Tissues PYQs – Biology, SSC & Railway

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Nerve cells
Nerve cells (neurons) are the only cells that possess dendrites and an axon. A neuron has a cell body (cyton) containing a single nucleus, many short branched dendrites that receive impulses from other cells, and one long fibre — the axon — that carries the impulse away to the next neuron, muscle or gland.
Neurons build up nervous tissue, which is found in the brain, spinal cord and nerves. The impulse travels along the axon as an electrical signal and crosses the synapse in the form of a chemical neurotransmitter. Neurons are the longest cells of the human body.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Fibres — such as muscle fibres in animals or sclerenchyma fibres in plants; they provide contraction or mechanical strength and have no dendrites or axon.
✗ Red blood cells — round, biconcave cells packed with haemoglobin to carry oxygen; mature human RBCs have no nucleus at all.
✗ White blood cells — nucleated, amoeboid defence cells that fight germs and make antibodies; they move by pseudopodia, not by dendrites.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Neuron = cyton + dendrites + axon; it is the structural and functional unit of the nervous system.
• Nerve impulses travel at about 100–120 m/s; the gap between two neurons is the synapse.
• RBCs live about 120 days, are made in the bone marrow and destroyed in the spleen (the graveyard of RBCs).
• The WBC : RBC ratio in human blood is roughly 1 : 600.
• The four animal tissues are epithelial, connective, muscular and nervous.

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Phloem fibres
Phloem is the food-conducting complex permanent tissue of plants. It is made of four elements — sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem parenchyma and phloem fibres (bast fibres). Of these, only the phloem fibres are dead; they have thick lignified walls and give the plant mechanical strength and support.
The other three elements are living, which is unusual among conducting tissues — that is why phloem is described as a living conducting tissue, unlike xylem, in which the tracheids, vessels and xylem fibres are all dead.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Phloem parenchyma — living, thin-walled cells that store food such as starch and fats and also store resins and latex.
✗ Sieve cells (sieve tubes) — living, tube-like cells with perforated sieve plates through which food flows; they lack a nucleus but remain alive.
✗ Companion cells — living, nucleated cells attached to the sieve tubes; they control the activity of the enucleate sieve tube.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Xylem = tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem fibres — only the xylem parenchyma is living.
• Phloem = sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem parenchyma and phloem fibres — only the phloem fibres are dead.
• Xylem carries water and minerals upward; phloem carries food in both directions (translocation).
• Commercial fibres such as jute, flax and hemp are obtained from phloem (bast) fibres.
• Xylem and phloem are complex permanent tissues and together form the vascular bundle.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Ligament
A ligament is a connective tissue that joins bone to bone at a joint. It is very elastic and contains very little matrix, so it can stretch; it holds the two bones in position and prevents dislocation while still allowing free movement.
Connective tissue in general connects, supports, binds and packs the other tissues of the body. Its cells lie loosely spaced in an intercellular matrix. Bone, cartilage, blood, adipose tissue, areolar tissue, tendon and ligament are all connective tissues.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Cartilage — a solid but flexible connective tissue with a matrix of proteins and sugars; it smoothens bone surfaces at joints and is found in the nose, ear, trachea and larynx.
✗ Adipose tissue — fat-storing connective tissue below the skin and between organs; it acts as an insulator and a shock absorber.
✗ Tendon — a strong but inelastic connective tissue with great strength, which joins muscle to bone, not bone to bone.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Ligament — bone to bone (elastic); Tendon — muscle to bone (tough and inelastic).
• The bone matrix is rich in calcium and phosphorus; blood is the fluid connective tissue.
• Areolar tissue fills the space inside organs and supports the internal organs.
• The four animal tissues are epithelial, connective, muscular and nervous.
• The adult human skeleton has 206 bones; the femur is the longest bone.

Correct Answer: Option 2 — Differentiation
Plant tissues are of two broad kinds — meristematic and permanent. Meristematic tissue consists of actively dividing cells with thin walls, dense cytoplasm, a prominent nucleus and no vacuoles; it is found at the growing points (apical, lateral and intercalary meristems).
The cells produced by a meristem soon lose their power to divide and take up a specific shape, size and function. This process of taking a permanent shape, size and function is called differentiation, and it converts meristematic cells into the various permanent tissues. Permanent tissues may be simple (parenchyma, collenchyma, sclerenchyma) or complex (xylem and phloem).
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Elongation — merely an increase in length of a cell or organ; growth in length alone does not create a new tissue type.
✗ Vegetative Propagation — an asexual reproduction method in which a new plant grows from a root, stem or leaf (e.g. potato, sugarcane).
✗ Germination — the sprouting of a seed into a seedling; it concerns the whole seed, not tissue formation.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Apical meristem increases length; lateral meristem (cambium) increases girth; intercalary meristem is at the base of leaves/internodes (grasses).
• Parenchyma stores food; chlorenchyma contains chlorophyll; aerenchyma gives buoyancy to aquatic plants.
• Collenchyma gives flexibility (leaf stalks); sclerenchyma gives hardness (coconut husk) and is dead with lignin.
• Xylem carries water upward; phloem carries food in both directions.
• Protective permanent tissues — epidermis and cork (phellem); cork cells contain suberin.

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Proteins and sugars
Cartilage is a connective tissue in which the cells (chondrocytes) lie in small spaces called lacunae, widely spaced within a solid yet flexible matrix. As NCERT states, the matrix of cartilage is composed of proteins and sugars, which makes it firm enough to give shape and smooth enough to cushion joints.
Bone is the other hard connective tissue; its matrix is hard and rigid because it is rich in calcium and phosphorus compounds. Together, bone and cartilage form the skeletal system — bone provides the strong framework and anchors muscles, while cartilage smoothens bone surfaces at joints and shapes soft structures such as the nose, ear pinna, larynx and trachea.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Phosphorus and sugars — phosphorus belongs to the bone matrix, not cartilage; cartilage has no mineral hardening of this kind.
✗ Calcium and sugars — calcium salts stiffen bone; a calcified matrix would remove the flexibility cartilage needs.
✗ Proteins and fats — fat is stored in adipose tissue (below the skin, between organs), which insulates the body; it is not the cartilage matrix.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Connective tissues — areolar, adipose, bone, cartilage, blood, tendon, ligament.
• Bone cells are osteocytes; cartilage cells are chondrocytes; both sit in lacunae.
• Blood is a fluid connective tissue whose matrix is plasma.
• Tendon joins muscle to bone; ligament joins bone to bone and is very elastic.
• An adult human has 206 bones; the ear pinna and nose tip are made of cartilage.

