New Curriculum First Term Economics examination for SS 1

Class: SSS 1
Term: First Term
Subject: Economics
Time: 2 Hours
Total Marks: 70

SECTION A — OBJECTIVES (40 MARKS)
Instruction: Answer all 40 questions. Choose the most appropriate option. Each question carries 1 mark.

1. With limited timber, a workshop must choose between desks and wardrobes. Identify the economic decision involved.
   (a) what to produce    (b) for whom to produce    (c) how to distribute profits only    (d) which currency to print
2. Which option is NOT a desirable property of money used in everyday transactions?
   (a) Portability    (b) Divisibility    (c) Recognisability    (d) Rapid decay before it can be spent
3. A single payment medium is widely accepted among unrelated traders. Name its central economic advantage.
   (a) general acceptability    (b) perfect stability of every commodity price    (c) automatic growth in national output    (d) absence of all transaction costs
4. Five friends are interviewed about household expenditure, then their answers are treated as representative of the entire state. Identify the statistical flaw.
   (a) frequency classification    (b) consistent measurement units    (c) selection bias    (d) an excessively large sample
5. Select the statement that can be tested against observed economic data.
   (a) Government must always choose my preferred policy.    (b) Every person ought to receive the same wage.    (c) This budget is morally perfect.    (d) A rise in price was followed by lower quantity purchased.
6. A government supplies public healthcare while private shops distribute goods. Classify the policy mix.
   (a) eliminating all market transactions    (b) complete replacement of household choices    (c) a wholly traditional allocation system    (d) combining public intervention with private activity
7. A state directs output from industries it owns through a national production plan. Identify the type of system.
   (a) a primarily laissez-faire capitalist system    (b) purely barter-based traditional exchange    (c) a planned socialist system    (d) a market without public ownership
8. Daily unit sales are 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60. Calculate the arithmetic mean.
   (a) 30 units    (b) 50 units    (c) 200 units    (d) 40 units
9. The ________ concerns decisions of individual firms and households rather than aggregate national output.
   (a) macroeconomic analysis    (b) microeconomic analysis    (c) national income accounting alone    (d) monetary policy design alone
10. The same clinic staff now attend to 80 rather than 60 patients without reduced quality. Interpret the change in efficiency.
    (a) increased waste per patient    (b) lower output from unchanged inputs    (c) an absence of scarcity    (d) higher resource-use efficiency
11. A bakery considers hand mixing versus a machine for identical output. It is deciding _____.
    (a) who should consume the bread    (b) whether scarcity exists    (c) how to produce    (d) how prices are statistically averaged
12. ________ was a common early form of exchange before widely accepted money.
    (a) card-based instant settlement    (b) direct barter    (c) electronic wallet transfer    (d) central-bank digital currency
13. From the household fuel chart below, determine how many of the 200 households use charcoal.
    (a) 25    (b) 75    (c) 50    (d) 100
14. Which change does NOT necessarily improve economic efficiency?
    (a) Reducing avoidable production waste    (b) Improving workers' organisation    (c) Using more inputs to produce the same acceptable output    (d) Maintaining quality with fewer resources
15. An electronic wallet can transfer purchasing power without exchanging physical notes. Identify the economic function performed.
    (a) elimination of all uncertainty    (b) medium of exchange    (c) direct barter of unlike goods    (d) physical commodity backing
16. All of the following are uses of economic reasoning EXCEPT _____.
    (a) evaluating alternative uses of funds    (b) guaranteeing that prices will never change    (c) comparing policy effects    (d) anticipating responses to incentives
17. Under a mixed economic system, ________ participate in allocating goods and services.
    (a) government alone without households    (b) only inherited family occupations    (c) only foreign firms    (d) government and private producers
18. In the observations 4, 6, 6, 8, 10, determine how often the value 6 appears.
    (a) 1    (b) 3    (c) 2    (d) 5
19. Why must a household put its wants in order when preparing a spending plan?
    (a) income cannot satisfy all competing wants simultaneously    (b) every want has the same urgency    (c) choices never create sacrifices    (d) every good can be obtained freely
20. All are potential drawbacks of a purely market-oriented system EXCEPT _____.
    (a) unequal income distribution    (b) a universal guarantee of perfectly equal outcomes    (c) underprovision of some public goods    (d) possibility of market power
21. A student chooses a ₦10,000 calculator over a ₦9,000 textbook. Identify the alternative forgone.
    (a) the ₦10,000 price of the calculator    (b) both goods purchased together    (c) the textbook forgone    (d) the change returned after buying the calculator
