Bece Past Questions & Answers – 2007 (SOCIAL STUDIES)

SOCIAL STUDIES 1

SOLUTIONS

OBJECTIVE TEST

1. A. ethnic conflict

2. C. Lake Chad

3. B. slaves

4. D. trade

5. B. Germany

6. D. Mankesim

7. A. Portuguese

8. C. Cape Coast

9. C. Mfantsipim School

10. A. fumes from cars

11. D. the people

12. D. speaker

13. C. recycling

14. B. circumcision of female children

15. D. tolerance

16. A. Sandstone

17. B. relief rainfall

18. A. Chief Justice

19. C. Potassium

20. D. superstition

21. B. floods are controlled

22.
A.
Cote d‟Ivoire

23.
C.
Afadjato

24.
B.
modern technology

25.
D.
Unit Committee

26.
A.
savanna

27.
D.
55 kilometres

28.
D.
protect public property

29.
D.
judiciary

30.
A.
Labour

31.
C.
Navy

32.
D.
Greenwich Meridian

33.
B.
peace-keeping

34.
A.
Afram

35.
D.
Cotton

36.
C.
friendly relations

37.
A.
saturated

38.
D.
the four seasons

39.
B.
citizens of the country

40.
C.
I and IV only

SOCIAL STUDIES 2

SOLUTIONS

ESSAY

PART I

GOVERNMENT, POLITICS AND STABILITY

1. (a) Reasons for the coming of the early Europeans into West Africa
(i) To evangelize – spread Christianity
(ii) To trade in gold, salt, spices, guns, etc
(iii) To explore West African
(iv) To exploit our natural resources, such as gold, diamond, bauxite and manganese
(v) To expand their territories / colonies.
(vi) To introduce formal education in West Africa
(vii) To expand the market for their products
(viii) To obtain raw materials for their industries
[any four]

(b) Effects the coming of the Europeans had on the people?

Positive Effects
(i) Introduction of formal education by the establishment of schools and colleges
(ii) Introduction of currency notes and coins as the medium of exchange to replace the barter system.
(iii) The spread of Christianity
(iv) The introduction of the formal legal system to maintain law and order
(v) The establishment of clinics and hospitals
(vi) The development of alphabet for local languages, writing and reading. (vii) The introduction of improved farming methods for higher yield
(viii) The improvement / development of architecture
(ix) The creation of tourist sites
(x) The development of better infrastructure, eg, roads, railway lines, harbour, etc

Negative Effects

(xi) Changes in our cultural system
(xii) Over-dependence on the colonial masters
(xiii) Loss of national identity
(xiv) Exploitation of our natural resources
(xv) The loss of active manpower through the Trans-Atlantic slave trade
(xvi) Loss of respect and dignity of Africans
(xvii) Mental slavery – inability of directing our own affairs
(xviii) Collapse of local / traditional industries
[any four]

2. (a) Reasons why Ghana should be self-reliant
(i) To maintain her sovereignty as an independent state
(ii) To prevent indiscriminate exploitation of our natural resources by foreigners
(iii) To save / reserve our foreign exchange
(iv) To create an enabling environment for local enterprises to succeed
(v) To improve the balance of trade
(vi) To encourage indigenous problem-solving spirit
(vii) To create favourable environment for human resource development
[any four]

(b) Measures that can make Ghana self-reliant
(i) Cultivating an attitude of self-belief – ability to manage our own affairs.
(ii) Promoting the patronage of locally made goods and services (made-in-Ghana goods) (iii) Depending on local experts for problem-solving
(iv) Adding value to our primary sector products – processing our raw materials to finished or
semi-finished products
(v) The government cutting down the budget / public expenditure (living within our means) (vi) Widening the tax net to increase locally generated revenue
(vii) Investing heavily in the continuous training of our human resource
(viii) Eliminating or drastically reducing bribery and corruption
(ix) Increasing the import duty on foreign goods
(x) Managing our resources efficiently
(xi) Giving room for greater private sector involvement in our economy [any four]

PART II
OUR ENVIRONMENT

3. (a) Types of rainfall experienced in Ghana
(i) Convectional
(ii) Relief or orographic
(iii) Cyclonic or frontal