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Short and branched
The neuron (nerve cell) is the structural and functional unit of the nervous system and the longest cell in the human body. It has three parts — the cell body (cyton), the dendrites, and the axon.
Dendrites are the short, highly branched extensions that arise from the cell body. Their branching gives a very large surface area to receive stimuli (information) from other neurons or from receptor cells, and they carry the impulse towards the cell body. The axon, in contrast, is a single long, unbranched fibre that carries the impulse away from the cell body to the next cell. Impulse flow is therefore dendrite → cell body → axon → synapse.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Short and unbranched — being unbranched would give too little surface to collect signals; dendrites are always richly branched.
✗ Long and unbranched — this describes the axon, which is long and typically unbranched along its length.
✗ Long and branched — dendrites are short, not long; length is the distinguishing feature of the axon.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The gap between two neurons is the synapse; a nerve-muscle junction is the neuromuscular junction.
• The impulse crosses the synapse through chemicals called neurotransmitters (e.g. acetylcholine).
• Nerve impulse is an electrochemical signal; nervous tissue makes the brain, spinal cord and nerves.
• The myelin sheath on the axon speeds up the impulse and gives insulation.
• Reflex arc path — receptor → sensory neuron → spinal cord → motor neuron → effector (muscle).

Correct Answer: Option 2 — Muscle tissues are made up of cuboidal cells.
Muscle tissue is made of long, elongated, cylindrical or spindle-shaped cells called muscle fibres, not cuboidal cells. Cuboidal cells belong to cuboidal epithelium, which lines the kidney tubules and salivary ducts. So Option 2 is the incorrect statement.
Muscle cells contain the special contractile proteins actin and myosin, whose sliding causes contraction and relaxation — this is what produces all body movement. Muscles are of three kinds: striated (voluntary/skeletal) muscles of the limbs, which show alternate light and dark bands; smooth (unstriated, involuntary) muscles of the alimentary canal and blood vessels; and cardiac muscle of the heart, which is striated but involuntary.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Special contractile proteins are present in muscles. — true; actin and myosin bring about contraction.
✗ Microscopes reveal alternate light and dark bands in voluntary muscles. — true; that is why skeletal muscle is called striated or striped muscle.
✗ The limbs have voluntary muscles. — true; limb muscles move under our conscious will, hence voluntary.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Muscle cells are also called muscle fibres, and are the longest cells in many animals.
• Cardiac muscle is striated, uninucleate, branched and involuntary; it never tires.
• Smooth muscle cells are spindle-shaped with a single nucleus and no striations.
• Muscle fatigue is caused by accumulation of lactic acid during anaerobic respiration.
• The four animal tissues are epithelial, connective, muscular and nervous.

Correct Answer: Option 4 — collenchyma
Collenchyma is a simple permanent tissue of plants that provides mechanical support along with flexibility. Its cells are living, elongated and irregularly thickened at the corners with cellulose and pectin, and there is very little intercellular space between them.
Because the thickening is only at the corners and the walls are not lignified, collenchyma is strong yet bendable. This lets the stems of climbers and young shoots, and the leaf stalks (petioles), bend in the wind without breaking. It is usually found just below the epidermis of stems and petioles in dicot plants.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Sclerenchyma — dead cells with thick, lignified walls and no lumen; it gives hardness and rigidity (e.g. coconut husk, nut shells), not flexibility.
✗ Parenchyma — thin-walled living cells with large intercellular spaces; it performs storage, food manufacture (chlorenchyma) and buoyancy (aerenchyma), providing only slight support.
✗ Cambium — a lateral meristem, not a permanent supporting tissue; its job is to divide and cause secondary growth, increasing the girth of stem and root.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Simple permanent tissues — Parenchyma, Collenchyma, Sclerenchyma; complex permanent tissues — Xylem and Phloem.
• Collenchyma cells thicken at the corners with pectin; sclerenchyma thickens all over with lignin.
• Sclerenchyma fibres of jute, coir and flax are used to make ropes and sacks.
• Aerenchyma (parenchyma with large air cavities) helps hydrophytes like water hyacinth to float.
• Chlorenchyma is parenchyma containing chlorophyll and carries out photosynthesis.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Protection
Epithelial tissue is the covering or protective tissue of the animal body. Its cells are tightly packed with almost no intercellular space, they form a continuous sheet, and they always rest on a basement membrane.
Because of this continuous, close-packed arrangement it acts as a barrier: the skin epithelium protects the body from injury, germs, chemicals and water loss; the epithelium lining the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, intestine, blood vessels, kidney tubules and lungs protects those organs and also helps in absorption, secretion and exchange of materials.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Provides response to stimulus — this is the function of nervous tissue, made of neurons, which receives stimuli and conducts electrical impulses to the brain and spinal cord.
✗ Storage of fats — fat is stored in adipose tissue, a type of connective tissue found below the skin and between internal organs; it also acts as an insulator.
✗ Responsible for involuntary movements — involuntary movement is caused by smooth (unstriated) muscle in the gut, blood vessels and iris, and by cardiac muscle in the heart.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The four types of animal tissue are Epithelial, Connective, Muscular and Nervous.
• Types of epithelium — squamous (lung alveoli), cuboidal (kidney tubules), columnar (intestine), ciliated (respiratory tract) and glandular (glands).
• Stratified squamous epithelium forms the skin, arranged in many layers to stand wear and tear.
• Ciliated epithelium of the windpipe pushes mucus and dust upward and out.
• Tendon joins muscle to bone, and ligament joins bone to bone; both are connective tissues.

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Plants
Meristematic tissue is found only in plants. It is made of small, thin-walled, actively dividing living cells with dense cytoplasm, a prominent nucleus and no vacuoles or intercellular spaces.
Apical meristem lies at the growing tips of the stem (shoot apex) and the root (root apex). Its division causes primary growth, i.e. increase in the length (height) of the plant. This is why plants show indefinite (open) growth throughout life and can keep growing taller. The two other kinds are intercalary meristem (at the base of leaves and internodes, as in grasses) and lateral meristem / cambium (increases girth).
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Animals — animal growth is uniform and limited; they have no meristem. Growth occurs by mitosis in ordinary body cells and stops at maturity.
✗ Virus — an acellular particle of nucleic acid in a protein coat; it has no cells at all, so no tissue. It multiplies only inside a host cell.
✗ Bacteria — unicellular prokaryotes; a single cell cannot form a tissue, and they multiply by binary fission, not by meristematic growth.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Apical meristem — increases length; Lateral meristem (cambium) — increases girth; Intercalary meristem — at the base of internodes/leaves in grasses, letting them regrow after mowing.
• Plant tissues are of two types — meristematic (dividing) and permanent (non-dividing).
• Permanent tissues form from meristem by differentiation.
• Cork cambium (phellogen) produces the cork (bark), whose cells contain suberin and are impermeable to water and gases.
• Growth in plants is indefinite and localised, while in animals it is definite and diffused.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Muscle cells
Muscular tissue is the only tissue in the body that can contract and relax, and it is this alternate shortening and lengthening that actually moves an organ or a body part. Muscle cells are long and cylindrical, so they are called muscle fibres; they contain special contractile proteins — actin and myosin — that slide over each other when a nerve impulse arrives, using energy from ATP.
There are three types:
• Striated (skeletal / voluntary) muscle — attached to bones, moves the limbs, jaw and tongue; under our will.
• Unstriated (smooth / involuntary) muscle — in the alimentary canal, blood vessels, ureters and iris; produces peristalsis.
• Cardiac muscle — only in the heart; contracts and relaxes rhythmically and tirelessly all life long.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Nerve cells — they only receive stimuli and conduct impulses; a neuron carries the command to contract but cannot contract itself.
✗ Cartilages — a solid but flexible connective tissue found in the nose, ear, trachea and at joints; it cushions and supports, it does not contract.
✗ Bones — a hard connective tissue with a matrix of calcium and phosphorus; bones only form the rigid framework and act as levers that muscles pull on.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Voluntary muscle — striated, many nuclei, tires quickly; involuntary muscle — unstriated, single nucleus, does not tire.
• Cardiac muscle is striated but involuntary — a favourite exam point.
• Muscle contraction uses ATP and calcium ions; lack of oxygen causes lactic acid build-up, giving cramps.
• Tendon attaches muscle to bone; ligament attaches bone to bone.
• The diaphragm is a muscle sheet that contracts during inhalation; peristalsis in the food pipe is caused by smooth muscle.