22. A researcher records prices in three separate markets rather than relying on speculation. Identify the scientific feature demonstrated.
    (a) depends only on personal impressions    (b) avoids examining possible causes    (c) tests claims with systematic evidence    (d) proves that every forecast must be exact
23. The main reason opportunity cost matters to efficiency is that _____.
    (a) every alternative has the same return    (b) lost alternatives can always be recovered costlessly    (c) output is independent of input allocation    (d) resources diverted to one use cannot support the next best alternative
24. Identify the potential efficiency advantage of a market system with privately owned producers.
    (a) a guarantee of equal incomes for all    (b) elimination of market failures    (c) absence of any competitive pressures    (d) incentives to innovate and respond to buyers
25. The ________ function of money allows a household to compare prices of different goods.
    (a) unit of account    (b) factor of production    (c) barter matching    (d) physical distribution
26. A council reserves subsidised bread for particular households. Identify the allocation question this answers.
    (a) how to record a frequency table    (b) for whom to produce    (c) which input is capital    (d) how to classify banknotes
27. The main reason a medium of exchange facilitates specialisation is that _____.
    (a) everyone must consume only what they produce    (b) goods no longer have prices    (c) producers can sell output and purchase different needs    (d) transport ceases to matter
28. The correct classification of an economy with public hospitals and private retail chains is _____.
    (a) mixed economy    (b) traditional economy alone    (c) complete state ownership    (d) complete absence of government services
29. Which claim is NOT supported by a bar chart showing only last week's sales volumes?
    (a) One product sold more units than another.    (b) Two product categories had equal weekly sales.    (c) Total weekly units can be obtained by summing bars.    (d) Sales will certainly rise every week for a year.
30. The ________ summarises counts of observations grouped by values or classes.
    (a) demand schedule alone    (b) production possibility frontier    (c) bank balance statement    (d) frequency table
31. The main reason central planning may suffer allocation problems is that _____.
    (a) every consumer communicates identical preferences    (b) all goods require equal inputs    (c) planners may lack timely information about dispersed needs and costs    (d) changes in technology never occur
32. Two projects have equal costs but expected revenues of ₦300,000 and ₦260,000. Calculate the difference in expected returns.
    (a) ₦560,000    (b) ₦40,000    (c) ₦260,000    (d) ₦30,000
33. The correct step in evaluating two production plans is to _____.
    (a) ignore the cost of labour in both plans    (b) compare their costs and expected outputs using available resources    (c) assume equipment is always free    (d) choose the plan with the largest advertising sign
34. A maize farmer accepts money for crops instead of searching for a shoemaker who wants maize. Identify the barter difficulty avoided.
    (a) double coincidence of wants problem    (b) need for measurement    (c) risk of differing preferences over brands    (d) need to choose an occupation
35. A local council has a fixed budget for clinics and streetlights. Which decision method is economic?
    (a) Compare benefits and foregone alternatives under the budget constraint    (b) Approve every request without costing    (c) Choose solely by alphabetical order    (d) Pretend resources have no alternative use
36. For values 2, 4, 4, 5, 20, the median is preferable to the mean for a typical observation mainly because _____.
    (a) the median requires every value to be identical    (b) the unusually high value affects the mean more strongly    (c) the mean is always the smallest observation    (d) there is no way to calculate an average
37. The correct step before plotting a bar chart of household transport choices is to _____.
    (a) tally and verify frequencies for each category    (b) assign arbitrary values to missing responses    (c) draw bars before checking totals    (d) remove categories with inconvenient results
38. Most factories are privately owned and market prices guide output. Classify the system.
    (a) centrally planned socialist    (b) capitalist    (c) purely traditional    (d) fully communal without markets
39. Which situation illustrates scarcity rather than a temporary shortage caused by a delivery delay?
    (a) Households have unlimited wants but limited income and time.    (b) A store receives stock one day late.    (c) A cashier runs out of small change at noon.    (d) One bus breaks down on its route.
40. A banknote carries accepted purchasing power even though its paper has little intrinsic worth. Classify this money.
    (a) legal and institutional acceptance rather than its paper substance    (b) its ability to be eaten as a commodity    (c) a claim that the paper contains gold    (d) ownership of shares in a bank

