Home › GK Questions Asked › Biology › Reproduction

Reproduction PYQs – Biology, SSC & Railway

177 Reproduction (Biology) questions asked in recent SSC and Railway exams, newest first, with exam, date & shift, answers and solutions.

📚 177 questionsSSC 4 · Railway 173
12
SSC Stenographer 2026 – 9 September 2026 Shift 2 · Reproductive health and contraception

Q1. In the context of reproductive technologies, what is the primary role of IVF (In Vitro Fertilization)?

  1. (a) To clone embryos for medical research
  2. (b) To enable natural fertilization in uterus
  3. (c) To assist fertilization outside the body and implant the embryo
  4. (d) To prevent hormonal imbalance during pregnancy
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) To assist fertilization outside the body and implant the embryo

Answer: Option 3 — To assist fertilization outside the body and implant the embryo
In vitro means in glass, so in IVF the egg and the sperm are fused in a laboratory dish instead of inside the body.
The embryo that forms is then transferred into the uterus to implant and grow.
Revision note — Assisted reproductive technology
• IVF is used mainly when the woman's fallopian tubes or oviducts are blocked, and also for low sperm count and unexplained infertility.
• A baby born this way is popularly called a test-tube baby, although no test tube is involved — fertilisation takes place in a petri dish.
• The world's first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in England on 25 July 1978, from the work of Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards.
• Robert Edwards received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2010 for developing IVF.
• India's first test-tube baby, Durga (Kanupriya Agarwal), was born in Kolkata on 3 October 1978, through the work of Dr Subhash Mukhopadhyay.
• Related techniques: IUI (sperm placed in the uterus), ZIFT (zygote put in the tube), GIFT (egg and sperm put in the tube), ICSI (one sperm injected into the egg).
• Pregnancy begins at implantation, when the embryo embeds in the uterine lining, and the embryo is called a foetus from about the ninth week.
• India's Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act were both passed in 2021.
Do not mix these up
• IVF vs cloning — IVF joins one egg with one sperm to make a genetically new individual; cloning copies the genetic material of an existing one.
• IVF vs IUI — in IVF fertilisation happens outside the body; in IUI the sperm is placed inside the uterus and fertilisation is still natural.
• IVF vs surrogacy — IVF is the fertilisation technique; surrogacy is another woman carrying the pregnancy.
Also asked from this topic: the technique used when the oviducts are blocked (in vitro fertilisation, RRB Group D 2026); what begins pregnancy after IVF (implantation of the fertilised egg, RRB Group D 2026); the order in gestation (zygote, embryo, foetus, SSC Stenographer 2025).
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 25 August 2026 Shift 3 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q2. Amoeba, yeast, and hydra can reproduce even when only one parent organism is present. Which conclusion does this suggest about asexual reproduction?

  1. (a) It produces only multicellular organisms.
  2. (b) It requires seeds for reproduction.
  3. (c) Two parents are always necessary.
  4. (d) It occurs without fusion of gametes.
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) It occurs without fusion of gametes.

Correct Answer:
Correct Answer: Option 4 – It occurs without fusion of gametes.
Explanation:
Amoeba (binary fission), yeast (budding), and hydra (budding) all reproduce asexually using a single parent, without formation or fusion of male and female gametes. This is the defining feature of asexual reproduction.
Important Facts:
• Asexual reproduction can occur in both unicellular and multicellular organisms (e.g., hydra is multicellular).
• Offspring produced asexually are genetically identical (clones) to the parent.
• Common modes include fission, budding, fragmentation, and spore formation.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 20 August 2026 Shift 3 · Reproduction in animals

Q3. The reproductive cells such as sperm and eggs produced through meiosis are known as __________.

  1. (a) Organelles
  2. (b) Tissues
  3. (c) Inclusions
  4. (d) Gametes
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Gametes

Correct Answer:
Option 4 – Gametes
Explanation:
Reproductive cells such as sperm (male) and eggs/ova (female), produced through meiosis, are collectively calledgametes. They are haploid and fuse during fertilization to form a zygote.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 19 August 2026 Shift 1 · Vegetative propagation

Q4. Farmers use cutting, grafting, and tissue culture to grow many plants with the same useful traits. These methods are preferred as:

  1. (a) They produce genetically identical plants.
  2. (b) They depend on pollinating insects.
  3. (c) They stop flowering in plants.
  4. (d) They always create new varieties.
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) They produce genetically identical plants.

Correct Answer:
Correct Answer: Option 1 – They produce genetically identical plants.
Explanation:
Cutting, grafting, and tissue culture are methods ofasexual (vegetative) propagation. Since no gametes/fertilization are involved, the offspring aregenetically identical (clones)to the parent plant, preserving desirable traits exactly — which is why they are preferred over sexual reproduction for propagating useful varieties.
Important Facts:
• Vegetative propagation does not depend on pollinating insects (that's needed for sexual reproduction).
• These methods preserve existing traits rather than creating new varieties.
• Tissue culture (micropropagation) can rapidly produce many identical plantlets from a small tissue sample.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 12 August 2026 Shift 1 · Human female reproductive system and menstrual cycle

Q5. All of the following are parts of the human female reproductive system, EXCEPT ________.

  1. (a) Vagina
  2. (b) Vas deferens
  3. (c) Uterus
  4. (d) Oviducts
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Vas deferens

Answer: Option 2 – Vas deferens.
• Thevas deferensis part of the *male* reproductive system; vagina, uterus and oviducts are female organs.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 12 August 2026 Shift 1 · Human male reproductive system

Q6. The __________ of a sperm cell contains the genetic material required for fertilisation.

  1. (a) Fluid
  2. (b) Head
  3. (c) Tail
  4. (d) Membrane
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Head

Answer: Option 2 – Head.
• Theheadof the sperm carries the genetic material (nucleus/DNA).
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 12 August 2026 Shift 2 · Human female reproductive system and menstrual cycle

Q7. While males produce millions of sperm, females usually produce only __________ mature egg(s) every month in humans.

  1. (a) Thousands
  2. (b) A few hundred
  3. (c) One
  4. (d) Zero
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) One

Answer: Option 3 – One.
• Human females usually releaseonemature egg each month.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 12 August 2026 Shift 2 · Human female reproductive system and menstrual cycle

Q8. A 13-year-old girl starts menstruating but has irregular cycles for the first year. Which underlying factor most likely contributes to this pattern according to reproductive maturity?

  1. (a) Constant egg release
  2. (b) Immature hormonal regulation
  3. (c) Fully developed uterus
  4. (d) Fully matured ovaries
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Immature hormonal regulation

Answer: Option 2 – Immature hormonal regulation.
• In the first year after menarche,hormonal control is still immature, so cycles are irregular.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 12 August 2026 Shift 3 · Reproductive health and contraception

Q9. A couple is considering permanent surgical contraception to avoid future pregnancies. Which of these is a limitation of this approach in the context of sexually transmitted diseases?

  1. (a) Is reversible by oral pills
  2. (b) Causes uterine irritation
  3. (c) Increases hormonal side effects
  4. (d) Does not prevent infections
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Does not prevent infections

Answer: Option 4 – Does not prevent infections.
• Surgical sterilisation prevents pregnancy butdoes not protect against STDs.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 11 August 2026 Shift 2 · Human male reproductive system

Q10. In humans, which reproductive cell possesses a tail that helps it swim toward the egg?

  1. (a) Embryo
  2. (b) Sperm
  3. (c) Egg
  4. (d) Zygote
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Sperm

Answer: Option 2 – Sperm.
• Thespermhas a tail (flagellum) that lets it swim toward the egg.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 11 August 2026 Shift 2 · Fertilisation, embryo development and pregnancy

Q11. A woman undergoes IVF, and the fertilised egg is implanted in her uterus. Which of these marks the clinical beginning of her pregnancy in this scenario?

  1. (a) Implantation of the fertilised egg
  2. (b) Manual fertilisation in the lab
  3. (c) Initial division of the zygote
  4. (d) Natural ovulation of the egg
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Implantation of the fertilised egg

Answer: Option 1 – Implantation of the fertilised egg.
• Clinically, pregnancy begins when the fertilised eggimplantsin the uterine wall.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 11 August 2026 Shift 3 · Human female reproductive system and menstrual cycle

Q12. In humans, a mature egg is typically released from one of the ovaries every month in a process called __________.

  1. (a) Spermatogenesis
  2. (b) Ovulation
  3. (c) Menopause
  4. (d) Puberty
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Ovulation

Answer: Option 2 – Ovulation.
• The monthly release of a mature egg from the ovary isovulation.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 10 August 2026 Shift 1 · Human female reproductive system and menstrual cycle

Q13. Match the following.
[TABLE]
Column I | Column II
1. Ovary | a. Site of foetal development
2. Fallopian tube | b. Release of eggs and hormones
3. Uterus | c. Site where fertilisation occurs
[/TABLE]

  1. (a) 1–b, 2–c, 3–a
  2. (b) 1–c, 2–b, 3–a
  3. (c) 1–b, 2–a, 3–c
  4. (d) 1–a, 2–c, 3–b
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) 1–b, 2–c, 3–a

Answer: Option 1 — 1–b, 2–c, 3–a
Matching per the given lists gives1–b, 2–c, 3–a→ Option 1. (Per the paper's matching table.)
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 10 August 2026 Shift 3 · Reproductive health and contraception

Q14. A couple is unable to conceive naturally due to blocked oviducts in the female. Which medical technique can help them achieve pregnancy?

  1. (a) Artificial insemination
  2. (b) Ultrasound imaging
  3. (c) In-vitro Fertilisation
  4. (d) Hormone therapy
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) In-vitro Fertilisation

Answer: Option 3 – In-vitro Fertilisation (IVF).
• Withblocked oviducts, fertilisation cannot occur naturally.IVFfertilises the egg outside the body and implants the embryo in the uterus.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 9 August 2026 Shift 3 · Pollination and fertilisation in plants

Q15. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic feature of insect-pollinated flowers?

  1. (a) Production of light, small pollen grains in very large numbers
  2. (b) Brightly coloured petals that attract insects
  3. (c) Sticky stigma adapted to receive pollen from insects
  4. (d) Production of nectar and fragrance to attract pollinators
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Production of light, small pollen grains in very large numbers

Answer: Option 1 — Production of light, small pollen grains in very large numbers
That is a feature ofwind-pollinatedflowers, NOT insect-pollinated → Option 1.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 6 August 2026 Shift 1 · Reproduction in animals

Q16. A pond contains a large cluster of jelly-like eggs laid by a female frog. What is the most likely mode of fertilisation in frogs?

  1. (a) External fertilisation in water
  2. (b) Asexual budding of the jelly-like eggs
  3. (c) In-vitro fertilisation by scientists
  4. (d) Internal fertilisation inside pond plants
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) External fertilisation in water

Answer: Option 1 — External fertilisation in water
Frogs lay jelly-covered eggs in water and fertilise themexternally→ Option 1.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 6 August 2026 Shift 3 · Human female reproductive system and menstrual cycle

Q17. Complete the analogy.Sperm Production : Testes :: Egg Production : _____________.

  1. (a) Ovaries
  2. (b) Uterus
  3. (c) Fallopian tubes
  4. (d) Vagina
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Ovaries

Answer: Option 1 — Ovaries
Sperm are produced in the testes; eggs are produced in theovaries→ Option 1.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 5 August 2026 Shift 1 · Vegetative propagation

Q18. Which of the following statements about vegetative propagation is INCORRECT?

  1. (a) New plants arise from stems, roots, or leaves.
  2. (b) New plants develop from seed-bearing structures.
  3. (c) Only one parent is involved in the process.
  4. (d) The offspring are genetically identical to the parent.
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) New plants develop from seed-bearing structures.

Answer: Option 2 — New plants develop from seed-bearing structures
Vegetative propagation isasexual(from stems/roots/leaves), NOT from seeds. So this statement is INCORRECT → Option 2.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 5 August 2026 Shift 3 · Pollination and fertilisation in plants

Q19. Complete the analogy.Pollination : Transfer of Pollen :: Fertilisation : ______________________.

  1. (a) Fusion of gametes
  2. (b) Growth of stem
  3. (c) Absorption of water
  4. (d) Ripening of fruit
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Fusion of gametes

Answer: Option 1 — Fusion of gametes
Pollination = transfer of pollen;Fertilisation = fusion of male and female gametes→ Option 1.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 4 August 2026 Shift 2 · Human female reproductive system and menstrual cycle

Q20. A woman experiences heavy and prolonged menstrual bleeding. Her doctor suspects a problem related to the endometrium. Which physiological process is most directly affected to cause this symptom?

  1. (a) Delayed release of the ovum
  2. (b) Decreased ovarian hormone production
  3. (c) Reduced blood vessel formation
  4. (d) Excessive shedding of endometrial tissue
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Excessive shedding of endometrial tissue

Answer: Option 4 — Excessive shedding of endometrial tissue
Heavy, prolonged bleeding is due toexcessive shedding of the endometriumduring menstruation → Option 4.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 3 August 2026 Shift 2 · Fertilisation, embryo development and pregnancy

Q21. A pregnant woman in her ninth week visits a clinic for a check-up. The doctor explains that the developing baby is now called a foetus and will continue organ development. Which trimester is she currently in?

  1. (a) Third trimester
  2. (b) First trimester
  3. (c) Second trimester
  4. (d) Later stage
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) First trimester

Answer: Option 2 — First trimester
Pregnancy is divided into three trimesters (~3 months each). The9th weekfalls in thefirst trimester(weeks 1–12) → Option 2.
RRB Group D 2025-26 – 3 August 2026 Shift 3 · Human male reproductive system

Q22. All of the following structures belong to the male reproductive system, EXCEPT _______.

  1. (a) Vas deferens
  2. (b) Fallopian tube
  3. (c) Scrotum
  4. (d) Penis
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Fallopian tube

Answer: Option 2 — Fallopian tube
Thefallopian tubebelongs to thefemalereproductive system. Vas deferens, scrotum and penis are male organs → Option 2.
SSC GD 2026 – 27 May 2026 Shift 1 · Flower structure and sexual reproduction in plants

Q23. Where are the reproductive parts of angiosperms
(flowering plants) located?