Correct Answer: Option 2 — Cambium
Cambium is the lateral meristem of a plant. It lies between the xylem and the phloem in the vascular bundle of dicot stems and roots, and its cells divide again and again in a radial direction.
The cambium cuts off secondary xylem towards the inside and secondary phloem towards the outside. This continuous addition of tissue on both faces is called secondary growth, and it makes the stem and root increase in girth (diameter). That is why a tree trunk becomes thicker year after year and forms annual rings, from which the age of the tree can be counted.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Apical meristem — present at the tips of the stem and root; it causes primary growth, increasing the length (height) of the plant, not its thickness.
✗ Intercalary meristem — present at the base of leaves and internodes, especially in grasses; it lets a mown or grazed grass blade grow back in length.
✗ Underneath meristem — not a recognised category of meristem at all; the three real types are apical, lateral and intercalary.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Vascular cambium — makes secondary xylem and phloem; cork cambium (phellogen) — makes the cork or bark.
• Annual rings are formed because spring wood and autumn wood differ; counting them gives the tree's age — the science is dendrochronology.
• Monocots (like grass, maize, palm) have no cambium, so they generally show no secondary growth.
• Cork cells contain suberin, which makes them impermeable to water and gases.
• Meristematic tissue cells are small, thin-walled, with dense cytoplasm, a large nucleus and no vacuole.

Correct Answer: Option 2 — Adipocyte
An adipocyte is a fat cell of adipose tissue, a kind of connective tissue found below the skin and between the internal organs. Its work is to store fat, act as an insulator against heat loss and cushion the organs. It is not a nerve cell and contains no neuron at all.
A neuron (nerve cell) is the structural and functional unit of the nervous system. It has a cell body (cyton) with a single nucleus, many short branches called dendrites that receive impulses, and one long fibre, the axon, which carries the impulse away. Neurons are the longest cells in the human body.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Nerves — bundles of axons of many neurons wrapped in connective tissue; they are made of neurons.
✗ Brain — the chief coordinating centre of the body, built of billions of neurons supported by neuroglia cells.
✗ Spinal cord — a cord of nervous tissue inside the vertebral column that carries impulses and controls reflex actions; it is packed with neurons.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The neuron is the longest cell of the human body; the nerve impulse travels at about 100–120 m/s.
• The gap between two neurons is a synapse; between a neuron and a muscle it is a neuromuscular junction.
• The human brain has three parts — fore-brain, mid-brain and hind-brain; the cerebrum is the largest part.
• The reflex arc is completed in the spinal cord, not in the brain, which makes reflexes very fast.
• Adipose tissue stores fat and works as the body's energy reserve and shock absorber.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — The cell body of a neuron has many nuclei.
This statement is incorrect. The cell body (cyton or soma) of a neuron contains only one nucleus surrounded by granular cytoplasm. Multinucleated cells are found in striated (skeletal) muscle fibres, not in neurons.
A neuron is the structural and functional unit of nervous tissue. From its cell body arise many short, branched dendrites that receive impulses, and a single long fibre, the axon, that carries the impulse away to the next cell. The impulse crosses the gap between two neurons, the synapse, with the help of chemical neurotransmitters.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Neurons typically have one long section called the axon — true; the single long axon transmits the impulse away from the cell body.
✗ Each neuron has multiple short, branching sections called dendrites — true; dendrites receive information from other neurons.
✗ Nervous tissue consists of cells known as neurons — true; nervous tissue is made of neurons supported by neuroglia cells.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The neuron is the longest cell in the human body; nerve impulses travel at about 100–120 m/s.
• Nervous tissue occurs in the brain, spinal cord and nerves.
• Skeletal muscle cells are multinucleated; cardiac muscle cells are uninucleated and involuntary.
• The axons of many neurons bundled together form a nerve.
• The junction between two neurons is the synapse; the chemical that crosses it is a neurotransmitter such as acetylcholine.

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Sieve tubes and companion cells
Phloem is the food-conducting complex tissue of plants. It is made of four elements — sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem parenchyma and phloem fibres (bast fibres). Except the fibres, phloem cells are living.
Sieve tubes are long tube-like cells placed end to end, their end walls perforated like a sieve (sieve plate); they carry prepared food. Being enucleate, each sieve tube is controlled by an adjoining companion cell, which is a living cell with a nucleus and supplies energy for the transport. This movement of food from leaves to the rest of the plant is called translocation and needs ATP.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Tracheids and companion cells — tracheids belong to the xylem, not to the phloem, so the pair is mixed.
✗ Tracheids and vessels — both are xylem elements; dead, lignified and meant for water conduction.
✗ Sieve cells and vessels — vessels are again xylem elements, so this pair is also wrong.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Xylem conducts water and minerals upward; phloem conducts food in both directions.
• Xylem elements: tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem fibres.
• Phloem fibres (bast fibres) of jute and flax are used to make ropes and sacks.
• Translocation of food is explained by the pressure flow (mass flow) hypothesis.
• Xylem and phloem together form the vascular bundle, a complex permanent tissue.

Correct Answer: Option 3 — length
Meristematic tissue consists of actively dividing cells with thin cell walls, dense cytoplasm, prominent nuclei and no vacuoles. Apical meristem is present at the growing tips of the stem and the root, and its continuous division increases the length of the plant — this is called primary growth.
Plant growth is thus limited to certain regions only, unlike in animals. The three types of meristem are apical (increases length), lateral or cambium (increases girth) and intercalary (at the base of leaves or internodes, seen in grasses).
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ girth — the increase in thickness or girth is caused by the lateral meristem (cambium), giving secondary growth, not by apical meristem.
✗ flowers — flowers arise when a vegetative bud turns into a floral bud under hormonal control; apical meristem itself does not produce flowers.
✗ branches — branches develop from axillary (lateral) buds present in the leaf axil, not from the apical meristem at the tip.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Intercalary meristem is found at the base of leaves or internodes — that is why grass regrows after mowing.
• Meristematic cells are undifferentiated; they later mature into permanent tissues.
• Simple permanent tissues: parenchyma, collenchyma, sclerenchyma; complex: xylem and phloem.
• Removing the apex (decapitation) promotes branching by ending apical dominance, which is caused by auxin.
• Annual rings formed by the cambium are used to estimate the age of a tree.