SECTION B — THEORY (30 MARKS)
Instruction: Answer Question 1 and any other TWO questions. Each question carries 10 marks. Show all workings where calculations are required.

Question 1 (10 marks)
(a) A student has ₦20,000 and must choose between a ₦15,000 training course and a ₦12,000 bicycle. Define opportunity cost and apply it to a decision to buy the course. (4 marks)
(b) Explain three reasons why scarcity makes households, firms and government choose among competing projects. (6 marks)

Question 2 (10 marks)
(a) Contrast microeconomics with macroeconomics using one appropriate Nigerian example of each. (4 marks)
(b) A council can fund either rural roads or a health centre this year. Describe how efficiency, available resources and expected benefits should influence the allocation decision. (6 marks)

Question 3 (10 marks)
(a) Explain two characteristics each of a market-oriented and centrally planned economic system. (4 marks)
(b) A government permits private retailing but operates public hospitals. Explain why this is a mixed economy and evaluate two potential benefits and one challenge. (6 marks)

Question 4 (10 marks)
(a) The weekly sales observations are 12, 15, 15, 18, 20. Calculate their mean and median, showing steps. (4 marks)
(b) Give three functions of money and discuss how a widely accepted digital payment can perform these functions differently from barter. (6 marks)

Objective Marking Scheme
Question 1 – ✅ (a) what to produce
Question 2 – ✅ (d) Rapid decay before it can be spent
Question 3 – ✅ (a) general acceptability
Question 4 – ✅ (c) selection bias
Question 5 – ✅ (d) A rise in price was followed by lower quantity purchased.
Question 6 – ✅ (d) combining public intervention with private activity
Question 7 – ✅ (c) a planned socialist system
Question 8 – ✅ (d) 40 units
Question 9 – ✅ (b) microeconomic analysis
Question 10 – ✅ (d) higher resource-use efficiency
Question 11 – ✅ (c) how to produce
Question 12 – ✅ (b) direct barter
Question 13 – ✅ (c) 50
Question 14 – ✅ (c) Using more inputs to produce the same acceptable output
Question 15 – ✅ (b) medium of exchange
Question 16 – ✅ (b) guaranteeing that prices will never change
Question 17 – ✅ (d) government and private producers
Question 18 – ✅ (c) 2
Question 19 – ✅ (a) income cannot satisfy all competing wants simultaneously
Question 20 – ✅ (b) a universal guarantee of perfectly equal outcomes
Question 21 – ✅ (c) the textbook forgone
Question 22 – ✅ (c) tests claims with systematic evidence
Question 23 – ✅ (d) resources diverted to one use cannot support the next best alternative
Question 24 – ✅ (d) incentives to innovate and respond to buyers
Question 25 – ✅ (a) unit of account
Question 26 – ✅ (b) for whom to produce
Question 27 – ✅ (c) producers can sell output and purchase different needs
Question 28 – ✅ (a) mixed economy
Question 29 – ✅ (d) Sales will certainly rise every week for a year.
Question 30 – ✅ (d) frequency table
Question 31 – ✅ (c) planners may lack timely information about dispersed needs and costs
Question 32 – ✅ (b) ₦40,000
Question 33 – ✅ (b) compare their costs and expected outputs using available resources
Question 34 – ✅ (a) double coincidence of wants problem
Question 35 – ✅ (a) Compare benefits and foregone alternatives under the budget constraint
Question 36 – ✅ (b) the unusually high value affects the mean more strongly
Question 37 – ✅ (a) tally and verify frequencies for each category
Question 38 – ✅ (b) capitalist
Question 39 – ✅ (a) Households have unlimited wants but limited income and time.
Question 40 – ✅ (a) legal and institutional acceptance rather than its paper substance

Theory Marking Scheme

Question 1:
(a) Opportunity cost is the value of the next best alternative forgone (2); bicycle is the forgone alternative (2). (4 marks)
(b) Limited incomes and productive resources (2); competing wants and uses (2); trade-offs/alternatives sacrificed (2). (6 marks)

Question 2:
(a) Microeconomic focus on individual households/firms and markets (1), with relevant example (1); macroeconomic focus on economy-wide aggregates (1), with relevant national inflation/GDP example (1). (4 marks)
(b) Identify scarce funds (2); compare social benefits/needs (2); compare opportunity costs/alternative forgone (1); monitor efficiency and expected outcomes (1). (6 marks)

Question 3:
(a) Private ownership and price signals (2); public ownership and administrative allocation (2). (4 marks)
(b) Correct classification, private/public roles (2); benefits such as market responsiveness and public provision (2 each); challenge such as coordination or resource allocation (2). (6 marks)

Question 4:
(a) Total 80 /5 =16 mean (2); ordered middle observation 15 median (2). (4 marks)
(b) Medium of exchange (1); unit of account (1); store of value (1); discuss acceptance, reduction in matching needs and recordability with valid examples (3). (6 marks)
Accept logically valid equivalents within the taught curriculum. Credit correct workings and justifications; do not award the same point twice.