  1. (a) Leaf
  2. (b) Root
  3. (c) Flower
  4. (d) Stem
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Flower

Correct Answer: Flower — Option (c)
In angiosperms (flowering plants), the reproductive parts are located in the flower. About Reproduction in Angiosperms: Angiosperms = Flowering plants (the most diverse group of plants); The flower is the reproductive organ of angiosperms; Parts of a flower and their roles: Stamen (Male reproductive organ): Anther: Produces pollen grains (containing male gametes); Filament: Stalk supporting the anther; Pistil/Carpel (Female reproductive organ): Stigma: Sticky surface that receives pollen; Style: Connects stigma to ovary; Ovary: Contains ovules (which develop into seeds); Ovule: Contains the egg cell (female gamete); Process of reproduction in angiosperms: Pollination: Transfer of pollen from anther to stigma (by wind, insects, birds, water, etc.); Fertilization: Pollen tube grows from stigma through style to ovary; Male gamete fuses with egg cell in ovule (fertilization); Double fertilization: Unique to angiosperms — one male gamete fertilizes the egg (→ zygote → embryo) while another fuses with polar nuclei (→ endosperm); After fertilization: Ovule develops into SEED; Ovary develops into FRUIT; The fruit protects the seed and aids dispersal; About other parts: Leaf: Site of photosynthesis; contains chlorophyll; gas exchange; NOT reproductive; Root: Absorbs water and minerals; anchors the plant; some roots store food; NOT the site of reproductive parts; Stem: Supports the plant; transports water and nutrients; some stems store food; NOT the site of reproductive parts.
Option (a) Leaf — Incorrect: Leaves are the primary site of photosynthesis in plants — they contain chlorophyll and perform gas exchange; leaves are NOT the location of reproductive parts in angiosperms; the reproductive parts are found in the flower.
Option (b) Root — Incorrect: Roots are responsible for absorbing water and minerals from the soil, anchoring the plant, and sometimes storing food — they are NOT the location of reproductive parts in angiosperms; the flower contains the reproductive organs.
Option (d) Stem — Incorrect: The stem supports the plant and transports water (via xylem) and food (via phloem) between roots and leaves; while some stems are modified for storage or vegetative reproduction, the PRIMARY reproductive parts (stamens and pistils) of angiosperms are located in the flower.
RRB NTPC GL CBT-1 2025-26 – 22 March 2026 Shift 2 · Seed, fruit and germination

Q24. The part of the pomegranate that is consumed is known as:

  1. (a) Endocarp
  2. (b) Seed Coat
  3. (c) Pericarp
  4. (d) Placenta
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Seed Coat

Topic:Fruit Structure - Pomegranate
Pomegranate is afalse fruit(develops from thalamus).
The edible part consists of juicy, fleshyseed coat (testa).
The transparent red sacs around seeds = modified seed coat.
Pericarp = hard outer rind (not eaten).
Answer: Option 2 → Seed Coat
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 10 March 2026 Shift 1 · Fertilisation, embryo development and pregnancy

Q25. After fertilisation in humans, where does the growth and development of the embryo mainly occur?

  1. (a) Fallopian tube
  2. (b) Uterus
  3. (c) Vagina
  4. (d) Ovary
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Uterus

After fertilisation, the zygote (fertilised egg) moves to the uterus.
The uterus provides the environment for the embryo's growth and development.
Therefore, embryo development mainly occurs in the uterus.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 10 March 2026 Shift 2 · Flower structure and sexual reproduction in plants

Q26. The female reproductive part of the flower is known as:

  1. (a) sepals
  2. (b) pistil
  3. (c) stamens
  4. (d) petals
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) pistil

The female reproductive part of a flower is called the pistil.
It consists of the stigma, style, and ovary.
The stigma receives pollen, which travels down the style to fertilise the ovules in the ovary.
Therefore, the correct answer is pistil.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 10 March 2026 Shift 3 · Pollination and fertilisation in plants

Q27. What is formed when the male germ-cell from the pollen grain fuses with the female gamete in flowering plants?

  1. (a) Ovule
  2. (b) Zygote
  3. (c) Pollen grain
  4. (d) Stigma
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Zygote

In flowering plants, the male germ-cell from the pollen grain fuses with the female gamete (egg cell).
This fusion results in the formation of a zygote.
The zygote later develops into an embryo inside the seed.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 10 March 2026 Shift 3 · Fertilisation, embryo development and pregnancy

Q28. Which of the following is correct regarding the male and female gamete?

  1. (a) Male gamete is large and motile; and female gamete is smaller and non-motile.
  2. (b) Male gamete is small and motile; and female gamete is larger and non-motile.
  3. (c) Male gamete is large and non-motile; and female gamete is smaller and motile.
  4. (d) Male gamete is small and non-motile; and female gamete is larger and motile.
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Male gamete is small and motile; and female gamete is larger and non-motile.

Male gamete is typically small and motile, adapted to move and fertilize the female gamete.
Female gamete is larger in size and non-motile, containing stored nutrients for the developing embryo.
This characteristic is consistent in most animals, including humans.
Hence, the correct statement is: Male gamete is small and motile; and female gamete is larger and non-motile.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 10 March 2026 Shift 1 · Pollination and fertilisation in plants

Q29. Which of the following statements best explains the functional advantage of the pollen tube formation in the process of fertilisation in flowering plants?

  1. (a) It allows the pollen grain to attach firmly to the stigma for self-pollination to occur efficiently
  2. (b) It helps the pollen grain to release its stored nutrients for the ovule to develop into a seed
  3. (c) It ensures direct transfer of the male germ-cell to the ovary, preventing wastage of pollen grains
  4. (d) It enables the ovary to release egg cells toward the pollen grain for fusion to take place
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) It ensures direct transfer of the male germ-cell to the ovary, preventing wastage of pollen grains

The pollen tube grows from the pollen grain on the stigma down through the style to reach the ovary.
It transports the male gamete directly to the ovule ensuring fertilisation.
This direct transfer prevents the wastage of pollen grains.
Option 3 correctly describes the functional advantage of pollen tube formation in fertilisation.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 10 March 2026 Shift 2 · Reproductive health and contraception

Q30. Why is the use of condoms during sexual intercourse recommended?

  1. (a) Condoms help prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases to some extent
  2. (b) Condoms completely eliminate the risk of pregnancy and infections
  3. (c) Condoms are required by law to maintain the population balance
  4. (d) Condoms are used to increase fertility in both males and females
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Condoms help prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases to some extent

Condoms act as a barrier during sexual intercourse.
They prevent the exchange of bodily fluids.
This reduces the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
They also lower the chance of pregnancy but do not eliminate it completely.
Therefore, condoms help prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases to some extent.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 10 March 2026 Shift 1 · Vegetative propagation

Q31. Why is vegetative propagation useful for agriculture purposes?

  1. (a) It requires seeds for every generation
  2. (b) It produces identical plants rapidly
  3. (c) It prevents diseases naturally
  4. (d) It increases genetic variation
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) It produces identical plants rapidly

Vegetative propagation produces genetically identical plants, ensuring uniformity in crops.
It allows rapid multiplication of plants without the need for seeds.
This helps maintain desirable traits in agriculture consistently.
Thus, it's widely used to quickly produce large numbers of the same plant type for agriculture.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 9 March 2026 Shift 1 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q32. A student notices that Hydra creates new organisms by developing small protrusions on its body, which eventually detach. What kind of reproduction is this?

  1. (a) Regeneration
  2. (b) Sexual reproduction
  3. (c) Budding
  4. (d) Parthenogenesis
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Budding

The process where Hydra develops small protrusions on its body which eventually detach is called budding.
Budding is a form of asexual reproduction.
In this method, a new individual grows out from the parent organism and separates when mature.
Hence, the type of reproduction described is budding.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 9 March 2026 Shift 3 · Human female reproductive system and menstrual cycle

Q33. How long does an unfertilised egg survive after being released from the ovary?

  1. (a) Two hours
  2. (b) About one day
  3. (c) One week
  4. (d) One month
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) About one day

After ovulation, an unfertilised egg survives for about one day in the fallopian tube.
Fertilisation must occur within this time for conception to take place.
If not fertilised within this time, the egg disintegrates and is absorbed or expelled.
Hence, the lifespan of an unfertilised egg after release is approximately one day.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 9 March 2026 Shift 3 · Fertilisation, embryo development and pregnancy

Q34. Implantation of developing embryo occurs in which part of the female reproductive system in human beings?

  1. (a) Fallopian tubes
  2. (b) Lining of the uterus
  3. (c) Ovary
  4. (d) Cervix
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Lining of the uterus

Implantation of the developing embryo occurs in the lining of the uterus (endometrium) in human females.
This is where the embryo embeds itself to develop further in a supportive environment.
Fallopian tubes, ovary, and cervix are not the implantation sites.
Hence, the correct answer is the lining of the uterus.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 9 March 2026 Shift 2 · Fertilisation, embryo development and pregnancy

Q35. Read the given Assertion (A) and Reason (R) and select the most appropriate option.
(A): A woman has normal ovulation and fertilisation, but the zygote is expelled without attaching to the uterine wall because implantation has failed.
(R): Implantation is the process by which the blastocyst embeds in the endometrium to establish pregnancy.

  1. (a) A is false, but R is true
  2. (b) A is true, but R is false
  3. (c) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
  4. (d) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A

The assertion states a woman with normal ovulation and fertilisation but failed implantation causes the zygote to be expelled.
The reason states implantation is the process of blastocyst embedding in the endometrium to establish pregnancy.
Both statements are true.
Implantation failure leads to the zygote not attaching to the uterine wall, resulting in expulsion.
Thus, the reason correctly explains the assertion.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 9 March 2026 Shift 1 · Reproductive health and contraception

Q36. Sexual maturation in humans results in:

  1. (a) Decrease in hormone levels and loss of reproductive organs
  2. (b) Loss of reproductive capacity and growth
  3. (c) Only physical growth
  4. (d) Development of reproductive organs and secondary sexual characteristics
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Development of reproductive organs and secondary sexual characteristics

Sexual maturation in humans involves the development of reproductive organs.
It also includes the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics like hair growth, voice changes, etc.
This stage marks reproductive capability, not a loss of it.
Hence, option 4 correctly describes sexual maturation.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 9 March 2026 Shift 2 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q37. What are the tiny blobs present on stick-like structures in Rhizopus called?

  1. (a) Sporangia
  2. (b) Roots
  3. (c) Hyphae
  4. (d) Spores
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Sporangia

In Rhizopus, the tiny blobs on stick-like structures are called sporangia.
These sporangia produce and contain spores for reproduction.
Roots are not present in fungi like Rhizopus.
Hyphae are the thread-like structures themselves, not the blobs.
Spores are inside sporangia, not the blobs on the stick-like structures.
Hence, the correct term is Sporangia.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 6 March 2026 Shift 2 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q38. Select a term to complete the given analogy.
Binary Fission : Bacteria :: Fragmentation : _________

  1. (a) Insects
  2. (b) Birds
  3. (c) Algae
  4. (d) Mammals
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Algae

Binary fission is a method of asexual reproduction used by bacteria.
Fragmentation is a similar asexual reproduction method found in algae.
Therefore, fragmentation is to algae as binary fission is to bacteria.
Hence, the correct answer is Algae.
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 6 March 2026 Shift 1 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q39. The process wherein the body of the living organism splits into two exactly identical halves is termed as ___________.

  1. (a) budding
  2. (b) fragmentation
  3. (c) binary fission
  4. (d) multiple fission
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) binary fission

The process where a living organism's body divides into two identical halves is called binary fission.
In binary fission, one cell splits into two equal parts, each becoming a new organism.
Other options like budding, fragmentation, and multiple fission differ in the way the organism divides or in the number of new organisms produced.
Hence, binary fission is the correct term for exact division into two halves.
Final answer: Option 3
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 6 March 2026 Shift 3 · Seed, fruit and germination

Q40. Which of the following correctly represents the changes that occur in the floral parts after fertilisation?

  1. (a) The stigma and ovary both develop into fruits
  2. (b) The ovule develops into a fruit and the ovary becomes a seed
  3. (c) All floral parts persist and develop into fruits
  4. (d) The ovary develops into a fruit while the ovule becomes a seed
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) The ovary develops into a fruit while the ovule becomes a seed

After fertilisation in flowers, the ovule develops into the seed.
The ovary enlarges and develops into the fruit.
Other floral parts generally do not develop into fruits.
Hence, the correct representation is: ovary becomes fruit and ovule becomes seed.
Final answer: Option 4
RRB Technician Grade III 2025-26 – 6 March 2026 Shift 2 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q41. Which of the following is NOT known to reproduce through fission?

  1. (a) Hydra
  2. (b) Paramecium
  3. (c) Amoeba
  4. (d) Leishmania
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Hydra

Correct option is 1: Hydra.
Fission is a type of asexual reproduction where an organism divides into two or more parts, each develops into a new individual.
Paramecium, Amoeba and Leishmania reproduce by binary fission.
Hydra reproduces mainly by budding, not by fission.
Therefore, Hydra does not reproduce through fission.
Hence, option 1 is the correct answer.
Answer complete.
SSC Stenographer 2025 – 8 December 2025 Shift 2 · Flower structure and sexual reproduction in plants

Q42. Which type of placentation is characterized by the ovules developing on the inner wall of the ovary or on peripheral part, as seen in mustard and argemone?

  1. (a) Basal
  2. (b) Free central
  3. (c) Parietal
  4. (d) Axile
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Parietal

The correct answer is Parietal placentation . In this type, the ovules develop along the inner wall or periphery of the ovary . The ovary in such cases is unilocular (single chambered) , but due to the development of false septa, it may appear multilocular. Examples: Mustard, Argemone. Other types of placentation include: Basal (ovules at base, e.g., sunflower) , Axile (ovules on central axis, e.g., tomato, hibiscus) , and Free central (ovules around central axis without septa, e.g., dianthus, primrose ).
SSC Stenographer 2025 – 7 December 2025 Shift 1 · Fertilisation, embryo development and pregnancy

Q43. Which of the following correctly represents the chronological order of human development during gestation?

  1. (a) Zygote → Fetus → Embryo
  2. (b) Zygote → Embryo → Fetus
  3. (c) Embryo → Zygote → Fetus
  4. (d) Fetus → Embryo → Zygote
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Zygote → Embryo → Fetus

Human development during gestation follows a specific biological sequence: 1. Zygote: It is formed immediately after the fusion of sperm and egg (fertilisation). It is a single-celled structure that contains the full set of chromosomes. 2. Embryo: After several cell divisions, the zygote develops into an embryo. This stage usually lasts up to the 8th week of pregnancy . In this period, the basic body structures and organs begin to form. 3. Fetus: After the 8th week, the developing human is referred to as a fetus. At this stage, growth and maturation of organs occur, and by birth, the fetus becomes fully developed. Thus, the correct chronological order is: Zygote → Embryo → Fetus (Option 2).
RRB NTPC UG CBT-1 2024-25 – 22 August 2025 Shift 3 · Flower structure and sexual reproduction in plants

Q44. In angiosperms, which of the following organs represents the male reproductive part of a flower?