(b) How the rainfall types are formed

(i) Convectional
 Warm water vapour rises (evaporates) from the surfaces of land and water bodies when they are heated.
 The water vapour rises higher and higher into the atmosphere.
 The higher it rises, the cooler it becomes.
 When it gets into the upper layers of the atmosphere, it condenses to form cumulus clouds.
 The cumulus clouds develop into cumulus congestus then into cumulonimbus clouds when cooling continues
 The cumulonimbus clouds condense further and fall as rain
 (Convectional rain is usually accompanied by thunder and lightning)

(ii) Relief Or Orographic
 Air mass / wind blows towards a highland / mountain
 The air mass is forced upwards on the windward side
 The rising air cools (adiabatic cooling) and condenses to form cumulus clouds
 The cumulus clouds develop into cumulus congestus then into cumulonimbus clouds as cooling continues
 The cumulonimbus clouds condense further and fall as rain
 The rain is heavier on the windward side than on the leeward side.

(iii) Cyclonic Or Frontal
 Two air masses (one warm, the other cold) meet and form a front.
 The warmer air rises over the colder air, since it is lighter /has lower density
 As the warm air continues to rise, it cools and condenses to form cumulus clouds
 The cumulus clouds develop into cumulus congestus then into cumulonimbus clouds as cooling continues
 The cumulonimbus clouds condense further and fall as rain [any one]

4. (a) Sources of superstitious beliefs in Ghana
(i) Folktales
(ii) Spiritualists, eg, fetish priests, mallams, prophets, etc
(iii) Taboos
(iv) Myths
(v) African / horror movies
(vi) Dreams / visions / trances

(vii) Personal supernatural occurrences
[any four]

(b) Effects of superstition on the social and economic development of Ghana

Positive Effects
(i) They help to facilitate safety of the community
(ii) They help to inculcate acceptable social habits in the society
(iii) They help to uphold law and order
(iv) They support the preservation of the environment
(v) They help to maintain personal hygiene

Negative Effects
(vi) They discourage scientific advancement and technology (vii) They generate conflicts among members of the community (viii) They create intense and unreasonable fear in the community (ix) They slow down development / progress in the community (x) They sometimes permit abuse of one‟s human rights
(xi) They create suspicions among persons in a community
(xii) They discourage creativity concerning innovative solutions to societal problems
[any four]

PART III
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

5. (a) Natural resources of a country.
(i) Water bodies, eg, rivers, sea, lakes, streams, lagoons, etc
(ii) Relief features, eg, mountains, hill, ridges, etc
(iii) Minerals, eg, gold, diamond, bauxite, crude oil, salt
(iv) Vegetation, eg, rain forest, grassland, etc
(v) Animal resources, eg, lion, fishes, birds, insects, etc
(vi) Land – earth crust
[any four]

(b) Ways the natural resources of Ghana can be exploited and used more efficiently?
(i) Legislation – making and enforce laws to guide the appropriate exploitation of resources
(ii) Using modern technology / tools for exploration and exploitation
(iii) Encouraging local use and processing of exploited resource
(iv) Quality manpower training – Providing quality training / education of human resource for the exploitation of natural resource.
(v) Adding value to the natural resources

(vi) Conservation / replenishment of exploited natural resource, wherever possible. Eg, reforestation (planting more trees to replace ones cut down)
(vii) Good maintenance of equipment used for exploitation of resource
(viii) Ensuring the use of approved methods for exploitation.
[any four]

6.
(a) Calculations, showing working:

(i) the total population
= 9,825,600 + 7,728,000 + 846,400
= 18,400,000

(ii) the percentage of the population that is supported by the working population.
=

=

=

=

=

= 58 %

(b) Effects of this age distribution on development in Ghana.
(i) Great financial burden on working population due to high dependency ratio
(ii) Low per-capita income, which amounts to poverty
(iii) High government expenditure on non-working population (0-17 and 60 +) (iv) Generally low savings and investments
(v) Low revenue to the government, due to low working population, and therefore less taxes,
levies, tolls, etc, come to government
(vi) High Inflation
(vii) Slow pace of development of the country [any four]