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Only apical meristem
Apical meristem is the dividing tissue located exactly at the growing tips of the stem and the root. By adding new cells at the tip it increases the length of the axis, a process called primary growth or apical growth.
Cells of meristematic tissue divide continuously. They are small, thin-walled (cellulose), have dense cytoplasm, a prominent nucleus and no vacuoles. On the basis of position, meristem is classified as apical, lateral and intercalary.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Only lateral meristem — the cambium lies along the sides of stem and root and increases girth (thickness) by secondary growth; it is not at the tip.
✗ Only intercalary meristem — occurs at the base of leaves or at the internodes (as in grasses); it elongates internodes but does not sit at the growing tip.
✗ Lateral meristem and intercalary meristem — a wrong pair, because neither of the two occupies the apex of the stem or root.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Apical meristem → primary growth (length); lateral meristem (cambium) → secondary growth (girth).
• Intercalary meristem explains why grass grows back quickly after mowing or grazing.
• Meristematic cells lack vacuoles and are packed with protoplasm.
• The root apical meristem is protected by a root cap.
• Meristem later matures into permanent tissues — parenchyma, collenchyma, sclerenchyma, xylem and phloem.

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Tendon
A tendon is a fibrous connective tissue that joins a muscle to a bone. It is made of tightly packed bundles of collagen fibres, which makes it very strong but only limited in flexibility, so the pull of the contracting muscle is transmitted efficiently to the bone and movement takes place.
A ligament is also a connective tissue but it joins bone to bone at a joint. It contains elastic fibres, so it is very elastic yet has considerable strength, and it keeps the joint stable.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Cartilage — a solid but flexible connective tissue with a matrix of proteins and sugars; it smoothens bone surfaces at joints and forms the nose, ear, trachea and larynx, but joins nothing to bone.
✗ Fibroblast — a cell, not a tissue; fibroblasts secrete the collagen fibres and matrix of connective tissues such as areolar tissue.
✗ Blood — a fluid connective tissue with the liquid matrix plasma; it transports gases, food, wastes and hormones.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Tendon → muscle to bone; Ligament → bone to bone — a classic one-line PYQ.
• Both are dense connective tissues; tendon is rich in collagen, ligament in elastin.
• Achilles tendon at the heel is the largest tendon in the human body.
• Areolar tissue fills space inside organs; adipose tissue stores fat.
• Connective tissues include bone, cartilage, blood, tendon, ligament, areolar and adipose tissue.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Muscular tissue
In animals the nervous system only detects the stimulus and carries the message, but the final job of actually producing the action or movement is done by the muscular tissue. Muscle cells are long and are therefore called muscle fibres; they contain special contractile proteins whose contraction and relaxation shorten or lengthen the muscle and bring about the movement.
There are three kinds — striated (voluntary/skeletal) muscle attached to bones, smooth (unstriated/involuntary) muscle in the alimentary canal and blood vessels, and cardiac muscle found only in the heart, which is involuntary yet rhythmically contracting throughout life.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Connective tissue — binds, supports and packs organs and transports materials (bone, cartilage, blood, tendon, ligament); it does not contract.
✗ Meristematic tissue — a plant tissue of dividing cells found at growing points; it does not occur in animals at all.
✗ Epithelial tissue — the covering and lining tissue of the body; it protects, absorbs and secretes, but has no power of contraction.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Striated muscle — voluntary, cylindrical, multinucleate, attached to bone.
• Smooth muscle — involuntary, spindle-shaped, uninucleate, in the gut, iris and ureters.
• Cardiac muscle — involuntary but striated and branched; never tires.
• Contractile proteins of muscle are actin and myosin.
• The four animal tissues are epithelial, connective, muscular and nervous.

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Nervous tissue
The spinal cord, like the brain and the nerves, is built of nervous tissue. Its unit is the neuron (nerve cell), the longest cell of the human body, made of a cell body (cyton), branched dendrites that receive the stimulus, and a long axon that carries the impulse onward.
Nervous tissue is highly specialised for conduction — it receives a stimulus, converts it into an electrical impulse and transmits it very rapidly. The spinal cord, enclosed in the vertebral column, joins the brain to the rest of the body and is also the centre of reflex actions, in which the response is produced without waiting for the brain.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Muscular tissue — made of contractile muscle fibres; it produces movement, but does not conduct impulses.
✗ Epithelial tissue — the covering and lining tissue of skin, gut and ducts; it protects, absorbs and secretes.
✗ Connective tissue — binds and supports organs and transports materials (bone, cartilage, blood, tendon, ligament); it only protects and cushions the cord, it does not form it.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Neuron is the structural and functional unit of the nervous system; the gap between two neurons is the synapse.
• CNS = brain + spinal cord; PNS = cranial + spinal nerves.
• A reflex arc is completed in the spinal cord, giving a quick, automatic response.
• Humans have 31 pairs of spinal nerves and 12 pairs of cranial nerves.
• The spinal cord runs inside the vertebral column (backbone) and is bathed in cerebrospinal fluid.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Blood
Blood is a fluid connective tissue. Like every connective tissue its cells are loosely spaced and lie in an intercellular matrix; in blood this matrix is liquid and is called plasma.
Floating in the plasma are red blood cells (RBCs) that carry oxygen with the help of haemoglobin, white blood cells (WBCs) that fight infection, and platelets that help in blood clotting. Blood therefore transports gases, digested food, hormones and nitrogenous wastes from one part of the body to another, which is exactly the linking-and-supporting job of a connective tissue.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Columnar epithelium — an epithelial tissue of tall pillar-like cells lining the stomach and intestine, meant for absorption and secretion.
✗ Cuboidal epithelium — an epithelial tissue of cube-shaped cells forming the lining of kidney tubules and salivary gland ducts.
✗ Muscle — a separate tissue type, muscular tissue, made of contractile fibres that bring about movement.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The four animal tissues are epithelial, connective, muscular and nervous.
• Plasma forms about 55% of blood; cells form about 45%.
• Bone, cartilage, blood, areolar, adipose, tendon and ligament are all connective tissues.
• Tendon joins muscle to bone; ligament joins bone to bone.
• RBCs have a life span of about 120 days and are made in the bone marrow.