  1. (a) Sepals
  2. (b) Androecium
  3. (c) Gynoecium
  4. (d) Petals
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Androecium

RRB NTPC UG CBT-1 2024-25 – 12 August 2025 Shift 3 · Flower structure and sexual reproduction in plants

Q45. Which of the following parts of the plant is primarily responsible for sexual reproduction in angiosperms?

  1. (a) Leaf
  2. (b) Flower
  3. (c) Root
  4. (d) Stem
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Flower

RRB NTPC UG CBT-1 2024-25 – 8 August 2025 Shift 3 · Flower structure and sexual reproduction in plants

Q46. Which of the following organs represents the female reproductive part of a flower in angiosperms?

  1. (a) Androecium
  2. (b) Stamen
  3. (c) Gynoecium
  4. (d) Petal
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Gynoecium

RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 30 December 2024 Shift 1 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q47. Which of the following organisms reproduce by spore formation?

  1. (a) Hydra
  2. (b) Earthworm
  3. (c) Leishmania
  4. (d) Rhizopus
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Rhizopus

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Rhizopus
Rhizopus, the bread mould, reproduces asexually by spore formation. Its thread-like hyphae form a cottony mycelium over moist bread. Some hyphae grow upright as sporangiophores, each tipped by a blob-like sporangium in which hundreds of spores are produced.
When the sporangium ruptures, the light spores are scattered by air currents. Each spore is protected by a thick wall, so it can survive drought and heat for a long time; on reaching a warm, moist surface it germinates into a new Rhizopus. Mucor, ferns and mosses also reproduce by spores.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Hydra — a simple multicellular animal that reproduces by budding, and can also regrow lost parts by regeneration.
✗ Earthworm — reproduces sexually; it is a hermaphrodite (bisexual) animal, but cross-fertilisation takes place between two worms.
✗ Leishmania — a unicellular protozoan that multiplies by binary fission in a definite (longitudinal) plane; it causes kala-azar.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Spore formation — Rhizopus, Mucor, ferns and mosses; budding — yeast and Hydra.
• Binary fission — Amoeba, Paramoecium and Leishmania; multiple fission — Plasmodium.
• Regeneration — Hydra and Planaria; fragmentation — Spirogyra.
• Spores have thick walls so that they can withstand unfavourable conditions.
• Rhizopus grows on moist bread; keeping bread dry and cold prevents moulding.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 30 December 2024 Shift 1 · Pollination and fertilisation in plants

Q48. The tube which grows out of pollen grain to reach the ovary, travels through the:

  1. (a) style
  2. (b) petal
  3. (c) filament
  4. (d) anther
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) style

Correct Answer: Option 1 — style
After pollination, a pollen grain that lands on the stigma germinates and puts out a pollen tube. This tube grows down through the style, the slender stalk joining the stigma to the ovary, and enters the ovule to deliver the male gamete. There the male gamete fuses with the egg cell — fertilisation — and a zygote is formed.
The female part of the flower, the pistil (carpel), is therefore made of three parts: stigma + style + ovary. After fertilisation the ovule becomes the seed and the ovary becomes the fruit.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ petal — the coloured, scented member of the corolla; it only attracts insects for pollination and is an accessory whorl.
✗ filament — the stalk of the stamen that simply holds up the anther; it is a male part and no pollen tube passes through it.
✗ anther — the sac-like tip of the stamen in which pollen grains are produced; the pollen tube forms only after the pollen has left it.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Stamen = anther + filament (male); Pistil = stigma + style + ovary (female).
• Self-pollination occurs within the same flower; cross-pollination between two flowers of the same species.
• In angiosperms double fertilisation occurs — one male gamete forms the zygote, the other the endosperm.
• Agents of pollination — wind, water, insects and birds.
• Bisexual flowers — hibiscus and mustard; unisexual flowers — papaya, watermelon and maize.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 30 December 2024 Shift 1 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q49. Spores in Rhizopus are present in blobs, which are known as:

  1. (a) fruiting bodies
  2. (b) sacs
  3. (c) buds
  4. (d) sporangia
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) sporangia

Correct Answer: Option 4 — sporangia
In Rhizopus (bread mould) the spores are formed inside tiny blob-like structures borne at the tips of upright hyphae. These blob-on-a-stick structures are called sporangia (singular sporangium); the stalk that carries them is the sporangiophore.
Each sporangium is a sac in which hundreds of spores develop. When the sporangium bursts, the light spores are carried away by air currents. Every spore has a thick protective wall, so it can survive unfavourable conditions, and on landing on a moist surface it germinates into a new Rhizopus. This is asexual reproduction by spore formation.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ fruiting bodies — the large reproductive structures of higher fungi such as the mushroom; the Rhizopus blob is not called this in NCERT.
✗ sacs — a loose everyday word, not the scientific term for the spore-bearing structure of a mould.
✗ buds — small outgrowths formed during budding, as in yeast and Hydra; a bud contains no spores.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Sporangium = the spore-producing sac; sporangiophore = the stalk that holds it up.
• Rhizopus, Mucor, ferns and mosses reproduce by spore formation.
• Spores survive drought and heat because of their thick walls.
• Yeast, though a fungus, reproduces by budding under favourable conditions, not by spores.
• The study of fungi is Mycology; Rhizopus is commonly called bread mould.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 30 December 2024 Shift 1 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q50. Identify the INCORRECT statement about regeneration.

  1. (a) Amoeba exhibit regeneration.
  2. (b) Specialised cells are responsible for regeneration.
  3. (c) These specialist cells multiply rapidly and produce a large number of new cells.
  4. (d) Hydra and Planaria show regeneration mode of reproduction.
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Amoeba exhibit regeneration.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Amoeba exhibit regeneration.
This statement is incorrect. Amoeba is a unicellular organism; it reproduces by binary fission, and by multiple fission inside a cyst when conditions turn unfavourable. Regeneration requires a multicellular body whose specialised cells can rebuild the lost parts, so Amoeba does not exhibit regeneration.
Regeneration is the ability of a fully differentiated organism to give rise to new individual organisms from its cut body parts. It is carried out by specialised cells that proliferate (multiply rapidly) to make large numbers of cells, which then change into different cell types and tissues in an organised sequence called development.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Specialised cells are responsible for regeneration — true; NCERT states that regeneration is carried out by specialised cells.
✗ These specialist cells multiply rapidly and produce a large number of new cells — true; this rapid proliferation is what rebuilds the missing part.
✗ Hydra and Planaria show regeneration mode of reproduction — true; these are the standard NCERT examples of regeneration.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Regeneration — Hydra and Planaria; a cut piece can grow into a complete organism.
• Regeneration is not the same as reproduction, because most organisms do not depend on it to multiply.
• Amoeba divides by binary fission in any plane; Leishmania in a definite plane.
• Budding — yeast and Hydra; fragmentation — Spirogyra.
• Planaria is a flatworm; even a small piece of its body can regenerate a whole worm.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 30 December 2024 Shift 2 · Human male reproductive system

Q51. The sperms produced in the testes are transported via the _______.

  1. (a) urinary bladder
  2. (b) seminal vesicle
  3. (c) Urethra
  4. (d) vas deferens
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) vas deferens

Correct Answer: Option 4 — vas deferens
The testes are the male gonads, held outside the abdominal cavity in the scrotum, because sperm formation needs a temperature about 2–3 °C lower than body temperature. Sperms made in the seminiferous tubules first pass into the epididymis, where they mature and are stored.
From the epididymis the sperms are carried by the vas deferens (sperm duct), a muscular tube that unites with a duct from the seminal vesicle and opens into the urethra. Along the way the seminal vesicles and the prostate gland add their secretions, which nourish the sperms and make the mixture easier to transport — sperms plus these secretions form the semen.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ urinary bladder — it only stores urine made by the kidneys; it plays no part in carrying sperms.
✗ seminal vesicle — it is a gland that adds a fructose-rich fluid to nourish sperms; it does not transport them from the testes.
✗ Urethra — it is the common passage for both urine and semen in the male, but only in the final part of the tract, after the vas deferens.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Testis performs a double role — it makes sperms and secretes the hormone testosterone.
• The vas deferens is the tube cut and tied in vasectomy, a male sterilisation method.
• Sperm pathway (mnemonic SEVEN UP) — Seminiferous tubules → Epididymis → Vas deferens → Ejaculatory duct → Nothing → Urethra → Penis.
• Prostate gland and Cowper's gland also add secretions to semen.
• In females the corresponding duct is the fallopian tube (oviduct), where fertilisation normally occurs.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 30 December 2024 Shift 2 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q52. In some multicellular organisms, the body breaks up into smaller pieces upon maturation and each piece grows into a new organism. What is this known as?

  1. (a) Budding
  2. (b) Gamete formation
  3. (c) Fragmentation
  4. (d) Sexual reproduction
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Fragmentation

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Fragmentation
Fragmentation is a mode of asexual reproduction in which the body of a simple multicellular organism breaks up into two or more pieces (fragments) on maturation, and every fragment then grows into a complete new individual. Only a single parent is involved, no gametes are formed, and the offspring are genetically identical to the parent.
The standard NCERT example is the filamentous green alga Spirogyra, which simply breaks into smaller filaments that grow further. Fragmentation is possible only in organisms whose body is simple and not organised into specialised organs — a complex animal cannot survive being cut into pieces because its tissues are highly differentiated.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Budding — a small outgrowth (bud) forms on the parent by repeated cell division at one site and detaches later; seen in Hydra and yeast, but the parent body does not break up.
✗ Gamete formation — production of sex cells (sperm and egg); it is a step of sexual, not asexual, reproduction.
✗ Sexual reproduction — needs two parents and the fusion of gametes, producing offspring with variation; fragmentation involves no fusion.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Modes of asexual reproduction — fission, budding, fragmentation, regeneration, vegetative propagation, spore formation.
• Spirogyra shows fragmentation; Planaria shows regeneration; Hydra and yeast show budding.
• Binary fission — Amoeba, Leishmania (definite plane); multiple fission — Plasmodium.
• Regeneration is carried out by specialised cells and is different from true reproduction.
• Rhizopus (bread mould) reproduces by spore formation in sporangia.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 30 December 2024 Shift 2 · Seed, fruit and germination

Q53. In plants, after fertilisation the ovary develops into a ______.

  1. (a) Seedling
  2. (b) Flower
  3. (c) Fruit
  4. (d) Seed
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Fruit

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Fruit
In flowering plants, pollination brings pollen to the stigma; a pollen tube then grows down the style and reaches the ovule inside the ovary. The male gamete fuses with the female gamete there — this is fertilisation — and forms the zygote.
After fertilisation, the parts of the flower change: the zygote develops into the embryo, the ovule becomes the seed, and the ovary grows rapidly and ripens to become the fruit. Meanwhile the petals, sepals, stamens, style and stigma usually shrivel and fall off. The fruit wall (pericarp) protects the seeds and helps in their dispersal.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Seedling — the young plant that appears only later, when the seed germinates under suitable conditions.
✗ Flower — the reproductive organ itself, present before fertilisation; it does not form from the ovary.
✗ Seed — it develops from the ovule, not the ovary; a seed contains the embryo, cotyledons and a seed coat.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Flower parts — sepal, petal, stamen (androecium) and carpel/pistil (gynoecium).
• Stamen = anther + filament; carpel = stigma + style + ovary.
• Self-pollination occurs within the same flower; cross-pollination between two flowers, aided by wind, water and insects.
• A fruit formed without fertilisation is called parthenocarpic (e.g. seedless banana).
• Double fertilisation — one male gamete forms the zygote, the other forms the nutritive endosperm; it is unique to angiosperms.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 30 December 2024 Shift 2 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q54. What is the reason for the formation of a bud in Hydra?

  1. (a) Repeated cell division at one specific site
  2. (b) Overgrowth of the whole body
  3. (c) Mutation
  4. (d) Cell cycle
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Repeated cell division at one specific site

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Repeated cell division at one specific site
Hydra is a simple multicellular animal that reproduces asexually by budding. As NCERT states, in Hydra a bud develops as an outgrowth due to repeated cell division at one specific site. Hydra possesses regenerative cells which, on dividing again and again at one point of the body wall, raise a small swelling — the bud.
The bud then grows, develops its own mouth and tentacles, and finally detaches from the parent body to live as a new independent individual. Because only one parent is involved and no gametes fuse, the young Hydra is genetically identical to the parent — it is a clone.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Overgrowth of the whole body — the whole body does not enlarge; division is localised to one specific site where the bud appears.
✗ Mutation — a sudden change in the DNA/gene; it causes variation and is not the mechanism of budding.
✗ Cell cycle — the general sequence of G1, S, G2 and M phases of a cell; it is a routine process in all cells and does not by itself explain bud formation at one site.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Budding is seen in Hydra (animal) and yeast (fungus).
• Hydra also shows a remarkable power of regeneration, like Planaria.
• In yeast, the bud may remain attached and form a chain of buds.
• Asexual reproduction gives no variation; sexual reproduction gives variation and drives evolution.
• Hydra belongs to phylum Coelenterata (Cnidaria) and has stinging cells (cnidoblasts) on its tentacles.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 30 December 2024 Shift 3 · Seed, fruit and germination

Q55. Which of the following after fertilisation grows rapidly and ripens to form a fruit. Meanwhile, the petals, sepals, stamens, style and stigma may shrivel and fall off?

  1. (a) Ovule
  2. (b) Gynoecium
  3. (c) Pistil
  4. (d) Ovary
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Ovary

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Ovary
In a flower, the female reproductive part is the carpel (pistil), made of stigma, style and ovary. Pollination deposits pollen on the stigma, a pollen tube grows down through the style, and the male gamete fuses with the female gamete inside the ovule — this fusion is fertilisation and it produces the zygote.
After fertilisation, the flower is remodelled. The ovary grows rapidly and ripens to form the fruit, while the ovule turns into the seed and the zygote develops into the embryo. The parts no longer needed — petals, sepals, stamens, style and stigma — shrivel and fall off. The ripened ovary wall becomes the pericarp, which protects the seeds and aids their dispersal.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Ovule — it lies inside the ovary and becomes the seed, not the fruit; the zygote divides inside it to form the embryo.
✗ Gynoecium — the collective name for all the carpels of a flower; it is the whole female whorl, not the specific part that ripens into a fruit.
✗ Pistil — the complete female unit (stigma + style + ovary); its stigma and style wither away, so only its basal ovary becomes the fruit.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Ovary → fruit; ovule → seed; zygote → embryo — a favourite one-line PYQ chain.
• Androecium = all stamens (male whorl); gynoecium = all carpels (female whorl).
• A fruit formed without fertilisation is parthenocarpic (seedless banana, grapes).
• Apple and pear are false fruits — they develop mainly from the thalamus, not the ovary.
• The study of fruits is Pomology; the study of flowers is Anthology.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 30 December 2024 Shift 3 · Seed, fruit and germination

Q56. After fertilisation, which of the following develops a tough coat, is gradually converted into a seed and the zygote divides several times to form an embryo within it?

