MathSetuTwo question types in the CBSE Class 10 Maths paper worry students more than they should: the case-study questions in Section E and the assertion-reason questions in Section A. Both are easy once you know how to read them.
Case-study questions
A case study gives a real-life situation, such as a staircase, a garden or a table of data, followed by three short parts. They are usually worth 4 marks in total, and the parts get harder as you go on. Every part uses a chapter you already know.
- Read the passage twice and underline the numbers.
- Draw a quick figure or write the data as a small table before you start.
- Identify the chapter: the words sum, term and difference suggest an AP; angle of elevation suggests trigonometry; coordinates suggest the distance or section formula.
- Answer part by part, writing the formula and the working, as in any other question.
- If a part has an internal choice (OR), choose the one you are more sure of and do not attempt both.
Assertion-reason questions
You are given two statements: an Assertion (A) and a Reason (R). The four options are always the same: both true and R explains A; both true but R does not explain A; A true and R false; A false and R true.
- First decide whether A is true. Check it with a small example if needed.
- Then decide whether R is true, independently of A.
- If both are true, ask: does R actually explain why A is true? A true statement placed next to another true statement is not always its reason.
- Do not choose by feeling. Decide each statement, and the option follows.
A worked example
Assertion: when a die is thrown once, the probability of getting a prime number is 1/2. Reason: the prime numbers on a die are 2, 3 and 5. There are 3 primes among 6 equally likely outcomes, so A is true. R is true as well, and it is exactly the count used in A. So both are true and R explains A.
Practise
Practise both types with the full-length MathSetu sample paper, which includes assertion-reason and case-study questions with solutions.