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Muscular tissue
Muscular tissue consists of long cells called muscle fibres, which contain contractile proteins (actin and myosin). These proteins contract and relax, and this shortening and lengthening of the fibres brings about every movement of the body.
There are three types. Striated (skeletal / voluntary) muscles are attached to bones and move the limbs under our will. Smooth (unstriated / involuntary) muscles line the alimentary canal, blood vessels and urinary bladder. Cardiac muscle is found only in the heart, and it contracts rhythmically and involuntarily throughout life.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Cartilage — a connective tissue that gives flexible support to the nose, ear, larynx and trachea and smoothens bone surfaces at joints.
✗ Epithelial tissue — the covering and lining tissue of body surfaces; it protects, absorbs and secretes, but cannot contract.
✗ Areolar tissue — a loose connective tissue found between skin and muscles that fills spaces and repairs tissues.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Striated muscles are voluntary and multinucleate; smooth muscles are involuntary and spindle-shaped.
• Cardiac muscle is striated but involuntary and never fatigues.
• Tendons attach skeletal muscles to bones.
• Actin and myosin are the contractile proteins of muscle.
• The biceps is a flexor and the triceps an extensor of the arm.

Correct Answer: Option 3 — the dividing tissue, also known as meristematic tissue, is located only at these regions
Plant growth is localised, not spread over the whole body, because the cells that are able to divide are confined to a few places. This dividing tissue is called meristem (meristematic tissue). Its cells are small, thin-walled, tightly packed, have a dense cytoplasm, a prominent nucleus and no vacuoles, and they keep dividing to add new cells.
Meristems are of three kinds: apical meristem at the tips of roots and shoots (increase in length), lateral meristem or cambium at the sides (increase in girth), and intercalary meristem at the base of leaves or above the nodes (regrowth of grasses after grazing or mowing).
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Complex permanent tissue — xylem and phloem; these are made of more than one type of cell and only conduct water, minerals and food; they cannot divide.
✗ Simple permanent tissue — parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma; they store food, give flexibility and give strength, but they have lost the power of division.
✗ Connective tissue — an animal tissue (bone, blood, cartilage). It does not occur in plants at all.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The word meristem comes from a Greek word meaning 'to divide'.
• Cells of meristem later change into permanent tissue by differentiation.
• Apical meristem → primary growth (length); lateral meristem (cambium) → secondary growth (thickness).
• Annual rings in a tree trunk are formed by the activity of the vascular cambium, and they tell the age of the tree (dendrochronology).
• Intercalary meristem is best seen in grasses and sugarcane.

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Meristematic tissue
Meristematic tissue is the dividing tissue of a plant. Its cells are small, thin-walled, closely packed, with dense cytoplasm, a prominent nucleus and no vacuoles, and they divide continuously to add new cells. On the basis of position in the plant body, meristem is of three types:
• Apical meristem — at the tips of roots and shoots; it increases the length of the plant (primary growth).
• Lateral meristem (cambium) — along the sides of the stem and root; it increases the girth/thickness (secondary growth).
• Intercalary meristem — at the base of leaves or above the nodes; it allows grasses and sugarcane to regrow after grazing or cutting.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Connective tissue — an animal tissue (bone, blood, cartilage, tendon); it does not exist in plants and is never classified in this way.
✗ Simple permanent tissue — parenchyma, collenchyma, sclerenchyma; classified by cell type, not by apical/lateral/intercalary position, and these cells cannot divide.
✗ Complex permanent tissue — xylem and phloem, conducting tissues made of several cell types; again divided by function, not by position.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Cells of meristem lose the power of division and become permanent tissue by differentiation.
• Xylem conducts water and minerals upwards; phloem conducts food in both directions (translocation).
• Annual rings are produced by the vascular cambium, a lateral meristem, and reveal a tree's age.
• Parenchyma stores food; chlorenchyma has chloroplasts; aerenchyma with air cavities helps aquatic plants float.
• Sclerenchyma gives hardness and strength — it forms the husk of coconut; its cells are dead and lignified.

Correct Answer: Option 2 — vacuoles
NCERT describes meristematic cells as very active, having dense cytoplasm, thin cellulose walls and prominent nuclei, but they lack vacuoles. A large vacuole would fill the cell with water and sap and push the cytoplasm to the sides — exactly the opposite of what a rapidly dividing cell needs.
Because there is no vacuole, the whole cell is packed with cytoplasm, nucleus and organelles, giving it the high metabolic activity needed for continuous cell division. Large vacuoles appear only later, when the cells stop dividing and mature into permanent tissue such as parenchyma.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ prominent nuclei — meristematic cells do have a large, prominent nucleus, because the nucleus controls the repeated divisions.
✗ dense cytoplasm — their cytoplasm is dense and abundant, a sign of very high metabolic activity.
✗ thin cellulose walls — their walls are indeed thin and made of cellulose, which lets the cells expand and divide easily.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Meristem types by position: apical (length), lateral or cambium (girth) and intercalary (grasses).
• Growth in plants is localised, unlike animals where it is spread over the whole body.
• In a mature plant cell, a single large central vacuole may occupy up to 90% of the cell volume.
• The vacuole is bounded by a membrane called the tonoplast and provides turgidity and rigidity.
• Parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma are simple permanent tissues formed from meristem by differentiation.

Correct Answer: Option 2 — voluntary muscles
Muscles that contract and relax under our conscious will are called voluntary muscles. They are also known as striated (striped) muscles because of the alternate light and dark bands seen along their length, and as skeletal muscles because they are attached to the bones of the skeleton by tendons.
Each fibre is long, cylindrical, unbranched and multinucleate. Since the brain sends signals to them only when we decide to move, the muscles of our limbs, face, neck and tongue are all voluntary. They contract powerfully and quickly but also get tired on continuous work.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ unstriated muscles — smooth, spindle-shaped, unbranched and uninucleate fibres with no bands; found in the alimentary canal, blood vessels, iris and ureters, and they work involuntarily.
✗ cardiac muscles — found only in the heart; they are striated but branched and uninucleate, and are involuntary, beating rhythmically throughout life without fatigue.
✗ involuntary muscles — work without our will under the control of the autonomic nervous system; limb muscles clearly do not belong to this group.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Three types of muscle tissue — striated (skeletal, voluntary), unstriated (smooth, involuntary) and cardiac.
• Muscle cells are called muscle fibres; the contractile proteins are actin and myosin.
• Tendon joins muscle to bone; ligament joins bone to bone.
• Peristalsis in the food pipe and intestine is carried out by smooth (unstriated) muscle.
• Cardiac muscle never fatigues; accumulation of lactic acid in skeletal muscle causes cramps.