  1. (a) Gynoecium
  2. (b) Ovary
  3. (c) Ovule
  4. (d) Pistil
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Ovule

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Ovule
The ovule is the small structure inside the ovary that carries the female gamete (egg cell). When the pollen tube reaches it, the male gamete fuses with the egg and forms the zygote.
After fertilisation, the zygote divides several times inside the ovule to form the embryo, while the ovule itself develops a tough protective coat (the seed coat / testa) and loses water, gradually turning into the seed. The seed therefore has three parts — the embryo (future plant, with plumule and radicle), the cotyledon(s) storing food, and the seed coat. The surrounding ovary meanwhile ripens into the fruit.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Gynoecium — the whole female whorl of the flower (all carpels together); it is not a single structure that becomes a seed.
✗ Ovary — it encloses the ovules and develops into the fruit, not the seed.
✗ Pistil — the full female unit (stigma + style + ovary); its stigma and style usually wither and fall off after fertilisation.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Ovule → seed; ovary → fruit; zygote → embryo.
• Seeds with two cotyledons are dicots (gram, pea); with one cotyledon are monocots (maize, wheat).
• In a germinating seed the plumule forms the shoot and the radicle forms the root.
• Endosperm is the food-storing tissue formed in double fertilisation; coconut water is liquid endosperm.
• Seed dispersal takes place by wind, water, animals and explosion of the fruit.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 30 December 2024 Shift 3 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q57. The fragmentation method of reproduction is shown in ___________.

  1. (a) Plasmodium
  2. (b) Amoeba
  3. (c) Hydra
  4. (d) Spirogyra
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Spirogyra

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Spirogyra
Spirogyra is a filamentous green alga found in ponds, easily recognised by its spiral (ribbon-like) chloroplast. It reproduces asexually by fragmentation: when the filament matures, it simply breaks into two or more fragments, and each fragment grows into a new Spirogyra filament.
Fragmentation is possible only because the body of Spirogyra is simple and unspecialised — every cell of the filament is similar and capable of growth. In organisms with specialised tissues and organs, breaking the body apart would be fatal, so this method is limited to simple multicellular forms. As it involves one parent and no gametes, the offspring are genetically identical clones.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Plasmodium — the malarial parasite; it reproduces by multiple fission, where one cell divides at once into many daughter cells.
✗ Amoeba — a unicellular protozoan that reproduces by binary fission in any plane; it also forms pseudopodia for movement and feeding.
✗ Hydra — reproduces by budding, where an outgrowth forms due to repeated cell division at one specific site and later detaches.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Spirogyra is called pond silk or water silk and has a spiral chloroplast.
• Binary fission — Amoeba, Leishmania, Paramecium; multiple fission — Plasmodium.
• Planaria shows regeneration; cut pieces regrow into complete animals.
• Yeast and Hydra reproduce by budding; Rhizopus by spore formation.
• Malaria is caused by Plasmodium, carried by the female Anopheles mosquito.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 30 December 2024 Shift 3 · Human male reproductive system

Q58. Which of the following forms a common passage for both the sperms and urine in males?

  1. (a) Urinary bladder
  2. (b) Urethra
  3. (c) Vas deferens
  4. (d) Scrotum
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Urethra

Correct Answer: Option 2 — Urethra
The urethra is the tube that runs through the penis and opens to the outside. In the male, the vas deferens (carrying sperms from the testes) joins the tube coming from the urinary bladder, so the urethra serves as the common passage for both semen and urine. This is a key difference from the female, where the urinary and reproductive openings are separate.
The two fluids never pass together: a sphincter mechanism at the base of the bladder closes the urinary route during ejaculation, so semen (sperms + secretions of the seminal vesicles and prostate gland) passes out alone.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Urinary bladder — a muscular sac that only stores urine received from the kidneys through the ureters; sperms never enter it.
✗ Vas deferens — the duct that carries sperms only, from the epididymis to the ejaculatory duct; it carries no urine.
✗ Scrotum — the skin pouch outside the abdomen that holds the testes at a temperature 2–3 °C lower than the body, needed for sperm formation.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Male reproductive parts — testes, scrotum, epididymis, vas deferens, seminal vesicles, prostate gland, urethra and penis.
• Semen = sperms + secretions of seminal vesicles and prostate gland.
• Testosterone from the testes causes male secondary sexual characters (voice change, facial hair).
• Excretory path — kidney → ureter → urinary bladder → urethra.
• In females, urethra and vagina have separate openings; fertilisation occurs in the fallopian tube.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 29 December 2024 Shift 1 · Human female reproductive system and menstrual cycle

Q59. Which of the following is NOT a sign of sexual maturity in girls?

  1. (a) Oily skin
  2. (b) Increase in breast size
  3. (c) Cracking of voice
  4. (d) Menstruation
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Cracking of voice

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Cracking of voice
Cracking or breaking of the voice is a secondary sexual character of boys, not girls. At puberty the male hormone testosterone, secreted by the testes, enlarges the larynx (voice box) and thickens the vocal cords, so the boy's voice becomes deep and 'cracks' for a while.
In girls, puberty is controlled by oestrogen secreted by the ovary. Its signs are enlargement of the breasts, widening of the hips, growth of hair in the armpits and pubic region, oily skin with pimples, and the beginning of the menstrual cycle (menarche) — the sure sign that the ovary has started releasing eggs.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Oily skin — at puberty the sebaceous (oil) glands become very active in both girls and boys, causing oily skin and acne; it IS a sign of maturity.
✗ Increase in breast size — a definite female secondary sexual character caused by oestrogen; the mammary glands develop for future lactation.
✗ Menstruation — the monthly shedding of the uterine lining, beginning at menarche; it is the clearest sign of sexual maturity in girls.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Puberty in girls usually begins at 10–12 years and in boys at 12–14 years.
• Oestrogen and progesterone — female hormones (ovary); testosterone — male hormone (testis).
• The menstrual cycle lasts about 28 days; ovulation occurs around the 14th day.
• The first menstruation is menarche; its permanent stopping at about 45–50 years is menopause.
• Both ovary and testis are mixed glands — they make gametes as well as hormones.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 29 December 2024 Shift 1 · Reproductive health and contraception

Q60. Which of the following statements is correct?

  1. (a) At maturity, the rate of general body growth in humans begins to get faster.
  2. (b) At maturity, the rate of general body growth in humans begins to slow down.
  3. (c) At maturity, the reproductive tissue stops to mature in humans.
  4. (d) In sexual mode of reproduction, germ-cells from one individual have to join together.
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) At maturity, the rate of general body growth in humans begins to slow down.

Correct Answer: Option 2 — At maturity, the rate of general body growth in humans begins to slow down.
In humans, sexual maturity (puberty) marks a clear change of priority in the body. NCERT states that as an individual approaches maturity, the rate of general body growth begins to slow down, while the reproductive tissues begin to mature. The body has largely finished building itself, so its resources are now directed towards gamete formation and the development of secondary sexual characters.
This change is driven by hormones — testosterone from the testes in boys and oestrogen from the ovaries in girls, both under the control of the pituitary gland.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Growth gets faster at maturity — wrong; the rapid growth spurt happens before and during early puberty. At maturity the growth rate falls and finally stops when the bone epiphyseal plates close.
✗ Reproductive tissue stops to mature — wrong; exactly the opposite happens. At maturity the reproductive tissues begin to mature, so that sperms and ova can be produced.
✗ Germ-cells from one individual join together — wrong; that would be self-fusion. In sexual reproduction, germ cells come from two different individuals (a male and a female), which is the very source of variation.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Gametes are formed by meiosis and are haploid (n); their fusion restores the diploid (2n) number in the zygote.
• In humans 2n = 46 chromosomes (23 pairs); the gamete has 23.
• Sexual reproduction produces variation — the raw material of evolution; asexual reproduction gives near-identical clones.
• Human sperms are produced in the seminiferous tubules of the testis; eggs mature in the ovary.
• The testes lie outside the body in the scrotum because sperm formation needs a temperature about 2–3 °C lower than body temperature.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 29 December 2024 Shift 2 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q61. Which type of reproduction is seen in Spirogyra?

  1. (a) Fragmentation
  2. (b) Vegetative propagation
  3. (c) Binary fission
  4. (d) Budding
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Fragmentation

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Fragmentation
Spirogyra is a simple, filamentous green alga found in ponds and ditches, known for its spiral (helical) chloroplasts. It reproduces asexually by fragmentation.
In fragmentation, the mature filament simply breaks up into two or more pieces (fragments) on maturing or on slight disturbance, and each fragment grows into a new individual. This is possible because Spirogyra has a simple body organisation — there is no division of labour into specialised organs, so every part is capable of growing into a whole organism. Since only one parent is involved and no gametes fuse, the offspring are genetically identical clones.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Vegetative propagation — reproduction from a vegetative part (root, stem, leaf or bud) of a higher plant, e.g. potato tuber, ginger rhizome, *Bryophyllum* leaf. Spirogyra has no such organs.
✗ Binary fission — the parent cell splits into two daughter cells; seen in unicellular organisms like Amoeba, Paramecium, Leishmania and bacteria. Spirogyra is multicellular and filamentous.
✗ Budding — a bud grows on the parent body and detaches as a new individual; seen in Hydra and yeast. No bud is produced in Spirogyra.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Fragmentation — Spirogyra; Regeneration — Planaria and Hydra; Spore formation — Rhizopus and Mucor.
• Binary fission in Amoeba is simple, in Leishmania it is longitudinal, and in Plasmodium it is multiple fission.
• Budding — Hydra and yeast; Vegetative propagation — potato (eyes), ginger (rhizome), *Bryophyllum* (leaf notches).
• Spirogyra is called pond silk or water silk because of its slippery, silky filaments.
• All these are asexual methods — a single parent, no gamete fusion, no variation in the offspring.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 29 December 2024 Shift 2 · Vegetative propagation

Q62. In Bryophyllum, vegetative propagation takes place by:

  1. (a) buds produced in the notches along the leaf margin
  2. (b) stamen
  3. (c) petal
  4. (d) pistil
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) buds produced in the notches along the leaf margin

Correct Answer: Option 1 — buds produced in the notches along the leaf margin
*Bryophyllum* (the 'sprout leaf plant' or *pattharchatta*) is the classic NCERT example of vegetative propagation by leaves. Along the margin of its fleshy leaf there are small depressions called notches, and in these notches adventitious buds develop.
Each bud already carries tiny leaves and roots. When the leaf falls on moist soil — or even while it is still attached to the plant — these buds detach and grow into complete new plants. Since only one parent is involved and no gametes fuse, this is a form of asexual reproduction, and the new plants are genetically identical clones of the parent.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Stamen — the male reproductive part of a flower (anther + filament) that produces pollen grains; it takes part in sexual reproduction, not vegetative propagation.
✗ Petal — a coloured accessory part of the flower whose only job is to attract insects for pollination; it cannot grow into a new plant.
✗ Pistil — the female reproductive part (stigma + style + ovary) that bears the ovules; again a sexual reproductive structure.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Vegetative propagation by leaf — *Bryophyllum*; by stem — potato, sugarcane, ginger, rose; by root — sweet potato, dahlia, *Asparagus*.
• Potato propagates through the eyes (buds) of its tuber; ginger and turmeric through rhizomes.
• Artificial methods of vegetative propagation are cutting, layering, grafting and tissue culture (micropropagation).
• A big advantage is that seedless plants like banana, orange, rose and jasmine can still be multiplied, and the plants flower and fruit earlier.
• The main disadvantage is no variation — the whole crop can be wiped out by a single disease.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 29 December 2024 Shift 2 · Human female reproductive system and menstrual cycle

Q63. Select the correct statement.

  1. (a) Many eggs are produced every month by the ovary.
  2. (b) One oviduct forms the uterus.
  3. (c) The fallopian tube is also known as womb.
  4. (d) When a girl is born, the ovaries already contain thousands of immature eggs.
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) When a girl is born, the ovaries already contain thousands of immature eggs.

Correct Answer: Option 4 — When a girl is born, the ovaries already contain thousands of immature eggs.
NCERT states that a female child is born with thousands of immature eggs already present in her ovaries. No new eggs are formed after birth. At puberty these begin to mature, and thereafter the ovary releases one mature ovum each month — a process called ovulation, usually around the 14th day of the menstrual cycle.
The released ovum is picked up by the fallopian tube (oviduct), where fertilisation may occur. The two oviducts open into the uterus (womb), a pear-shaped muscular bag in which the embryo develops, nourished through the placenta.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Many eggs every month — wrong; normally only one ovum matures and is released each month, alternately by the two ovaries.
✗ One oviduct forms the uterus — wrong; the two oviducts unite to open into the uterus. A single oviduct does not become the uterus; the uterus is a separate organ.
✗ Fallopian tube is also known as womb — wrong; the uterus is the womb. The fallopian tube is only the narrow duct that carries the ovum to the uterus.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Female reproductive parts: Ovary → Fallopian tube (oviduct) → Uterus (womb) → Cervix → Vagina.
• Fertilisation normally takes place in the ampulla of the fallopian tube, not in the uterus.
• The placenta is the disc-like tissue that supplies glucose and oxygen to the embryo and removes its wastes.
• Human gestation (pregnancy) period is about 9 months (280 days).
• Menarche — first menstruation; menopause — permanent stopping of menstruation at about 45–50 years.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 29 December 2024 Shift 3 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q64. Which of the following is NOT a reproductive part of Rhizopus?

