UPHESC Assistant Professor Home Science 2025 PYQs

Concept: Each management tool answers a particular question.

1. Organisation chart shows lines of activity and authority → 3.
2. Job specification lists qualities needed in the worker → selection of right employee (4).
3. Work schedule spreads work over the day, showing peak and slack (trough) periods → 1.
4. Job analysis studies each job and reveals problem areas → 5; standard costing sheets are built on customer demand pattern (portions sold) → 2.

Short trick: Chart = who reports to whom; Specification = who to hire.

Concept: Functions of sewing machine parts.

1. Throat (needle) plate - flat metal plate under the presser foot giving a smooth surface → ii.
2. Feed dog - toothed bars that move the fabric forward → iv.
3. Pressure (presser) foot - holds the fabric firmly in place → i.
4. Stop motion screw - loosened to disengage the needle mechanism (for bobbin winding) → iii.

Short trick: Feed dog 'feeds' the cloth forward; presser foot 'presses' it down.

Concept: Interfacing is a sew-in or fusible support fabric placed between the garment fabric and facing to give shape and body.

1. Used in collars, cuffs, plackets, waistbands and lapels to keep the desired shape.
2. Interlining is mainly an extra layer for warmth/bulk in coats.
3. Interlocking is a knit structure; an integrated tag is a label - neither shapes garments.

Short trick: Interfacing = shape-giver (fusible or sew-in); interlining = warmth-giver.

Concept: Presser-foot pressure is adjusted to the fabric: light for fine/thin fabrics, heavier for thick fabrics.

1. Too much pressure marks, puckers or stretches fine fabric - so it is reduced; (A) is true.
2. Correct pressure lets the feed dog move fabric evenly, so stitch length stays uniform; wrong pressure gives uneven/skipped stitches - (R) is true.

Short trick: Fine fabric = light touch.

Concept: Fabrics are made by interlacing, interlooping, knotting or braiding yarns.

1. Braid - yarns plaited diagonally → 4.
2. Knitting - rows of interlocking loops → 2.
3. Lace - yarns knotted, twisted and looped into open designs → 1.
4. Weaving - warp and weft interlace at right angles → 3.

Short trick: Weave = 90°, Braid = diagonal, Knit = loops, Lace = knots.

Concept: Mercerization (John Mercer, 1844) treats cellulosic yarn/fabric with cold concentrated NaOH under tension.

1. Fibres swell and become round, giving lustre, softness, strength and better dye uptake.
2. Carbonizing removes vegetable matter from wool with acid.
3. Scouring removes impurities; bleaching removes colour - neither adds lustre.

Short trick: Mercer + NaOH = shine on cotton.

Concept: Orlon is DuPont's acrylic fibre, widely used in knitwear as a wool substitute.

1. By the FTC/ISO definition an acrylic fibre must contain at least 85% acrylonitrile units.
2. Fibres with 35–85% acrylonitrile are called modacrylic.
3. So an Orlon (acrylic) knit requires 85%.

Short trick: Acrylic ≥ 85%, Modacrylic 35–85%.

Concept: Cold-water (raw) starch is used for very stiff finishes on collars and cuffs; raw starch is blended with cold water, borax and a little wax/turpentine.

1. Borax gives extra stiffness and prevents sticking; wax (or turpentine) gives gloss and lets the iron glide - so laundry texts describe it as a starch–borax–wax mixture; (A) is accepted.
2. Ammonia is an alkaline cleaning/stain-removing agent, not an ingredient of starch - (R) is correct.

Short trick: Cold starch = Starch + Borax + Wax (gloss); no Ammonia.

Concept: Grey cotton fabric passes through preparatory processes before colouration and finishing.

1. Singeing first burns off protruding fibres (i).
2. Desizing removes the starch size added for weaving (vi).
3. Scouring removes waxes and impurities (iv); bleaching whitens (iii).
4. Then printing/dyeing (ii) and finally finishing - cutting and heat setting (v).

Short trick: S-D-S-B: Singe, Desize, Scour, Bleach → then Print → Finish.