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Vascular tissue
Vascular (conducting) tissue is the special complex permanent tissue of higher plants, made of xylem and phloem. NCERT describes it as a distinctive feature of complex plants, one that has made possible their survival in the terrestrial environment.
On land, water is available only in the soil while sunlight and CO₂ are available only above ground. A land plant must therefore move materials over long distances:
• Xylem conducts water and dissolved minerals from the roots upward to the stem and leaves and also gives mechanical strength.
• Phloem conducts the food (sucrose) prepared in the leaves to the roots, stems, fruits and storage organs — a process called translocation.
Without this plumbing system, tall land plants could never survive away from water.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Epithelial tissue — an animal tissue that covers and lines body organs, forming a protective sheet; it is not found in plants.
✗ Connective tissue — again an animal tissue (bone, blood, cartilage, ligament) whose cells lie in an intercellular matrix.
✗ Meristematic tissue — a plant tissue indeed, but its job is cell division and growth at root and shoot tips; it does not conduct water or food.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Xylem — dead tissue, unidirectional (upward) flow; phloem — living tissue, bidirectional flow.
• Xylem components — tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma, xylem fibres; phloem components — sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem parenchyma, phloem fibres.
• Permanent plant tissues — simple (parenchyma, collenchyma, sclerenchyma) and complex (xylem, phloem).
• Apical meristem increases length, lateral meristem (cambium) increases girth, intercalary meristem lies at the base of leaves and internodes.
• Water rises in the plant mainly by the transpiration pull; root pressure helps at night.

Correct Answer: Option 2 — Biceps
The biceps is a skeletal muscle of the upper arm, attached to bone by tendons. Skeletal muscles are striated (striped) and, above all, voluntary — they contract only when we consciously decide to move the arm, and they relax when we decide to stop. Their fibres are long, cylindrical, unbranched and multinucleate, and they get tired after continuous work. So the biceps is the one body part in the list that contains no involuntary muscle.
Involuntary muscles, by contrast, work on their own under the autonomic nervous system, without our will, and never tire easily.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Stomach — its wall is made of smooth (unstriated) involuntary muscle that churns food and pushes it forward by peristalsis.
✗ Lungs — the walls of the bronchi and bronchioles contain smooth involuntary muscle, which widens or narrows the air passages automatically.
✗ Heart — made of cardiac muscle, which is striated but branched, uninucleate and involuntary, beating rhythmically all life without fatigue.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Three muscle types — striated (skeletal, voluntary), unstriated (smooth, involuntary) and cardiac (involuntary).
• Smooth muscle occurs in the alimentary canal, blood vessels, iris, ureters and bronchi.
• Contractile proteins of muscle are actin and myosin; muscle cells are called muscle fibres.
• Tendon attaches muscle to bone; ligament attaches bone to bone.
• Build-up of lactic acid in skeletal muscle during heavy exercise causes cramps; cardiac muscle never fatigues.

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Complex tissue includes parenchyma and collenchyma.
This statement is INCORRECT. Parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma are simple permanent tissues, because each of them is made of only one type of cell.
Complex permanent tissues are made of more than one type of cell which work together as a unit to perform a common function. The two complex tissues of plants are:
• Xylem — made of tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem fibres; it conducts water and minerals upward and gives mechanical strength.
• Phloem — made of sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem parenchyma and phloem fibres; it transports prepared food from the leaves to the rest of the plant.
Xylem and phloem together form the vascular bundles, which is why vascular bundles are typical of complex tissue.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Vascular bundles are a characteristic feature of complex tissues — correct; xylem and phloem together make up the vascular bundle.
✗ There is more than one type of cell in a complex tissue — correct; this is the very definition that separates complex tissue from simple tissue.
✗ Cells in a complex tissue work together to perform a common function — correct; different cell types of xylem act together for conduction and support.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Simple permanent tissue — parenchyma, collenchyma, sclerenchyma; Complex permanent tissue — xylem and phloem.
• Parenchyma with chloroplasts is chlorenchyma; with air cavities in aquatic plants it is aerenchyma.
• Collenchyma gives flexibility; sclerenchyma cells are dead and lignified and give hardness and stiffness.
• Phloem is the only plant tissue with a living conducting element — the sieve tube.
• Meristematic tissue divides and causes growth; its cells lack vacuoles and have dense cytoplasm.

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Neuron
Nervous tissue is made of an organised network of nerve cells called neurons, and the neuron is the unit specialised for conducting information via electrical impulses from one part of the body to another.
A neuron has three parts — a cell body (cyton) containing the nucleus, short branched dendrites that receive the stimulus, and a long axon that carries the impulse away. At the end of the axon the electrical signal is converted into a chemical signal (neurotransmitter) which crosses the synapse to the next neuron or to a muscle cell. The neuron is the longest cell in the human body.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Alveoli — tiny balloon-like air sacs of the lungs where exchange of gases (O₂ and CO₂) between air and blood takes place.
✗ Glomerulus — a bunch of blood capillaries inside the Bowman's capsule of a nephron where filtration of blood occurs.
✗ Spinal cord — an organ made of nervous tissue that relays impulses and controls reflex actions; it is not the specialised cell asked about.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The four animal tissues are epithelial, connective, muscular and nervous.
• Nervous tissue forms the brain, spinal cord and nerves.
• A synapse is the junction between two neurons; a neuromuscular junction is that between a neuron and a muscle.
• Impulse travel is electrical along the axon and chemical across the synapse.
• Neurons do not normally divide; neuroglia are the supporting cells of nervous tissue.

Correct Answer: Option 4 — sclerenchyma
Sclerenchyma is a simple permanent tissue that makes the plant hard and stiff. Its cells are long, narrow and dead, with thick walls uniformly deposited with lignin — a chemical that acts like cement and glues the cells together. There are no intercellular spaces between them.
Because the cells are dead and heavily lignified, sclerenchyma gives mechanical strength and rigidity to plant parts. It is found in the stems, around vascular bundles, in the veins of leaves, and in the hard covering of nuts and seeds. The husk of coconut is made of sclerenchymatous tissue.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ collenchyma — living cells thickened at the corners with cellulose and pectin; it provides flexibility, allowing tendrils and climber stems to bend without breaking.
✗ chlorenchyma — parenchyma containing chlorophyll; its function is photosynthesis, not support.
✗ aerenchyma — parenchyma with large air cavities; found in aquatic plants, it gives buoyancy so that they float.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Simple permanent tissues — parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma.
• Parenchyma is the basic packing tissue, living, with thin cellulose walls and large intercellular spaces.
• Jute, coir and hemp fibres come from sclerenchyma.
• Lignin is the chemical that makes sclerenchyma walls hard; sclerenchyma cells are dead.
• Complex permanent tissues are xylem (water) and phloem (food); meristematic tissue causes growth.

