SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 19 September 2025, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 14 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Read the below statements about connective tissues: 1. Tendons connect muscles to bones and are made of dense regular connective tissue. 2. Ligaments connect bones to bones and are slightly elastic. 3. Cartilage contains calcium salts and is harder than bone. Which of the above statements are correct?

(a)Only 1 and 2 are correct
(b)Only 2 and 3 are correct
(c)Only 1 and 3 are correct
(d)1, 2 and 3 all are correct

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Test each statement against what the tissue is made of.

Statement 1 is true. Tendons join muscle to bone and are dense regular connective tissue, collagen fibres in parallel bundles.
Statement 2 is true. Ligaments join bone to bone and stretch a little under tension, then return to shape.

Statement 3 is false. Cartilage is not as hard as bone. Bone is the tissue whose matrix is hardened by calcium phosphate.

Only 1 and 2 are correct → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Only 2 and 3 are correct — It keeps statement 3, which is false: cartilage is not as hard or rigid as bone. It also drops statement 1, a correct description of tendons.
(c)
Only 1 and 3 are correct — It drops statement 2, which is true, since ligaments do join bone to bone and have some give. It keeps statement 3, which reverses cartilage and bone.
(d)
1, 2 and 3 all are correct — Statement 3 sinks it. Bone is the tissue hardened by calcium phosphate, and cartilage is not as hard or rigid as bone.

Concept

Tendons, ligaments and cartilage are all connective tissues. They differ in what fills the space between their cells.

Tendons and ligaments are dense regular connective tissue: collagen fibres packed in parallel. That gives a tendon the pulling strength to join muscle to bone, and a ligament strength with some give to hold bone to bone.

Cartilage has a matrix of collagen and proteoglycans, with no blood vessels. Bone's matrix is mineralised with calcium phosphate, which is why bone is the harder tissue.

Statement 2's slightly elastic fits the anatomy: ligaments are viscoelastic, stretching under tension and recovering when it is removed. The options settle it anyway, since none offers statement 1 alone.

Key facts

Tendons connect muscle to bone, ligaments connect bone to bone.
Tendons and ligaments are dense regular connective tissue built of collagen fibres.
Cartilage has no blood vessels and is not as hard or rigid as bone.
Bone's matrix is hardened by calcium phosphate, mainly as hydroxyapatite.

Study next

Types of connective tissue: areolar, adipose, blood, bone and cartilageHyaline, elastic and fibrocartilageSkeletal, smooth and cardiac muscle

Common traps

Swapping tendon and ligament: a tendon joins muscle to bone, a ligament joins bone to bone.
Crediting cartilage with calcium salts and hardness: bone is the tissue whose matrix is mineralised.

Three statements with pair options: one false detail in the last statement, cartilage harder than bone, decides the item.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.