  1. (a) Hyphae
  2. (b) Sporangiophores
  3. (c) Spores
  4. (d) Sporangium
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Hyphae

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Hyphae
Rhizopus (bread mould) is a fungus whose body is built of fine, thread-like hyphae that together form a cottony mycelium. Hyphae are vegetative (somatic) structures — they anchor the mould to the bread, absorb food and help it grow. They take no direct part in reproduction.
Rhizopus reproduces asexually by spore formation. Certain hyphae grow upright as sporangiophores, each ending in a swollen, blob-like sporangium. Hundreds of spores are formed inside the sporangium; when it bursts, the light spores are carried by air and germinate on moist bread into a new mould.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Sporangiophores — the erect, stalk-like hyphae that hold up the sporangia; they are definitely reproductive structures.
✗ Spores — the actual reproductive units, each with a thick protective wall that helps it survive unfavourable conditions.
✗ Sporangium — the blob-on-a-stick sac inside which the spores are produced; clearly a reproductive part.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Rhizopus, Mucor, ferns and mosses reproduce by spore formation.
• Yeast and Hydra reproduce by budding; Planaria shows regeneration.
• Amoeba and Leishmania show binary fission; Plasmodium shows multiple fission.
• The study of fungi is Mycology; Rhizopus is commonly called bread mould.
• Spores are light and thick-walled and are spread by wind, which is why moist bread moulds so quickly.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 29 December 2024 Shift 3 · Human female reproductive system and menstrual cycle

Q65. Match the following.
(i) Ovary — (a) fertilisation
(ii) Oviduct — (b) implantation
(iii) Uterus — (c) nourishes the growing embryo
(iv) Placenta — (d) makes the female gametes

  1. (a) (i)-(b), (ii)-(a), (iii)-(d), (iv)-(c)
  2. (b) (i)-(d), (ii)-(b), (iii)-(a), (iv)-(c)
  3. (c) (i)-(d), (ii)-(a), (iii)-(b), (iv)-(c)
  4. (d) (i)-(d), (ii)-(c), (iii)-(b), (iv)-(a)
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) (i)-(d), (ii)-(a), (iii)-(b), (iv)-(c)

Correct Answer: Option 3 — (i)-(d), (ii)-(a), (iii)-(b), (iv)-(c)
In the human female reproductive system each organ has one clear role:
• (i) Ovary — (d) makes the female gametes. The pair of ovaries produce the ova (eggs) and also secrete oestrogen and progesterone.
• (ii) Oviduct — (a) fertilisation. The fallopian tube receives the egg from the ovary; the sperm meets the egg here and fertilisation produces the zygote.
• (iii) Uterus — (b) implantation. The zygote divides into an embryo, which becomes embedded in the thick, spongy lining of the uterus — this is implantation.
• (iv) Placenta — (c) nourishes the growing embryo. A disc-like tissue bearing villi that supplies glucose and oxygen to the foetus and removes its wastes.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ (i)-(b), (ii)-(a), (iii)-(d), (iv)-(c) — wrong; the ovary does not carry out implantation and the uterus does not make gametes.
✗ (i)-(d), (ii)-(b), (iii)-(a), (iv)-(c) — wrong; implantation happens in the uterus, not the oviduct, and fertilisation occurs in the oviduct, not the uterus.
✗ (i)-(d), (ii)-(c), (iii)-(b), (iv)-(a) — wrong; the oviduct does not nourish the embryo and the placenta is not the site of fertilisation.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Fertilisation normally takes place in the ampulla (upper part) of the fallopian tube.
• The human gestation period is about 9 months (280 days).
• The male gamete is the sperm (made in the testes); the female gamete is the ovum (made in the ovary).
• Tubectomy in women and vasectomy in men are surgical methods of contraception.
• If fertilisation does not occur, the uterine lining breaks down every month — this is menstruation.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 29 December 2024 Shift 3 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q66. An organism simply splits into two equal halves during cell division. What is it known as?

  1. (a) Regeneration
  2. (b) Spore formation
  3. (c) Budding
  4. (d) Binary fission
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Binary fission

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Binary fission
Binary fission is an asexual method of reproduction in which a unicellular organism splits into two equal daughter cells. The nucleus divides first (karyokinesis) and then the cytoplasm divides (cytokinesis); each half grows into a complete new organism identical to the parent.
Common examples are Amoeba, Paramoecium, Euglena, Leishmania and bacteria. In Amoeba the split may take place in any plane, in Leishmania it is longitudinal (along the whip-like flagellum) and in Paramoecium it is transverse. As only one parent is involved, the offspring are genetically identical clones.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Regeneration — a cut piece of the body grows into a whole organism, as in Hydra and Planaria; the parent is not split into two equal halves.
✗ Spore formation — thick-walled spores are produced inside a sporangium, as in Rhizopus; the body does not split.
✗ Budding — a small bud grows on the parent body and later detaches, as in Yeast and Hydra; the two parts are clearly unequal.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Multiple fission — the parent splits into many daughter cells at once, as in Plasmodium.
• Amoeba divides in any plane; Leishmania divides in a definite (longitudinal) plane.
• Vegetative propagation examples — potato (eyes/buds), Bryophyllum (leaf notches), ginger (rhizome).
• Asexual reproduction produces clones; variation appears mainly in sexual reproduction.
• Plasmodium causes malaria and is carried by the female Anopheles mosquito.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 29 December 2024 Shift 3 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q67. Which one of the following organisms shows multiple fission?

  1. (a) Leishmania
  2. (b) Yeast
  3. (c) Plasmodium
  4. (d) Hydra
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Plasmodium

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Plasmodium
Multiple fission is an asexual method in which the nucleus of the parent cell divides many times inside a protective covering, and then the cytoplasm splits so that many daughter individuals are released at once. Plasmodium, the malarial parasite, multiplies exactly like this inside the liver cells and red blood cells of a human being; when the RBCs burst, the released parasites produce the typical bouts of fever with chills.
Multiple fission usually occurs under unfavourable conditions, and it allows a single parent to produce a very large number of offspring in a very short time.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Leishmania — reproduces by binary fission in a definite (longitudinal) plane, along its whip-like flagellum; it causes kala-azar.
✗ Yeast — a unicellular fungus that reproduces by budding, producing a small outgrowth that detaches later.
✗ Hydra — a simple multicellular animal that reproduces by budding and also shows regeneration.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Plasmodium causes malaria and is carried by the female Anopheles mosquito.
• Ronald Ross discovered the malarial parasite in the mosquito (Nobel Prize, 1902).
• Amoeba also shows multiple fission by forming a cyst under unfavourable conditions.
• Binary fission — Amoeba, Paramoecium, Leishmania, bacteria; budding — yeast and Hydra.
• Quinine, obtained from the bark of Cinchona, is the classic anti-malarial drug.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 1 · Human female reproductive system and menstrual cycle

Q68. How many eggs is/are produced every month by one of the ovaries?

  1. (a) One
  2. (b) Four
  3. (c) Three
  4. (d) Two
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) One

Correct Answer: Option 1 — One
A human female has a pair of ovaries, and at birth they already contain thousands of immature eggs. On reaching puberty, one egg (ovum) matures and is released every month by one of the two ovaries — this release is called ovulation, and the two ovaries usually take turns.
The released egg travels into the fallopian tube (oviduct), where fertilisation can occur. Meanwhile the uterus prepares a thick, spongy lining to receive a fertilised egg. If the egg is not fertilised, this lining breaks down and is shed with blood as menstruation, a cycle of about 28 days.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Four — no; only a single mature ovum is normally released in a cycle, not four.
✗ Three — incorrect; release of more than one egg is a rare exception that leads to fraternal twins.
✗ Two — incorrect; the two ovaries release one egg between them, not one each.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The ovary makes both the ovum and the hormones oestrogen and progesterone.
• Fertilisation takes place in the fallopian tube; implantation happens in the uterus.
• The placenta supplies nutrition and oxygen to the developing embryo.
• Human gestation period is about 9 months (280 days).
• Stoppage of the menstrual cycle at about 45–50 years is called menopause.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 1 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q69. Which of the following reproduces by budding?

  1. (a) Hydra
  2. (b) Mosquito
  3. (c) Liver fluke
  4. (d) Algae
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Hydra

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Hydra
Budding is a method of asexual reproduction in which a small outgrowth called a bud appears on the parent body, grows by repeated mitotic divisions, and later separates to live independently.
Hydra, a simple multicellular animal of fresh water, reproduces in exactly this way. Its regenerative cells divide at one spot to make a bud, which develops its own mouth and tentacles while still attached to the parent, and then detaches as a new Hydra. As only one parent is involved, the young one is a clone, genetically identical to the parent.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Mosquito — reproduces sexually; the female lays eggs in water that pass through larva and pupa stages.
✗ Liver fluke — a parasitic flatworm that reproduces sexually and has a complicated life cycle with a snail host.
✗ Algae — most algae multiply by fragmentation (e.g. Spirogyra) or by spores, not by budding.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Yeast, a unicellular fungus, also reproduces by budding.
• Binary fission — Amoeba, Leishmania; multiple fission — Plasmodium.
• Spore formation — Rhizopus; regeneration — Hydra and Planaria.
• Hydra belongs to phylum Coelenterata (Cnidaria) and has stinging cells.
• Offspring formed asexually are clones, showing very little variation.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 1 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q70. Which unicellular organism has a whip-like structure at one end of the cell and binary fission occurs in a definite orientation in relation to these structures?

  1. (a) Amoeba
  2. (b) Yeast
  3. (c) Leishmania
  4. (d) Plasmodium
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Leishmania

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Leishmania
Leishmania, the protozoan that causes kala-azar, has a whip-like structure (flagellum) at one end of its body. Because the cell has this definite structure, it also has a definite body organisation, and so its binary fission takes place in a definite orientation in relation to the flagellum — it divides longitudinally, along the length of the cell.
In contrast, Amoeba has no fixed shape, so the plane of its division can be any plane. This comparison is a standard NCERT point used to show that even in simple organisms, division may be oriented when the body plan demands it.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Amoeba — divides by binary fission in any plane because it has no definite shape or flagellum.
✗ Yeast — a unicellular fungus that reproduces by budding, not by oriented binary fission.
✗ Plasmodium — the malarial parasite; it divides by multiple fission, producing many daughter cells at once.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Leishmania causes kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis), spread by the sandfly.
• Plasmodium causes malaria, spread by the female Anopheles mosquito.
• Binary fission — Amoeba, Leishmania, Paramecium, bacteria.
• Multiple fission — Plasmodium; budding — Hydra and yeast.
• Whip-like flagella help in locomotion; hair-like cilia are seen in Paramecium.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 1 · Seed, fruit and germination

Q71. Which of the following seeds are dispersed by animals, especially spiny seeds with hooks, that get attached to their bodies and are carried to distant places?

  1. (a) Castor and Balsam
  2. (b) Drumstick and Maple
  3. (c) Xanthium and Urena
  4. (d) Sunflower and Madar
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Xanthium and Urena

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Xanthium and Urena
Seed dispersal is the scattering of seeds away from the parent plant so that the young plants get enough light, water, minerals and space and do not compete with the parent.
Seeds of Xanthium (cocklebur) and Urena are covered with spines and hooks. When an animal or a person brushes past the plant, these seeds cling to the fur, hair or clothes and are carried far away before falling off. This is dispersal by animals (zoochory), and such hooked fruits are the classic NCERT example of it.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Castor and Balsam — dispersed by the bursting (explosion) of fruits, which flings the seeds out.
✗ Drumstick and Maple — have wings; they are light and are dispersed by wind.
✗ Sunflower and Madar — have hairy outgrowths / pappus; these too are carried by wind.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Agents of dispersal: wind, water, animals and explosion of fruits.
• Coconut is dispersed by water because of its light fibrous husk.
• Aak (Madar) and Drumstick are wind-dispersed; cocklebur (Xanthium) is animal-dispersed.
• Edible fleshy fruits like guava, mango and tomato are dispersed by animals eating them.
• Dispersal prevents overcrowding and competition and helps plants colonise new areas.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 1 · Vegetative propagation

Q72. In which plant do the buds produced in the notches along the leaf margin, fall on the soil and develop into a new plant?

  1. (a) Jasmine
  2. (b) Rose
  3. (c) Grapes
  4. (d) Bryophyllum
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Bryophyllum

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Bryophyllum
Bryophyllum, also called the sprout leaf plant (Patharchatta), shows vegetative propagation by leaves. Tiny adventitious buds develop in the notches along its leaf margin. Each bud already has a small shoot and roots, and when the leaf falls on moist soil, these buds grow into new independent plants.
This is a natural method of asexual reproduction: only one parent is involved and no gametes fuse, so all the new plants are clones, genetically identical to the parent. The leaf simply detaches and every notch can give rise to a plantlet.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Jasmine — propagated artificially by layering and by stem cuttings, not by leaf buds.
✗ Rose — grown from stem cuttings and by grafting/budding, not from leaf notches.
✗ Grapes — propagated commercially from stem cuttings, again not from leaves.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Vegetative propagation by leaf — Bryophyllum; by stem (tuber) — potato; by root — sweet potato and dahlia.
• Artificial methods: cutting, layering, grafting and tissue culture.
• Banana, orange, rose and jasmine are raised vegetatively as they rarely form viable seeds.
• The eye of a potato is a bud that sprouts into a new plant.
• Tissue culture (micropropagation) raises many plants from a few cells in a nutrient medium.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 2 · Flower structure and sexual reproduction in plants

Q73. Select the bisexual flower from the provided options.

  1. (a) Watermelon
  2. (b) Pumpkin
  3. (c) Mustard
  4. (d) Papaya
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Mustard

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Mustard
A bisexual flower (also called a perfect or hermaphrodite flower) carries both the male reproductive part, the stamen (anther + filament), and the female reproductive part, the pistil or carpel (stigma, style and ovary), in the same flower. The mustard flower is the standard NCERT example of such a flower — it has four sepals, four petals, six stamens and one pistil.
In contrast, a unisexual flower carries only stamens (staminate) or only the pistil (pistillate). After pollination, the pollen grain grows a pollen tube down the style to reach the ovule; the male gamete fuses with the female gamete in fertilisation, forming the zygote.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Watermelon — bears unisexual flowers; male and female flowers are separate but occur on the same plant (monoecious).
✗ Pumpkin — the classic NCERT example of a unisexual flower; its large yellow male and female flowers are easy to tell apart.
✗ Papaya — a dioecious plant; male and female flowers are borne on different plants altogether.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Bisexual flowers: mustard, hibiscus (China rose), rose, pea, tomato, brinjal.
• Unisexual flowers: pumpkin, cucumber, watermelon, papaya, maize, coconut.
• A flower with all four whorls (calyx, corolla, androecium, gynoecium) is called a complete flower.
• Stamen = anther + filament; pistil = stigma + style + ovary.
• Self-pollination is common in bisexual flowers; cross-pollination is the rule in unisexual ones.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 2 · Human male reproductive system

Q74. Which of the following statements is correct related to male reproductive system?