Correct Answer: Option 2 — coconut husk
The husk of a coconut is made of sclerenchyma, a simple permanent tissue whose cells are long, narrow and dead. Their walls are uniformly thickened with lignin, which cements the cells together and leaves no intercellular spaces. Since the cell walls are so thick, the living contents (protoplasm) die off — hence the husk is a mass of dead tissue.
This is exactly why the husk is hard, tough and fibrous: it gives mechanical strength and protects the seed inside. The coir used for ropes, mats and brushes is obtained from this sclerenchymatous husk.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ orange peel — a living tissue made mainly of parenchyma with oil glands; it is soft and juicy, not dead.
✗ banana peel — soft, living parenchymatous tissue that protects the fruit and even continues to respire after plucking.
✗ guava peel — the living outer layer of the fruit, made of thin-walled parenchyma and epidermal cells with a few stone cells.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Dead plant tissues — sclerenchyma, xylem vessels and tracheids, xylem fibres and cork.
• Living plant tissues — parenchyma, collenchyma, phloem (except phloem fibres) and all meristems.
• Sclereids (stone cells) give the gritty texture of pear and the hardness of nut shells.
• Cork (phellem) cells are dead and contain suberin, making them impervious to water and gases.
• Jute, coir and hemp are commercially important sclerenchymatous fibres.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Stomata
The epidermis is the outermost protective layer of a plant. In the epidermis of a leaf there are small pores called stomata (singular: stoma). Each stoma is enclosed by two kidney-shaped guard cells, which contain chloroplasts and swell or shrink with water to open or close the pore.
Stomata perform two vital functions — the exchange of gases (CO₂ and O₂) with the atmosphere for photosynthesis and respiration, and the loss of water vapour by transpiration, which creates the pull that draws water up the plant.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Aerenchyma — parenchyma with large air cavities, found in aquatic plants to give them buoyancy; it lies in the ground tissue, not the epidermis.
✗ Vascular bundle — the xylem and phloem strand that conducts water and food; in a leaf it forms the veins, deep inside the mesophyll.
✗ Chlorenchyma — chlorophyll-containing parenchyma of the mesophyll that carries out photosynthesis; it lies between the two epidermal layers.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• In desert plants the epidermis has a thick waxy cuticle to check water loss.
• Stomata are usually more numerous on the lower surface of a dorsiventral (dicot) leaf.
• Guard cells open the stoma when they become turgid and close it when they become flaccid.
• Root hairs are extensions of epidermal cells that absorb water and minerals.
• In older stems, the epidermis is replaced by cork (phellem), whose dead cells contain suberin; gas exchange then occurs through lenticels.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — Skin
Squamous epithelium is made of extremely thin, flat, plate-like cells fitted together like floor tiles. Where the surface has to bear constant friction and wear and tear, these flat cells are piled up in many layers — such an arrangement is called stratified squamous epithelium.
The skin is the classic example. Its outer covering is stratified squamous epithelium, and the outermost layers become keratinised (hardened) to make the skin waterproof and to protect the body against injury, infection, dehydration and heat loss.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Oesophagus — its inner lining is also squamous in type, but the many-layered, wear-resistant stratified squamous covering is described in the textbook as the protective covering of the skin.
✗ Lining of the small intestine — made of columnar epithelium with microvilli, designed for absorption of digested food, not for protection.
✗ Lining of the kidney tubules — made of a single layer of cuboidal epithelium, suited to reabsorption and secretion; being single-layered it is not stratified.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Epithelium types — squamous, cuboidal, columnar, ciliated columnar, stratified squamous and glandular.
• Ciliated columnar epithelium lines the respiratory tract and pushes mucus and dust outward.
• Glandular epithelium forms glands that secrete enzymes, hormones and mucus.
• Skin is the largest organ of the human body; its pigment is melanin.
• Epithelium always rests on a basement membrane and has no blood vessels of its own.

Correct Answer: Option 4 — Sclerenchyma
Sclerenchyma is the hardest simple permanent tissue of plants. Its cells are dead, long and narrow, with no protoplasm, and their walls are thickened with lignin, a natural cement. The cells are so tightly packed that no intercellular spaces are left.
Its work is to give strength, hardness and mechanical support. It is therefore found in stems, around vascular bundles, in the veins of leaves and in the hard covering of seeds and nuts — exactly as stated in the question. The husk of a coconut is made of sclerenchyma fibres.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Epidermis — the single outermost protective layer of the plant body; it bears stomata and a waxy cuticle to check water loss, but gives no mechanical strength.
✗ Parenchyma — living, thin-walled, loosely packed cells that store food and water; when it contains chlorophyll it is called chlorenchyma, and with large air cavities, aerenchyma.
✗ Apical meristem — dividing tissue at the tip of root and shoot responsible for increase in length (primary growth); it is not a supporting tissue.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Simple permanent tissues: Parenchyma, Collenchyma, Sclerenchyma; complex: Xylem and Phloem.
• Collenchyma gives flexibility — it lets tendrils and climber stems bend without breaking.
• Lignin is the chemical that hardens sclerenchyma cell walls.
• Coir from coconut husk and jute fibres are commercial sclerenchymatous fibres.
• Lateral meristem (cambium) increases girth; intercalary meristem lies at the base of leaves and internodes.

Correct Answer: Option 2 — Connective tissue
A nerve is not a single cell. The long axons of many neurons, called nerve fibres, are bundled side by side and wrapped in sheaths of connective tissue to form a nerve, much like many wires wrapped together in one cable.
Connective tissue is an animal tissue whose cells lie far apart in an abundant intercellular matrix; its job is to bind, support, pack and protect other tissues. Around a nerve it holds the fibres together, gives them strength and protection, and carries the blood vessels that nourish them.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Epithelial tissue — a covering and lining tissue with tightly packed cells and almost no matrix; it protects surfaces and helps in absorption and secretion, but it does not bind bundles of fibres.
✗ Meristematic tissue — a plant tissue of actively dividing cells found at root and shoot tips; it has no role in animal nerves at all.
✗ Conducting tissue — again a plant tissue, namely xylem and phloem, which transport water, minerals and food.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The neuron is the longest cell of the human body and the unit of the nervous system.
• A neuron has dendrites, cell body (cyton), axon and nerve endings.
• Connective tissues include areolar, adipose, bone, cartilage, blood, tendon and ligament.
• Tendon joins muscle to bone; ligament joins bone to bone.
• Humans have 12 pairs of cranial nerves and 31 pairs of spinal nerves.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — It allows the bending of various parts of a plant like tendrils and stems of climbers without breaking.
This statement actually describes collenchyma, not parenchyma. Collenchyma has living cells whose walls are irregularly thickened at the corners with cellulose and pectin; this combination of strength with elasticity gives plant parts flexibility, letting tendrils and the stems of climbers bend without breaking.
Parenchyma is the most common and least specialised simple permanent tissue. Its cells are living, thin-walled, isodiametric and loosely packed with large intercellular spaces. It fills up space, and mainly stores food and water. Chlorophyll-containing parenchyma is called chlorenchyma and performs photosynthesis; parenchyma with large air cavities in aquatic plants is called aerenchyma and gives buoyancy.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Living and loosely arranged cells — a correct statement; this loose packing with intercellular spaces is a defining feature of parenchyma.
✗ Large air cavities in aquatic plants — correct; this modification is aerenchyma, which helps water plants float.
✗ Relatively unspecialised cells with thin cell walls — correct; parenchyma is the most unspecialised of all permanent tissues and can even regain the power to divide.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Simple permanent tissues — Parenchyma (packing/storage), Collenchyma (flexibility), Sclerenchyma (strength).
• Collenchyma is found just below the epidermis in the stems and leaf stalks of dicots.
• Sclerenchyma cells are dead and lignified; parenchyma and collenchyma cells are living.
• Aerenchyma in hydrophytes such as the lotus provides buoyancy.
• Complex permanent tissues are xylem (water) and phloem (food).

