NCERT 7th Class (CBSE) Social Science: The Human Environment: Settlement, Transport and Communication

Question: Highlight the importance of rural-urban interdependence. or Rural and urban settlements are interdependent. Justify this statement.

Answer: Rural and urban areas are dependent on each other. The villages supply food grains, fruits, vegetables, agricultural raw materials and casual labourers to the towns. The towns supply industrial goods, social and utility services and employment opportunities to the villagers.

or

Answer: Rural or urban areas are highly dependent on each other. While urban area depend on rural areas for food grains and raw materials, the rural sector depends on the urban sector as a market for their produce and source of finished products.

Question: How are roads classified in India?

Answer: In India roads are classified into five categories:

1. National Highways: which connect sate capitals.
2. Border Roads: Which maintain the supply line to the remote areas along India’s border.
3. State Highways: Which connect the district capitals within a state.
4. District Roads: Which connects the various towns in a state.
5. Village Roads.

Question: What are the relative advantages of road, rail and air transport?

Answer: Advantages of road, rail and air transportation are as follows:

Road:

1. They provide door-to-door service.
2. They are the main means of transport in remote landlocked villages.
3. They are easier to build and maintain in difficult terrain, like forests and mountains.

Rail:

1. The railways are fairly fast, safe, cheap and comfortable for the movement of people and material.
2. The industrialised regions of the world and thickly populated industrial belts have dense network of railways.
3. Trans-continental railways are of great economic and political importance.

Airways:

1. Air transport is the fastest but the most expensive means of transport.
2. Perishable, brittle and highly valuable cargo is also generally airlifted.
3. Air transport is largely independent of the type of terrain, as planes can fly over difficult terrain.
4. Air transport is a boon for regions dominated by hills and inaccessible areas, and to reach disaster-hit regions. Helicopters, particularly, plays a major role in rescue and relief operations.

Question: What is communication? List various means of modern communication.

Answer: Communication refers to the effective exchange of ideas and information. Without which one cannot acquire, process or apply knowledge. It is the very basis of development. Communication can be verbal and non-verbal. It can be one-to-one communication or mass communication (communicating with thousands of people at the same time).

Various means of modern communications are: telephones, computers, emails or electronic mails, fax etc.

1. Satellite launched into space from Earth have revolutionised communication.
2. Television now brings news from across the world live into houses.
3. People send instant messages of mobile phone and computers.
4. Sending e-mail via internet has become one of the fastest growing methods of communication.

These new methods of communication have shrunk distances across the globe – so much so that we are now said to be living in a large global village

Question: Write short notes on the following: Permanent settlements, Compact settlements, Scattered Settlements, Inland waterways, Railways, Communication.

Answer: Permanent Settlements: The settlements in which people live permanently are called permanent settlements. Nowadays all settlements big or small are developed as permanent settlements. They have a layout plan. It includes buildings for:

• residential purposes
• commercial purposes
• schools, hospitals, office and other services
• cultural and entertainment needs.
• space for streets, roads, etc.

Compact Settlements: Compact settlements have houses built very close to each other. They have narrow, winding streets. Such settlements are mostly found in fertile river valleys and plains.

Scattered Settlements: Scattered settlements are mostly found in forested areas, hilly regions and deserts. The houses are scattered over a large area.

Inland Waterways: Navigable rivers, lakes and canals are used as inland waterways. Their development depends upon the depth and width of the waterways and the continuity of flow.

The Great lakes between USA and Canada along with the St. Lawrence river is the largest and the busiest inland waterway in the world. Large rivers like Nile, the Amazon, the Mississippi, the Yangtze, the Rhine and the Ganga are also important inland waterways.

Many countries have interlinked their navigable rivers by constructing canals. Some of the well-known canals in the world are the Suez, the Panama and the Kiel.

Railways: Railways are quick means of transport over long distances at a comparatively lower cost. Railways carry raw materials to industrial regions and distribute the finished goods inside the country or carry them to the ports for export.

The factors which influence the development of railways are the relief features of the region, the density of the population, the availability of natural resources and the level of economic development.

Communication: The invention of radio and television introduced a wireless medium in communication. It also made communication with millions of people possible at the same time. Thus, they are called means of mass communication.
The telegraph, telephone, fax and e-mail are important means of communication. Satellites have made communication easier and faster. They help in weather forecasting. The development of fax, electronic mails or emails through internet, and cellular phones have enhanced the speed of communication.

With the improvement in communication physical distances have reduced. The world has become a large global society.