Concept: Each dye class suits fibres with matching chemical groups.

1. Acid dyes bond with amino groups of protein fibres and nylon → silk, nylon (III).
2. Disperse dyes are non-ionic, used for hydrophobic polyester → I.
3. Reactive dyes form covalent bonds with cellulose → cotton (IV).
4. Pigments are fixed with a binder on the surface, so they can be used on all fibres → II.

Short trick: Acid-Animal/Nylon, Disperse-Polyester, Reactive-Cotton, Pigment-All.

Concept: Natural dyes come from plants, animals (insects, molluscs) or minerals.

1. Tyrian (royal) purple was extracted from the glands of Murex sea snails - an animal dye.
2. Other animal dyes: cochineal and lac (insects).
3. Vegetable dyes: indigo, madder, turmeric; mineral dyes: iron buff, Prussian blue.

Short trick: Tyre (Phoenicia) + snail = royal purple.

Concept: Jacquard weave controls each warp yarn individually (punched cards/electronic), producing large, intricate figured designs.

1. Brocade, damask, tapestry and figured upholstery are Jacquard fabrics.
2. Twill gives diagonal lines (denim, gabardine).
3. Rib and basket are variations of plain weave (poplin, monk's cloth).

Short trick: Big pictures on cloth = Jacquard (brocade, damask, tapestry).

Concept: A dobby loom has a limited number of harnesses (up to about 32), so it makes only small geometric figures; large complex figured designs need the Jacquard loom.

1. (A) is false: complex figured designs are made on the Jacquard, not the dobby.
2. (R) is true: the number of harnesses (shafts) fixes how many different interlacing patterns - i.e. the weave structure - a loom can produce (plain needs 2, twill 3+, satin 5+).

Short trick: Dobby = small dots/geometric; Jacquard = large pictures.

Concept: Loft is the ability of a fibre/fabric to spring back and give bulk (thickness) with trapped air.

1. Wool's natural crimp and resilience give it excellent loft and hence high warmth.
2. Silk is smooth and fine; cotton and linen are flat, inelastic cellulosic fibres with poor loft.

Short trick: Crimp → Loft → Warmth = Wool.

Concept: Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how, when and by whom.

1. Every other function (organising, controlling, evaluating) is based on the plan - hence it is the primary function.
2. Evaluation is the last step.

Short trick: No plan, no management - planning comes first.

Concept: Value is the lightness/darkness of a hue.

1. Adding black to a hue gives a shade (darker value).
2. Adding white gives a tint; adding grey gives a tone.
3. Chroma (intensity) is the brightness or dullness of a colour.

Short trick: Shade = Shadow (black); Tint = white.

Concept: Home management (Gross & Crandall) = planning → organising (allocation of work) → controlling the plan in action (energising, checking, adjusting) → evaluation.

1. Plan first (3), then allocate the work among family members (4).
2. Energise/start the activity (1), adjust when things go off-plan (5).
3. Evaluate at the end (2): 3, 4, 1, 5, 2.

Short trick: Plan → Allot → Energise → Adjust → Evaluate.

Concept: The steps of decision making follow a logical problem-solving order.

1. Recognise/identify the problem (a).
2. Collect information and list possible courses of action (c).
3. Think through the consequences of each alternative (b).
4. Choose the best one (d), act and then evaluate the feedback (e).

Short trick: Identify → Inform → Imagine outcomes → Implement best → Evaluate.

Concept: Elements of art are the raw materials (line, shape/form, colour, texture, space, light); principles are the rules for arranging them.

1. Principles of art: proportion, balance, rhythm, emphasis, harmony.
2. Colour is an element, not a principle.

Short trick: Principles = 'PB-REH': Proportion, Balance, Rhythm, Emphasis, Harmony.

Concept: Home management is planning, controlling and evaluating the use of family resources to achieve family goals.

1. Statement I is the standard definition - true.
2. Home management skills are transferred from the older generation to the younger members (children), not to the older members - Statement II is false.

Short trick: Skills flow down: elders → children.