Correct Answer: Option 2 — Vacuoles
Meristematic tissue is the dividing tissue of a plant. Its cells are young, actively dividing, closely packed with no intercellular spaces, and each has a thin cell wall, dense cytoplasm and a prominent nucleus. Because the whole cell is filled with dense cytoplasm needed for rapid division, meristematic cells have no vacuoles.
Vacuoles appear only later, as the cells mature and differentiate into permanent tissue; the mature parenchyma cell eventually develops a large central vacuole. Meristem is of three types — apical (at root and shoot tips, increases length), lateral or cambium (increases girth) and intercalary (at the base of leaves and internodes).
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Cytoplasm — very much present; in fact meristematic cells have dense cytoplasm, which is one of their identifying features.
✗ Nuclei — present and prominent; a dividing cell must have a nucleus, because division begins with the division of the nucleus.
✗ Cell walls — present, though thin and made of cellulose; every plant cell, meristematic or permanent, has a cell wall.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Growth in plants occurs only at certain points — this is called localised growth, and it is done by meristems.
• Apical meristem → primary growth (length); lateral meristem (cambium) → secondary growth (girth).
• Intercalary meristem is why grass keeps growing after being cut or grazed.
• Meristematic cells later differentiate into parenchyma, collenchyma, sclerenchyma, xylem and phloem.
• Annual rings in a tree trunk are produced by the vascular cambium and reveal the tree's age.

Correct Answer: Option 2 — squamous epithelium
Squamous epithelium is made of extremely thin, flat, plate-like cells joined edge to edge like floor tiles. This forms a smooth, delicate lining over surfaces, which is exactly what is needed where food has to slide past without friction.
That is why the lining of the mouth and the oesophagus is squamous epithelium. The same tissue also lines the blood vessels, the lung alveoli and the kidney tubules — places where a very thin barrier is needed. Where wear and tear is heavy, as in the skin, these flat cells are stacked in many layers and the tissue is then called stratified squamous epithelium.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Cuboidal epithelium — cube-shaped cells forming the lining of kidney tubules and salivary gland ducts; it provides mechanical support and helps in secretion and absorption.
✗ Ciliated columnar epithelium — tall cells bearing cilia, lining the respiratory tract; the cilia beat to push mucus and dust out of the airway.
✗ Glandular epithelium — epithelium folded inward to form glands that secrete enzymes, hormones, sweat and mucus; it is a secretory, not a simple lining, tissue.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The four basic animal tissues — epithelial, connective, muscular, nervous.
• Epithelium always rests on a basement membrane and has no blood supply of its own.
• Simple squamous is one cell thick, ideal for diffusion, as in the alveoli.
• Columnar epithelium with microvilli in the small intestine aids absorption.
• The oesophagus carries food to the stomach by peristalsis, a wave of muscular contraction.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — tracheid
Tracheid is a plant tissue, not an animal connective tissue. It is a dead, lignified, tube-like cell of the xylem that conducts water and minerals from the roots to the leaves and also gives mechanical support to the plant.
Connective tissue is an animal tissue whose cells are loosely spaced and embedded in an intercellular matrix. Its job is to connect, support, bind and pack other tissues and organs of the body.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Bone — a hard, rigid connective tissue with a matrix of calcium and phosphorus salts; forms the skeleton and anchors muscles.
✗ Blood — a fluid connective tissue with a liquid matrix called plasma; transports gases, food, wastes and hormones.
✗ Cartilage — a solid but flexible connective tissue with a matrix of proteins and sugars; found in the nose, ear, trachea and larynx.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The four basic animal tissues are Epithelial, Connective, Muscular and Nervous.
• Areolar, adipose, bone, cartilage, blood, tendon and ligament are all connective tissues.
• Tendon joins muscle to bone; ligament joins bone to bone.
• Plant conducting tissues are xylem (water) and phloem (food); xylem has tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem fibres.
• Blood is the only connective tissue that is liquid; adipose tissue stores fat and acts as an insulator.

Correct Answer: Option 3 — Collenchyma
Collenchyma is a simple permanent tissue whose living cells are irregularly thickened with cellulose and pectin at the corners, leaving very little intercellular space. This corner thickening makes the tissue strong yet flexible, so tendrils and the stems of climbers can bend and twist without breaking.
It is usually found below the epidermis in the stems and leaf stalks of dicot plants.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Chlorenchyma — parenchyma containing chlorophyll; its job is photosynthesis, not flexibility.
✗ Parenchyma — thin-walled living cells that mainly store food and water and fill space; they provide little mechanical strength.
✗ Aerenchyma — parenchyma with large air cavities; it gives buoyancy to aquatic plants like water hyacinth.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• Simple permanent tissues: Parenchyma, Collenchyma, Sclerenchyma.
• Sclerenchyma — dead, lignified, very thick-walled cells; makes plant parts hard and stiff (e.g. coconut husk, nut shells).
• Complex permanent tissues: Xylem and Phloem (conducting tissues).
• Meristematic tissue is the dividing tissue — apical (length), lateral (girth) and intercalary (at the base of leaves/internodes).
• Epidermis is a protective tissue; in deserts it is coated with a waxy cutin to check water loss.

Correct Answer: Option 1 — connective tissue
This is an analogy question. Blood is a connective tissue — a fluid one, whose matrix is the liquid plasma. Bone is also a connective tissue, but a hard and rigid one, so the same relationship holds.
Connective tissue is defined by loosely spaced cells embedded in an intercellular matrix; the nature of the matrix decides the type. In bone the matrix is hard because it is rich in calcium and phosphorus salts. Bone forms the skeleton, supports the body, protects delicate organs such as the brain and lungs, and anchors the muscles.
❌ Why the other options are incorrect
✗ Epithelial tissue — a covering and lining tissue with tightly packed cells and almost no matrix; it forms the skin surface, the lining of the mouth, alveoli and kidney tubules.
✗ Nervous tissue — made of neurons, specialised to receive and conduct impulses; it forms the brain, spinal cord and nerves.
✗ Muscular tissue — made of contractile fibres that bring about movement; it is of three types — striated, smooth and cardiac.
📌 SSC & Railway Exam Facts
• The four animal tissues are epithelial, connective, muscular and nervous.
• Connective tissues include bone, cartilage, blood, lymph, tendon, ligament, areolar and adipose tissue.
• Tendon joins muscle to bone; ligament joins bone to bone.
• An adult human has 206 bones; cartilage is softer and is found in the nose, ear and trachea.
• Adipose tissue stores fat and acts as an insulator; blood is the only fluid connective tissue.