  1. (a) Sperm formation requires higher temperature than the normal body temperature.
  2. (b) Testes secrete testosterone hormone.
  3. (c) Formation of sperm takes place in seminal vessel.
  4. (d) Testes are located in the abdominal cavity.
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Testes secrete testosterone hormone.

Correct Answer: Option 2 — Testes secrete testosterone hormone.
The testes are the primary sex organs of the male. They perform two functions: they produce the male gamete, the sperm, inside the seminiferous tubules, and they secrete the male sex hormone testosterone from the interstitial (Leydig) cells lying between those tubules.
Testosterone brings about the secondary sexual characters of a boy at puberty — deepening of the voice, growth of facial and body hair, broadening of the shoulders — and it also regulates sperm production itself. Its release is controlled by LH from the pituitary gland.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Sperm formation requires higher temperature than the normal body temperature — wrong; sperm formation needs a temperature about 2–3 °C lower than body temperature, which is why the testes hang outside in the scrotum.
✗ Formation of sperm takes place in seminal vessel — wrong; sperms are formed in the seminiferous tubules of the testes. The seminal vesicle only adds fluid to make semen.
✗ Testes are located in the abdominal cavity — wrong; in humans the testes lie outside the abdominal cavity in a skin pouch called the scrotum.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Male accessory glands: seminal vesicles, prostate gland and Cowper's (bulbourethral) gland.
• Sperms travel: testis → epididymis → vas deferens → urethra.
• In the male, the urethra is a common passage for both urine and semen.
• A human sperm carries 23 chromosomes — either an X or a Y; the Y sperm decides a male child.
• Testosterone is secreted by Leydig cells; Sertoli cells nourish the developing sperms.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 2 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q75. Asexual reproduction by fragmentation occurs:

  1. (a) in all multicellular organisms
  2. (b) only in unicellular organisms
  3. (c) only in complex body organised multicellular organisms
  4. (d) only in simple body organised multicellular organisms
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) only in simple body organised multicellular organisms

Correct Answer: Option 4 — only in simple body organised multicellular organisms
Fragmentation is a mode of asexual reproduction in which the body of a multicellular organism breaks into two or more fragments, and each fragment grows into a new complete individual. The classic NCERT example is the filamentous green alga Spirogyra, which simply breaks up into smaller pieces on maturing.
Fragmentation is possible only in simple-bodied multicellular organisms, where the cells are not organised into specialised tissues and organs. In organisms with a complex body design, different organs perform different jobs, so a random broken piece cannot rebuild all the missing systems and cannot survive as a whole organism.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ in all multicellular organisms — wrong; complex multicellular animals such as humans, birds and mammals cannot reproduce by fragmentation.
✗ only in unicellular organisms — wrong; a unicellular organism has a single cell and reproduces by binary or multiple fission, not by fragmentation.
✗ only in complex body organised multicellular organisms — wrong; complexity of body design is exactly what prevents fragmentation.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Spirogyra — fragmentation; Planaria — regeneration; Hydra & yeast — budding.
• Regeneration is carried out by specialised cells and is different from fragmentation.
• Binary fission — Amoeba, Leishmania, Paramecium; multiple fission — Plasmodium.
• Spore formation occurs in Rhizopus (bread mould) inside sporangia.
• Offspring of asexual reproduction are genetically identical clones of the parent.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 2 · Vegetative propagation

Q76. Which of the following parts of a plant does NOT take part in vegetative propagation?

  1. (a) Leaves
  2. (b) Stem
  3. (c) Root
  4. (d) Flower
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Flower

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Flower
Vegetative propagation is a form of asexual reproduction in plants in which a new plant grows from a vegetative part — the root, stem or leaf — of the parent. Since no gametes fuse, the new plants are genetically identical clones of the parent.
The flower is the reproductive organ of a plant, not a vegetative part. It is the site of sexual reproduction: the anther makes pollen (male gamete) and the ovary holds the ovule (female gamete), and their fusion in fertilisation produces a seed with a genetically new combination. Hence the flower has no role in vegetative propagation.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Leaves — do take part; Bryophyllum develops buds on its leaf margins that fall and grow into new plants.
✗ Stem — does take part; sugarcane, rose, grapes and potato (with its eye buds) are propagated by stem cuttings and tubers.
✗ Root — does take part; sweet potato, dahlia and Asparagus grow new shoots from their modified roots.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Natural methods: cutting, layering, grafting are the artificial ones used by gardeners.
• Tissue culture (micropropagation) raises thousands of plants from a few cells on a nutrient medium.
• Vegetative propagation lets seedless plants such as banana, orange and jasmine be grown.
• Plants so raised flower and fruit earlier than plants grown from seed.
• Its drawback is no variation, so a single disease can wipe out the whole crop.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 2 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q77. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

  1. (a) Plasmodium divides into many daughter cells simultaneously by binary fission.
  2. (b) Binary fission occurs in a definite orientation in Leishmania.
  3. (c) Yeast can put out small buds that separate and grow further.
  4. (d) In Amoeba, the splitting of the two cells during division can take place in any plane.
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Plasmodium divides into many daughter cells simultaneously by binary fission.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Plasmodium divides into many daughter cells simultaneously by binary fission.
This statement is incorrect because dividing into many daughter cells at the same time is multiple fission, not binary fission. In binary fission a parent cell splits into exactly two daughter cells. Plasmodium, the malarial parasite, undergoes multiple fission — its nucleus divides repeatedly inside the cell and then the cytoplasm splits around each nucleus, producing many daughter individuals at once.
Multiple fission also helps such parasites survive unfavourable conditions, as the parent encloses itself in a cyst and releases numerous daughter cells when conditions improve.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect (i.e. these statements are CORRECT)
✗ Binary fission occurs in a definite orientation in Leishmania — correct; Leishmania has a whip-like flagellum at one end, and fission always takes place in a definite plane with respect to it.
✗ Yeast can put out small buds that separate and grow further — correct; yeast reproduces by budding, the bud growing on the parent and later detaching.
✗ In Amoeba, the splitting of the two cells during division can take place in any plane — correct; Amoeba has no fixed body shape, so binary fission can occur in any plane.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Binary fission — Amoeba, Leishmania, Paramecium, bacteria; multiple fission — Plasmodium.
• Malaria is caused by Plasmodium and spread by the female Anopheles mosquito.
• Leishmania causes kala-azar, spread by the sandfly.
• Budding — yeast and Hydra; fragmentation — Spirogyra; regeneration — Planaria and Hydra.
• Amoeba moves and feeds using pseudopodia (false feet).
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 3 · Seed, fruit and germination

Q78. The ovule develops and gets converted into which of the following after fertilisation?

  1. (a) Seed
  2. (b) Fruit
  3. (c) Sepal
  4. (d) Anther
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Seed

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Seed
After pollination, the pollen grain lands on the stigma and grows a pollen tube down the style into the ovary, where it reaches the ovule. The male gamete fuses with the female gamete (egg) in fertilisation to form the zygote.
The zygote then divides to form the embryo, and the whole ovule — now containing the embryo along with stored food and a protective coat — develops into the seed. At the same time the ovary ripens and becomes the fruit, while the sepals, petals, stamens and style usually wither and fall off.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Fruit — the fruit develops from the ovary, not from the ovule; the ovary wall becomes the pericarp.
✗ Sepal — the outermost green whorl of the flower that protects the bud; it is present before fertilisation and is not formed from the ovule.
✗ Anther — the male part that produces pollen grains; it withers away after pollination and never forms a seed.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Ovule → seed; ovary → fruit; zygote → embryo; integument → seed coat.
• A seed has a seed coat, one or two cotyledons and an embryo (plumule + radicle).
• Plumule grows into the shoot and radicle into the root.
• Fruits formed without fertilisation are parthenocarpic (e.g. banana) and are seedless.
• In flowering plants (angiosperms) double fertilisation occurs, forming the zygote and the endosperm.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 3 · Reproductive health and contraception

Q79. Which one of the following options is correctly paired according to their mode of action?

  1. (a) Contraceptive pills – Uterine device
  2. (b) Condom – Mechanical barrier
  3. (c) Tubectomy – Chemical barrier
  4. (d) Copper T – Hormonal imbalance
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Condom – Mechanical barrier

Correct Answer: Option 2 — Condom – Mechanical barrier
Contraceptive methods are grouped by how they work. Barrier methods physically stop the sperm from meeting the egg. The condom, a thin rubber sheath worn on the penis (and the female condom used in the vagina), is therefore a mechanical barrier — and it is the only method that also protects against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as AIDS and syphilis.
The other three categories are chemical methods (oral pills that change the hormone balance so that no egg is released), intra-uterine devices or IUDs (Copper T, loop — placed in the uterus to prevent implantation), and surgical methods (vasectomy in males, tubectomy in females).
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Contraceptive pills – Uterine device — wrong; pills are taken orally and act by altering the hormonal balance, they are not a device placed in the uterus.
✗ Tubectomy – Chemical barrier — wrong; tubectomy is a surgical method in which the woman's fallopian tubes are blocked or cut.
✗ Copper T – Hormonal imbalance — wrong; Copper T is an intra-uterine device (IUD) placed in the uterus; it works mechanically, not by hormones.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Vasectomy — the vas deferens is cut in the male; Tubectomy — the fallopian tube is cut in the female.
• IUDs may cause side effects such as irritation and bleeding in the uterus.
• Contraception also helps in family planning and controlling population growth.
• Female foeticide / prenatal sex determination is a punishable offence in India.
• AIDS is caused by HIV and spreads mainly through sexual contact, infected blood and needles.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 3 · Seed, fruit and germination

Q80. Identify the process with the given description.
'The seed contains the future plant or embryo which develops into a seedling under appropriate conditions'.

  1. (a) Germination
  2. (b) Regeneration
  3. (c) Plantation
  4. (d) Fermentation
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Germination

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Germination
Germination is the process in which a seed, containing the dormant embryo, sprouts and grows into a young plant called a seedling when suitable conditions are available. The three conditions needed are water (moisture), air (oxygen) and a suitable temperature.
When water enters through the micropyle, the seed swells, enzymes become active and the stored food in the cotyledons or endosperm is digested and supplied to the embryo. The radicle comes out first and forms the root, then the plumule grows upward to form the shoot. Until the first leaves are formed, the seedling lives entirely on the food stored in the seed.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Regeneration — the ability of some simple organisms such as Planaria and Hydra to grow a complete body from a cut piece, using specialised cells; it has nothing to do with seeds.
✗ Plantation — merely the planting of trees or crops by human beings over an area; it is an agricultural activity, not a biological process inside the seed.
✗ Fermentation — anaerobic respiration in yeast and some bacteria in which glucose breaks down into ethanol and CO₂, releasing very little energy.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Conditions for germination: water, oxygen and suitable temperature; sunlight is not essential initially.
• Epigeal germination — cotyledons come above the soil (bean, castor); hypogeal — they stay below (pea, maize).
• Micropyle is the small pore through which water enters the seed.
• A seed remains alive but inactive in dormancy until conditions become favourable.
• Monocot seeds have one cotyledon (maize, wheat); dicot seeds have two (gram, pea).
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 3 · Seed, fruit and germination

Q81. Which part of the flower grows and ripens to form a fruit?

  1. (a) Anther
  2. (b) Petal
  3. (c) Ovary
  4. (d) Pollen tube
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Ovary

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Ovary
The ovary is the swollen basal part of the pistil (carpel), the female reproductive organ of a flower. It encloses one or more ovules. After fertilisation, the ovary grows rapidly, its wall thickens into the pericarp, and it ripens into the fruit, while the ovules inside it become the seeds.
At the same time the parts that have finished their job — the sepals, petals, stamens, style and stigma — usually dry up and fall off. The fruit protects the developing seeds and often helps in their dispersal by wind, water or animals.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Anther — the male part at the top of the stamen that produces pollen grains; it withers after pollination and never becomes a fruit.
✗ Petal — the coloured whorl (corolla) whose job is to attract insects for pollination; it falls off after fertilisation.
✗ Pollen tube — a temporary tube that grows from the pollen grain to carry the male gamete to the ovule; it disappears once fertilisation is over.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Ovary → fruit; ovule → seed; zygote → embryo; ovary wall → pericarp.
• A fruit formed only from the ovary is a true fruit (mango, tomato); one involving the thalamus is a false fruit (apple, cashew).
• Parthenocarpic fruits (banana) form without fertilisation and are seedless.
• Coconut is a fibrous drupe; the edible part of mango is the mesocarp.
• Pistil = stigma + style + ovary; stamen = anther + filament.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 3 · Fertilisation, embryo development and pregnancy

Q82. Nutrition is provided to the embryo from the mother's blood with the help of the:

  1. (a) scrotum
  2. (b) ovary
  3. (c) placenta
  4. (d) oviduct
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) placenta

Correct Answer: Option 3 — placenta
After the fertilised egg is implanted in the wall of the uterus, a special disc-like tissue called the placenta develops. It is the connecting link between the mother and the developing embryo.
On the embryo's side the placenta bears finger-like villi, which greatly increase the surface area and are bathed in the mother's blood spaces. Through this arrangement, glucose, amino acids and oxygen pass from the mother's blood into the embryo, and the embryo's waste products such as carbon dioxide and urea pass back into the mother's blood to be thrown out by her body. The embryo is attached to the placenta by the umbilical cord.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ scrotum — a male structure, the skin pouch outside the abdomen that holds the testes at a lower temperature; it has no role in nutrition of an embryo.
✗ ovary — the female primary sex organ; it produces the ovum and the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, but it does not nourish the embryo.
✗ oviduct (fallopian tube) — the tube where fertilisation takes place and through which the zygote travels to the uterus; it neither nourishes nor houses the embryo.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The human gestation period is about 9 months (280 days).
• Implantation of the embryo occurs in the endometrium of the uterus.
• The umbilical cord connects the foetus to the placenta.
• Menstruation occurs when the ovum is not fertilised and the uterine lining breaks down.
• Fertilisation in humans takes place in the fallopian tube (oviduct), not in the uterus.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 28 December 2024 Shift 3 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q83. Asexual reproduction does NOT involve the formation of ________.

