for food and water
  3. The need for warmth and shelter
  4. The need for physical rest

Explanation

Spiritual needs concern the mind and personality: knowledge, understanding, aesthetic experience, moral values and self-realisation. Food, warmth and rest belong to the biological, material level of needs.

Question 37Human Being and Personality

How do abilities differ from inclinations?

  1. Abilities and inclinations are identical concepts
  2. Abilities are individual features that enable successful performance of an activity, while inclinations are a person's attraction to a particular activity Correct answer.
  3. Abilities are inherited, while inclinations are always learned
  4. Abilities appear only in childhood, while inclinations appear only in old age

Explanation

Abilities are individual psychological features that make successful performance of an activity possible. Inclinations are the person's selective attraction to an activity, which may or may not coincide with developed abilities.

Question 38Human Being and Personality

Which statement about the relationship between activity and personality is most accurate?

  1. Personality is formed and revealed in activity and communication Correct answer.
  2. Personality is fully determined by heredity and cannot change
  3. Personality develops only through biological maturation
  4. Personality develops only through passive observation of others

Explanation

In social science, personality is understood as a product of social relations: it is formed and expressed in activity and communication with other people. Heredity and maturation provide preconditions, but they do not by themselves create personality.

Question 39Human Being and Personality

A teenager joins a volunteer group, learns its rules and begins to share its values. Which process is illustrated?

  1. Political participation
  2. Socialisation through a reference group Correct answer.
  3. Biological maturation
  4. Social stratification

Explanation

Adopting the norms and values of a group that matters to the individual is socialisation through a reference group. Maturation, stratification and political participation describe different phenomena.

Question 40Human Being and Personality

Which of the following statements about the structure of personality is most consistent with social-science approaches?

  1. Personality is limited to a person's social status
  2. Personality consists only of inherited traits
  3. Personality is a fixed list of roles that never changes
  4. Personality includes needs, abilities, temperament, character and values that interact Correct answer.

Explanation

Personality is treated as an integrated system in which biological features such as temperament interact with needs, abilities, character and values. Reducing personality to heredity, status or a fixed role list ignores other essential components.

Question 41Human Being and Personality

Two students face the same difficult exam. One interprets it as a chance to prove competence and works harder, while the other sees it as a threat and gives up. Which conclusion best follows?

  1. Temperament has no influence on behaviour
  2. The same situation is mediated by personal meaning and self-esteem Correct answer.
  3. The situation itself fully determines behaviour
  4. The students have identical personalities

Explanation

The same external situation affects people differently because it is refracted through personal meaning, self-esteem and values. This shows that behaviour is not a direct mechanical product of circumstances, and it also implies that the students' personalities differ.

Question 42Human Being and Personality

A researcher argues that a child's character is shaped mainly by the family's style of upbringing, while a colleague stresses the child's innate temperament. Which statement best evaluates the debate?

  1. Only heredity matters, so upbringing is irrelevant
  2. Both heredity and social environment interact, and character develops in activity Correct answer.
  3. Only upbringing matters, so temperament is irrelevant
  4. Character is fixed at birth and cannot be influenced

Explanation

Modern social science treats development as an interaction of biological preconditions and social environment, mediated by the individual's own activity. Neither heredity alone nor upbringing alone fully explains character formation.

Question 43Human Being and Personality

Which example best illustrates the difference between a person's social role and his personal identity?

  1. A citizen votes in an election
  2. A teacher performs classroom duties but privately sees himself as an aspiring writer Correct answer.
  3. A member of a family attends a birthday party
  4. A passenger buys a ticket and boards a bus

Explanation

A social role is the set of expected behaviours attached to a position, such as teacher duties, while personal identity is the individual's own self-understanding and aspirations. The other examples describe role performance without revealing a distinction between role and self-identification.

Question 44Human Being and Personality

A person who consistently subordinates his own interests to the expectations of others and cannot make independent choices is best described as showing:

  1. Conformist behaviour with weak personal autonomy Correct answer.
  2. A developed critical worldview
  3. Strong leadership qualities
  4. A high level of self-actualisation

Explanation

Conformity means adjusting one's behaviour to group expectations, and when it is combined with an inability to make independent choices it indicates weak personal autonomy. Self-actualisation, leadership and a critical worldview all presuppose independent judgement.

Question 45Cognition and Activity

Which term describes the process of reflecting on one's own thoughts and mental states?

  1. Reflection Correct answer.
  2. Imitation
  3. Sensation
  4. Perception

Explanation

Reflection is the mental activity of turning attention toward one's own thoughts and inner states, allowing a person to evaluate and regulate them. The other terms name basic sensory or social processes rather than self-directed thinking.

Question 46Cognition and Activity

A student learns a poem by repeating it aloud several times until it can be recited without looking. Which type of activity does this best illustrate?

  1. Play activity
  2. Communication activity
  3. Labor activity
  4. Memory activity Correct answer.

Explanation

Memorizing a poem through repetition is a memory activity, since its main purpose is to store and later reproduce information. Play, labor, and communication serve other goals, such as enjoyment, producing goods, or exchanging meaning.

Question 47Cognition and Activity

What is the main function of attention in cognitive activity?

  1. Creating new concepts from nothing
  2. Storing information permanently
  3. Selecting and focusing on relevant information Correct answer.
  4. Measuring the speed of reflexes

Explanation

Attention directs and concentrates mental resources on certain objects or tasks while ignoring others, which organizes the flow of cognition. It does not itself store information or create concepts; those are functions of memory and thinking.

Question 48Cognition and Activity

Which statement correctly distinguishes sensation from perception?

  1. Sensation reflects the object as a whole, while perception reflects individual properties.
  2. Perception occurs without any sensory input.
  3. Both reflect only the internal states of the subject.
  4. Sensation reflects individual properties of objects, while perception reflects the object as a whole. Correct answer.

Explanation

Sensation is the reflection of separate qualities of stimuli, such as color or temperature, while perception integrates these qualities into a holistic image of an object. This is the standard distinction between the two levels of sensory cognition.

Question 49Cognition and Activity

A child who has never seen a zebra sees one at the zoo and immediately says it looks like a striped horse. Which mental operation is the child mainly using?

  1. Idealization
  2. Deduction
  3. Comparison Correct answer.
  4. Abstraction

Explanation

Comparison establishes similarities and differences between objects, here between the unfamiliar zebra and the familiar horse. Abstraction and idealization involve isolating or exaggerating features, while deduction is a form of inference rather than a direct likeness judgment.

Question 50Cognition and Activity

Which of the following is a characteristic feature of human activity that distinguishes it from animal behavior?

  1. It occurs only at the level of reflexes.
  2. It is entirely determined by instinct.
  3. It is consciously goal-directed and planned. Correct answer.
  4. It lacks any connection to needs.

Explanation

Human activity is characterized by conscious goal-setting and planning, which allows people to transform the environment in accordance with imagined results. Instinct-driven behavior and reflexes describe more elementary forms of adaptation.