  1. (a) zygotes
  2. (b) buds
  3. (c) leaves
  4. (d) spores
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) zygotes

Correct Answer: Option 1 — zygotes
In asexual reproduction a single parent produces offspring without the formation or fusion of gametes. A zygote is formed only when a male gamete fuses with a female gamete during fertilisation — that is sexual reproduction. Hence no zygote is ever formed in asexual reproduction.
Because no gametes mix, the offspring are genetically identical clones of the parent and show very little variation. Asexual reproduction is quick, needs only one parent, and is common in bacteria, Amoeba, yeast, Hydra, Planaria, Rhizopus and Spirogyra.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ buds — buds are formed in asexual reproduction; yeast and Hydra reproduce by budding, the bud growing on the parent and then detaching.
✗ leaves — leaves are involved; Bryophyllum produces buds on its leaf margins which fall off and grow into new plants — a case of vegetative propagation.
✗ spores — spores are formed asexually; Rhizopus (bread mould) forms spores inside sporangia on erect hyphae, which germinate on a suitable surface.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Modes of asexual reproduction: fission, budding, fragmentation, regeneration, spore formation, vegetative propagation.
• Zygote → embryo → new individual is the pathway of sexual reproduction only.
• Fragmentation — Spirogyra; regeneration — Planaria; binary fission — Amoeba.
• Asexual offspring are clones; Dolly the sheep was the first cloned mammal (1996).
• Sexual reproduction creates variation, which is the basis of evolution.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 27 December 2024 Shift 1 · Flower structure and sexual reproduction in plants

Q84. Which of the following is correctly matched?

  1. (a) Unisexual flower - Watermelon
  2. (b) Bisexual flower - Papaya
  3. (c) Unisexual flower - Mustard
  4. (d) Bisexual flower - Watermelon
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Unisexual flower - Watermelon

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Unisexual flower - Watermelon
A unisexual flower carries only one kind of reproductive organ — either the stamens (male) or the pistil/carpel (female), but not both. Watermelon, along with papaya, cucumber, pumpkin and maize, bears such flowers, so NCERT cites it as a standard example of a unisexual flower.
A bisexual (perfect) flower has both stamens and pistil in the same flower. Mustard, hibiscus, rose and pea are the standard examples. Thus the pairing "Unisexual flower – Watermelon" is the only correct match.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Bisexual flower - Papaya — papaya is unisexual and also dioecious, the male and female flowers being borne on separate plants.
✗ Unisexual flower - Mustard — mustard is a classic bisexual flower; a single flower carries stamens as well as the pistil.
✗ Bisexual flower - Watermelon — watermelon is unisexual and monoecious; male and female flowers occur on the same plant but separately.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Unisexual: papaya, watermelon, cucumber, maize, coconut. Bisexual: mustard, hibiscus, rose, pea, lily.
• Monoecious = both sexes on one plant (maize, watermelon); dioecious = on separate plants (papaya, date palm).
• Male part = stamen (anther + filament); female part = pistil (stigma, style, ovary).
• After fertilisation, the ovary → fruit and the ovule → seed.
• Pollination before fertilisation may be self or cross; cross-pollination needs an agent such as wind, water or insects.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 27 December 2024 Shift 1 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q85. If multiple fission :: many cells, then binary fission :: ______.

  1. (a) one cell
  2. (b) four cells
  3. (c) three cells
  4. (d) two cells
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) two cells

Correct Answer: Option 4 — two cells
Binary fission is a mode of asexual reproduction in which a single parent cell divides into two daughter cells of nearly equal size. The nucleus divides first, followed by the cytoplasm, and the parent cell as such ceases to exist. Amoeba, Paramoecium, Leishmania and bacteria reproduce in this way.
In multiple fission the nucleus of the parent cell divides repeatedly inside a protective cyst, producing many daughter cells at one time, which are released when conditions become favourable — as in Plasmodium, the malarial parasite. Hence, multiple fission gives many cells and binary fission gives exactly two.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ one cell — a single cell would mean no reproduction at all; the parent must give rise to more than one individual.
✗ four cells — division into four is not binary fission; four cells arise after two successive binary fissions or in meiosis.
✗ three cells — binary fission is always into two equal halves, never three; "bi" itself means two.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Binary fission — Amoeba, Paramoecium, bacteria; multiple fission — Plasmodium.
• In Leishmania (kala-azar parasite) binary fission occurs in a definite plane, along the whip-like flagellum.
• In Amoeba fission can take place in any plane.
• Other asexual modes: budding (Yeast, Hydra), fragmentation (Spirogyra), regeneration (Planaria), spore formation (Rhizopus), vegetative propagation.
• Asexual reproduction involves a single parent and gives genetically identical offspring (clones).
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 27 December 2024 Shift 1 · Seed, fruit and germination

Q86. Some seeds are dispersed when the fruits burst with sudden jerks and the seeds are scattered far from the parent plant. This happens in fruits of which of the following plants?

  1. (a) Drumstick and Maple
  2. (b) Xanthium and Urena
  3. (c) Castor and Balsam
  4. (d) Sunflower and Madar
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Castor and Balsam

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Castor and Balsam
Seed dispersal by the bursting (explosion) of fruits is a case of dispersal by the plant itself. As the fruit dries, tension builds up in its wall; it suddenly splits with a jerk and flings the seeds far away from the parent plant. Castor and balsam are the standard NCERT examples of this method.
Dispersal is necessary so that the seeds do not all fall at one place. Crowded seedlings would compete for sunlight, water, minerals and space, so scattering them helps the species spread to new areas and prevents overcrowding.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Drumstick and Maple — their seeds have wings and are dispersed by wind, not by bursting.
✗ Xanthium and Urena — these fruits bear hooks/spines that cling to the body of animals and are dispersed by animals.
✗ Sunflower and Madar — sunflower and madar (aak) seeds are light and hairy, and are also carried away by wind.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Agents of seed dispersal: wind, water, animals and explosion (the plant itself).
• Wind — maple, drumstick, madar, sunflower, dandelion (light, winged or hairy seeds).
• Water — coconut, which has a fibrous, buoyant husk.
• Animals — Xanthium, Urena (hooks) and fleshy fruits eaten by birds.
• After fertilisation the ovule becomes the seed and the ovary becomes the fruit.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 27 December 2024 Shift 2 · Fertilisation, embryo development and pregnancy

Q87. Conventionally, the germ-cell containing the stored food is called the:

  1. (a) motile gamete
  2. (b) female gamete
  3. (c) immature egg
  4. (d) male gamete
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) female gamete

Correct Answer: Option 2 — female gamete
In sexual reproduction two germ-cells (gametes) fuse. To make the fusion efficient, the two gametes are of different sizes and roles. One germ-cell is small and motile so that it can travel to the other; conventionally this is called the male gamete. The other germ-cell is larger and contains stored food, and it is conventionally called the female gamete.
The stored food is needed because the zygote formed after fertilisation must divide and grow before it can obtain nutrition from outside. In humans the female gamete is the ovum (egg) produced by the ovary, and the male gamete is the sperm produced by the testis; in flowering plants they are the egg cell in the ovule and the pollen grain.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ motile gamete — motility is the property of the male gamete (sperm), which is small and carries almost no food store.
✗ immature egg — an immature germ cell is an oocyte, still developing; the term used for the food-storing mature gamete is female gamete.
✗ male gamete — it is the small, motile cell whose job is only to deliver the DNA, not to supply food.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Fusion of male and female gametes = fertilisation; the product is the zygote.
• Gametes are haploid (n); the zygote is diploid (2n) — in humans n = 23, 2n = 46.
• Gametes are formed by meiosis (reduction division).
• Human ovum is the largest cell in the body; sperm is the smallest.
• Ovary also secretes oestrogen and progesterone; testis secretes testosterone.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 27 December 2024 Shift 2 · Human male reproductive system

Q88. In males, if the ______ is surgically cut, sperm transfer will be prevented.

  1. (a) fallopian tube
  2. (b) prostate gland
  3. (c) vas deferens
  4. (d) seminal vesicle
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) vas deferens

Correct Answer: Option 3 — vas deferens
The vas deferens (sperm duct) is the tube that carries sperms from the epididymis of the testis towards the urethra. If this tube is surgically cut and tied, sperms can no longer leave the testis and reach the semen, so sperm transfer is prevented. This operation is the male sterilisation method called vasectomy.
Vasectomy is a permanent surgical method of contraception. It stops the sperms only; the man's testosterone, sexual function and semen volume are unaffected, because most of the fluid of semen comes from the seminal vesicles and the prostate. The corresponding female operation, in which the fallopian tubes are cut and tied, is called tubectomy.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ fallopian tube — the oviduct of the female; it carries the egg to the uterus and is the site of fertilisation. It does not exist in males.
✗ prostate gland — a male accessory gland that only adds fluid to the semen, making the sperms easier to transport and nourish; cutting it would not stop sperm transfer.
✗ seminal vesicle — another accessory gland that adds a fructose-rich secretion to the semen for the sperms' energy; it does not conduct sperms.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Vasectomy — male sterilisation (vas deferens cut); Tubectomy — female sterilisation (fallopian tube cut).
• Sperms are produced in the testes and mature and are stored in the epididymis.
• Testes lie in the scrotum, outside the body, because sperm formation needs a temperature about 2–3 °C lower than body temperature.
• Semen = sperms + secretions of seminal vesicles and prostate.
• Other contraceptive methods: barrier (condom), oral pills (hormonal), IUCD (Copper-T).
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 27 December 2024 Shift 2 · Human male reproductive system

Q89. The male organ, the penis, helps in transfer of:

  1. (a) polar bodies
  2. (b) eggs
  3. (c) zygotes
  4. (d) sperms
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) sperms

Correct Answer: Option 4 — sperms
In human beings fertilisation is internal, so the male gametes must be delivered into the female body. The penis is the male copulatory organ; during copulation it transfers semen, which carries the sperms, into the vagina of the female. From there the sperms swim up through the uterus into the fallopian tube, where one of them fuses with the ovum.
Sperms are made in the testes, mature and are stored in the epididymis, and travel through the vas deferens. On the way, the seminal vesicles and the prostate gland add fluids that nourish the sperms and make their transport easier; this mixture is the semen.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ polar bodies — small non-functional cells cast off during the meiotic division of the oocyte in the female; they degenerate and are never transferred.
✗ eggs — the ovum is the female gamete, released by the ovary into the fallopian tube; it is never handled by the male organ.
✗ zygotes — the zygote is formed inside the female body after fertilisation, in the fallopian tube; it is not transferred by the penis.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Male reproductive organs: testes, epididymis, vas deferens, seminal vesicle, prostate, urethra, penis.
• Fertilisation occurs in the fallopian tube (oviduct); the embryo implants in the uterus.
• Placenta supplies the embryo with nutrition and oxygen and removes its wastes.
• Human gestation period is about 9 months (280 days).
• Testosterone is the male sex hormone; oestrogen and progesterone are female sex hormones.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 27 December 2024 Shift 3 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q90. Use of regenerative cells in the process of budding is present in:

  1. (a) Spirogyra
  2. (b) Hydra
  3. (c) Planaria
  4. (d) Amoeba
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Hydra

Correct Answer: Option 2 — Hydra
Hydra is a simple multicellular animal that reproduces asexually by budding. It uses its regenerative cells to make the bud: these cells divide repeatedly at one point of the body and form a small outgrowth called a bud.
The bud develops its own mouth and tentacles while still attached to the parent, and when it is mature it detaches and lives as a new independent Hydra. Because the offspring comes from a single parent by mitosis, it is genetically identical to the parent — a clone.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Spirogyra — a filamentous alga that reproduces by simple fragmentation; the filament breaks into pieces that grow into new individuals.
✗ Planaria — a flatworm famous for regeneration; a cut piece grows into a whole worm, but this is not budding.
✗ Amoeba — reproduces by binary fission, splitting into two daughter cells, not by budding.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Yeast also reproduces by budding, but it is unicellular.
• Binary fission — Amoeba, Leishmania, Plasmodium (multiple fission).
• Fragmentation — Spirogyra; Regeneration — Hydra and Planaria.
• Spore formation — Rhizopus (bread mould); Vegetative propagation — potato, Bryophyllum.
• Hydra belongs to the phylum Coelenterata (Cnidaria).
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 27 December 2024 Shift 3 · Vegetative propagation

Q91. Which one of the following plant parts is NOT used for vegetative propagation?

  1. (a) Leaves
  2. (b) Stem
  3. (c) Seed
  4. (d) Root
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Seed

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Seed
Vegetative propagation is a type of asexual reproduction in which a new plant grows from a vegetative part of the parent plant — the root, stem, leaf or bud. No gametes and no fertilisation are involved, so the new plants are clones of the parent.
A seed, on the other hand, is the product of sexual reproduction. It is formed inside the fruit after fertilisation of the egg by the male gamete from the pollen grain, and it carries characters of two parents. Because it is a reproductive (not vegetative) structure, growing a plant from a seed is not vegetative propagation.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Leaves — Bryophyllum grows new plants from buds in the notches of its leaf margin.
✗ Stem — potato (tuber), ginger, sugarcane, rose and grape are all propagated by stem pieces or cuttings.
✗ Root — sweet potato, dahlia and Asparagus grow new shoots from their roots.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Artificial methods of vegetative propagation: cutting, layering, grafting and tissue culture.
• Vegetative propagation keeps the desired characters unchanged and gives earlier flowering and fruiting.
• Banana, orange, rose and jasmine are grown this way as they have lost the capacity to make viable seeds.
• Tissue culture grows whole plants from a few cells on a nutrient medium (micropropagation).
• The eye of a potato is a bud that sprouts into a new plant.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 26 December 2024 Shift 1 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q92. In which of the following organisms is spore formation seen?

  1. (a) Plasmodium
  2. (b) Amoeba
  3. (c) Paramecium
  4. (d) Rhizopus
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Rhizopus

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Rhizopus
Rhizopus, the common bread mould, reproduces asexually by spore formation. Its white cottony body is made of thread-like hyphae. Some hyphae grow upright and bear tiny blob-on-a-stick structures called sporangia.
Inside each sporangium, hundreds of minute spores are formed. Every spore is protected by a thick wall that allows it to survive unfavourable conditions such as heat and dryness. When the sporangium bursts, the spores are dispersed by air, water or insects; on landing on a moist, warm surface like damp bread, each spore germinates into a new Rhizopus plant.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Plasmodium — the malarial parasite; it reproduces by multiple fission (schizogony), splitting into many daughter cells at one time.
✗ Amoeba — a unicellular protozoan that reproduces by binary fission, dividing into two daughter amoebae.
✗ Paramecium — a slipper-shaped ciliate; it also multiplies by binary fission (transverse fission).
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Spore formation — Rhizopus, Mucor, ferns, mosses, bacteria.
• Binary fission — Amoeba, Paramecium, Leishmania, bacteria; Multiple fission — Plasmodium.
• Budding — yeast and Hydra; Fragmentation — Spirogyra; Regeneration — Hydra and Planaria.
• Fungi are heterotrophic and saprophytic; their cell wall is made of chitin.
• Leishmania divides by longitudinal binary fission; Amoeba divides in any plane.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 26 December 2024 Shift 1 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q93. Which of the following pairs is INCORRECTLY matched according to mode of reproduction?

  1. (a) Bryophyllum – Spore formation
  2. (b) Spirogyra – Fragmentation
  3. (c) Hydra – Budding
  4. (d) Amoeba – Binary fission
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Bryophyllum – Spore formation

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Bryophyllum – Spore formation
This pair is wrongly matched. Bryophyllum does not reproduce by spore formation; it reproduces by vegetative propagation. Its thick leaves carry buds (adventitious buds) in the notches of the leaf margins. When such a leaf falls on moist soil, each bud grows into a new independent plant.
Spore formation is a mode of asexual reproduction seen in fungi (Rhizopus, Mucor), ferns, mosses and bacteria, where thick-walled spores are produced inside a sporangium and germinate when conditions become favourable.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Spirogyra – Fragmentation — correctly matched; this filamentous green alga simply breaks into fragments, and each fragment grows into a new filament.
✗ Hydra – Budding — correctly matched; a bud made of regenerative cells grows on the parent, develops a mouth and tentacles, and then detaches.
✗ Amoeba – Binary fission — correctly matched; this unicellular organism splits into two daughter cells after its nucleus divides.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Bryophyllum is the classic example of vegetative propagation by leaf; potato by stem tuber, sweet potato by root.
• Vegetative propagation methods include cutting, layering, grafting and tissue culture.
• Plants raised by vegetative propagation are genetically identical clones and bear fruit earlier.
• Multiple fission is seen in Plasmodium; regeneration in Planaria and Hydra.
• Yeast, a unicellular fungus, reproduces by budding, not by fission.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 26 December 2024 Shift 1 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q94. When Planaria is cut into many pieces each piece grows into a complete organism. What is this known as?

  1. (a) Binary fission
  2. (b) Regeneration
  3. (c) Fragmentation
  4. (d) Multiple fission
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) Regeneration

Correct Answer: Option 2 — Regeneration
Regeneration is the ability of a fully differentiated organism to rebuild a complete body from a body piece. Planaria, a flatworm, is the classic example — if it is cut into many pieces, each piece grows into a complete organism.
Regeneration is carried out by specialised cells present in the body. These cells multiply by rapid cell division, and the resulting mass of cells then undergoes differentiation, changing into the various tissues and organs in an organised sequence until the whole body plan is restored. NCERT points out that regeneration is not the same as reproduction, since most such organisms do not normally depend on being cut into pieces for multiplying.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Binary fission — a unicellular organism divides into two daughter cells, e.g. Amoeba and Leishmania; Planaria is a multicellular animal.
✗ Fragmentation — the body breaks spontaneously into fragments that grow into new individuals, e.g. Spirogyra; in the question the cutting is done externally.
✗ Multiple fission — the parent cell divides simultaneously into many daughter cells inside a cyst, e.g. Plasmodium.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Planaria and Hydra both show a very high power of regeneration.
• Starfish regenerates lost arms; lizard regrows its tail after autotomy.
• In the human body, the liver has the greatest regenerative capacity.
• Regeneration is possible because of specialised (stem-like) cells and needs division followed by differentiation.
• Asexual reproduction involves one parent and gives offspring nearly identical to it.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 26 December 2024 Shift 1 · Seed, fruit and germination

Q95. After fertilisation, which of the following is formed when the zygote divides several times within the ovule?

  1. (a) Pistil
  2. (b) Stamen
  3. (c) Pollen grain
  4. (d) Embryo
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) Embryo

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Embryo
After pollination, the pollen grain germinates on the stigma and grows a pollen tube through the style to reach the ovule inside the ovary. There the male gamete fuses with the egg cell — this fusion is fertilisation — and a zygote is formed.
The zygote then divides several times within the ovule and develops into the embryo, the tiny future plant made of the plumule (future shoot), radicle (future root) and cotyledons. Meanwhile the ovule develops a tough coat and is gradually converted into the seed, and the ovary grows into the fruit. When the seed germinates, the embryo grows into a new plant.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Pistil — the female reproductive part of the flower (stigma + style + ovary); it exists before fertilisation, it is not formed from the zygote.
✗ Stamen — the male reproductive part (anther + filament) that produces pollen grains; it too is present before fertilisation.
✗ Pollen grain — produced in the anther and carries the male gamete; it is a participant in fertilisation, not its product.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• After fertilisation — ovule → seed, ovary → fruit, zygote → embryo, and the other floral parts usually wither and fall.
• Self-pollination is within the same flower; cross-pollination is between two flowers, aided by wind, water, insects and birds.
• In angiosperms double fertilisation occurs — one male gamete forms the zygote, the other forms the endosperm (3n).
• Cotyledons store food; pea and gram are dicots, maize and wheat are monocots.
• Germination of the seed needs water, air and a suitable temperature.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 26 December 2024 Shift 1 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q96. Which single-celled organism divides into many daughter cells simultaneously by multiple fission?

  1. (a) Plasmodium
  2. (b) Amoeba
  3. (c) Leishmania
  4. (d) Yeast
Answer & solution

Answer: (a) Plasmodium

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Plasmodium
Plasmodium, the malarial parasite, reproduces by multiple fission. In this process the nucleus of the parent cell divides repeatedly while the cell is enclosed in a protective cyst, producing many nuclei. Each nucleus then gets a bit of cytoplasm around it, and the cyst finally bursts to release many daughter cells at the same time.
This rapid multiplication inside human red blood cells is why the RBCs rupture in cycles and the patient of malaria gets recurring bouts of fever with chills. Multiple fission also helps the parasite survive unfavourable conditions inside the cyst.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Amoeba — reproduces by binary fission; the parent divides into two daughter amoebae and the plane of division can be any plane.
✗ Leishmania — the parasite of kala-azar; it too divides by binary fission, but in a definite longitudinal plane starting from the base of the flagellum.
✗ Yeast — a unicellular fungus that reproduces by budding, in which a small bud pinches off from the parent cell.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Malaria is caused by Plasmodium and spread by the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito.
• Ronald Ross discovered the malarial parasite in the mosquito; World Malaria Day is 25 April.
• Kala-azar is caused by Leishmania, spread by the sandfly; sleeping sickness by Trypanosoma.
• Multiple fission — Plasmodium; Binary fission — Amoeba, Leishmania, Paramecium, bacteria.
• Quinine, obtained from the bark of cinchona, is the classical anti-malarial drug.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 26 December 2024 Shift 2 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q97. Sporangia blobs contain cells or spores that can eventually develop into new Rhizopus individuals. Such asexual reproduction is known as:

  1. (a) budding
  2. (b) spore formation
  3. (c) vegetative propagation
  4. (d) regeneration
Answer & solution

Answer: (b) spore formation

Correct Answer: Option 2 — spore formation
Spore formation (sporulation) is an asexual method in which the organism produces hundreds of tiny, single-celled reproductive units called spores inside a sac-like structure. In the bread mould Rhizopus, thread-like hyphae grow upright and their swollen tips, the sporangia (blob-like knobs), are filled with spores.
When the sporangium bursts, the spores are scattered by air. Each spore has a thick protective wall that lets it survive drought and heat; on landing on a moist piece of bread it germinates and grows into a new Rhizopus. A single parent can thus produce a very large number of offspring quickly.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Budding — a small outgrowth or bud appears on the parent body and later detaches, as in yeast and Hydra; Rhizopus does not form buds.
✗ Vegetative propagation — new plants arise from a vegetative part (root, stem or leaf) of a higher plant, as in potato, ginger and Bryophyllum.
✗ Regeneration — a cut or broken piece of the body grows into a complete organism, as in Planaria and Hydra; it is not the method used by moulds.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Rhizopus is the bread mould; Mucor, Penicillium and ferns also reproduce by spores.
• The spore-producing sac is the sporangium; the stalk carrying it is the sporangiophore.
• Asexual reproduction needs only one parent and gives offspring that are genetically identical (clones).
• Types of asexual reproduction: fission, budding, fragmentation, regeneration, spore formation and vegetative propagation.
• Bacteria form endospores to survive very harsh conditions.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 26 December 2024 Shift 2 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q98. Name the mode of reproduction in Spirogyra.

  1. (a) Budding
  2. (b) Binary fission
  3. (c) Fragmentation
  4. (d) Multiple fission
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) Fragmentation

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Fragmentation
Spirogyra is a green, thread-like (filamentous) alga found floating in ponds; it is famous for its spiral (ribbon-shaped) chloroplast. On reaching maturity the filament simply breaks into two or more pieces (fragments), and each fragment grows by cell division into a complete new Spirogyra filament. This method is called fragmentation.
Fragmentation is possible only in simple multicellular organisms in which the body is not divided into specialised organs, so every fragment still contains all the cell types needed to build a whole individual.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Budding — a bud grows out of the parent body and later separates; seen in yeast (unicellular) and Hydra (multicellular), not in Spirogyra.
✗ Binary fission — a unicellular organism divides into two daughter cells, as in Amoeba, Paramecium and bacteria; Spirogyra is multicellular.
✗ Multiple fission — one parent cell divides into many daughter cells at once inside a cyst, as in the malarial parasite Plasmodium.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Spirogyra is called pond silk or water silk because of its silky, slippery feel.
• Spirogyra also reproduces sexually by conjugation, forming a zygospore.
• Other organisms that reproduce by fragmentation are Sargassum, Ulothrix and many filamentous fungi.
• Planaria shows regeneration; Hydra shows both budding and regeneration.
• Amoeba divides by binary fission and forms a cyst in unfavourable conditions.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 26 December 2024 Shift 2 · Asexual reproduction (fission, budding, fragmentation, spores)

Q99. Spirogyra a multicellular organism simply breaks up into smaller pieces upon maturation and these pieces or fragments grow into new individuals. Such a mode of reproduction is known as:

  1. (a) binary fission
  2. (b) budding
  3. (c) regeneration
  4. (d) fragmentation
Answer & solution

Answer: (d) fragmentation

Correct Answer: Option 4 — fragmentation
Fragmentation is an asexual mode of reproduction in which a simple multicellular organism, on maturing, breaks up spontaneously into two or more fragments, and every fragment then grows into a complete new individual. No gametes and no fertilisation are involved, and only one parent is needed.
In Spirogyra, a filamentous pond alga, the long green thread breaks at any point and each broken piece continues to divide and elongate until it becomes a full filament. Because the body has a simple, repeated structure with no specialised organs, each fragment is complete in itself.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Binary fission — a single cell splits into two daughter cells (Amoeba, bacteria); it applies to unicellular organisms, while Spirogyra is multicellular.
✗ Budding — a bud develops on the parent body, grows and then detaches, as in yeast and Hydra; the parent body itself does not break apart.
✗ Regeneration — an organism rebuilds a lost or cut-off part into a full body, as in Planaria and Hydra; here the breaking is accidental, not a normal reproductive habit.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Fragmentation is seen in Spirogyra, Ulothrix, Sargassum and many filamentous fungi.
• Offspring formed by any asexual method are clones — genetically identical to the parent.
• Regeneration in Planaria was studied through the classic experiments of T. H. Morgan; the cells involved are specialised (differentiated) cells that proliferate.
• Spirogyra has a spiral chloroplast and is commonly called pond silk.
• Yeast reproduces by budding; Plasmodium by multiple fission; Planaria by regeneration.
RRB Technician Grade III 2024-25 – 26 December 2024 Shift 2 · Vegetative propagation

Q100. Buds produced in the notches along the leaf margin of Bryophyllum fall on the soil and develop into new plants. Such a mode of reproduction is known as:

  1. (a) budding
  2. (b) fragmentation
  3. (c) vegetative propagation
  4. (d) regeneration
Answer & solution

Answer: (c) vegetative propagation

Correct Answer: Option 3 — vegetative propagation
Vegetative propagation is the asexual production of new plants from a vegetative part of the parent plant — the root, stem or leaf — without any seed, flower or fertilisation. In Bryophyllum (sprout-leaf plant) tiny adventitious buds grow in the notches along the leaf margin; when such a leaf falls on moist soil, every bud strikes root and becomes an independent plant.
Because no gametes are involved, all the new plants are genetically identical to the parent (clones), they flower earlier than seed-grown plants, and seedless varieties such as banana and orange can be multiplied only in this way.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Budding — an outgrowth forms on the body of an animal or a fungus and detaches, as in yeast and Hydra; in Bryophyllum the structures arise on a leaf, which makes it vegetative propagation.
✗ Fragmentation — the body breaks into pieces, each growing into a new individual, as in Spirogyra; the Bryophyllum leaf does not break up into fragments.
✗ Regeneration — a lost or cut part is rebuilt into a whole organism, as in Planaria and Hydra; here the buds are formed in the normal course of life, not after injury.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Bryophyllum is the classic example of propagation by leaf; potato and ginger by stem; sweet potato and Dahlia by root.
• Runners in grass, suckers in banana, rhizome in ginger, tuber in potato and bulb in onion are natural vegetative parts.
• Artificial methods are cutting, layering, grafting and tissue culture (micropropagation).
• In tissue culture a small piece of tissue (explant) grows into a mass called callus.
• Vegetative propagation preserves the desired characters of the parent exactly, but reduces genetic variation.
12

More Biology chapters

Ecology and Environment168 questionsHuman Physiology - Respiration, Circulation and Excretion159 questionsTissues142 questionsControl and Coordination138 questionsCell - Structure and Function133 questionsNutrition and Digestion99 questionsDiseases, Immunity and Health87 questionsHeredity and Evolution76 questionsPlant Physiology and Morphology76 questionsBiotechnology and Applied Biology69 questionsDiversity and Classification of Living Organisms68 questionsBiology Miscellaneous11 questionsHuman Body - General Facts10 questionsMicroorganisms4 questions
📥 PDF of this paper (all subjects, English & Hindi): All previous year papers PDF · ▶ Attempt previous year papers as free online tests · 🏆 Free live mock tests · 📰 Daily current affairs quiz