Q.Match the following and choose the correct option from below.
Column I: A. Cuticle B. Bulli form cells C. Stomata D. Epidermis
Column II: i. guard cells ii. single layer iii. waxy layer iv. empty colourless cell

Each of these four terms names a distinct part of the epidermal system:

• Cuticle — the waxy layer coating the outer epidermal surface, so it matches "waxy layer."
• Bulliform cells — large, empty, colourless cells found in monocot (grass) leaf epidermis, so they match "empty colourless cell."
• Stomata — pores flanked by two guard cells, so they match "guard cells."
• Epidermis — a single continuous layer of cells forming the outermost covering, so it matches "single layer."

These four terms all belong to the epidermal tissue system but describe different structures within it:

• The cuticle is a thick waxy covering secreted onto the outer face of the epidermis; its defining feature, and its function, is that it is a waxy layer that checks water loss.
• Bulliform cells are specialised, large, empty, colourless epidermal cells found along the veins on the upper surface of grass leaves; when turgid they keep the leaf flat, and when they lose water they cause the leaf to curl — their identifying feature is exactly "empty, colourless cell."
• Stomata are not single cells but structures made of a pair of guard cells enclosing a pore; the phrase "guard cells" is the defining component of a stoma.
• The epidermis itself is defined by being a single, compactly arranged layer of cells forming the continuous outer covering of the plant body.

Method: Matching by the Most Distinctive Keyword First

The same anchor-and-eliminate strategy used for tissue-function matching works here too: instead of independently recalling what each of the four terms means, find the one pairing that is completely unambiguous, lock it in, and let the rest fall out by elimination.

Step 1 — anchor on the clearest term. "Guard cells" (i) can only be a description of Stomata (C) — a stoma is, by definition, the pore bounded by its two guard cells. Lock in C-i.

Step 2 — anchor on the next clearest term. "Waxy layer" (iii) can only describe the Cuticle (A) — cuticle is defined as the waxy coating on the epidermal surface. Lock in A-iii.

Step 3 — use what's left to resolve the remaining two. Only B (Bulliform cells) and D (Epidermis) remain, matched against ii (single layer) and iv (empty colourless cell). The epidermis is, by definition, described as a single continuous layer of cells — so D-ii. By elimination, bulliform cells must match "empty colourless cell" (iv), which is also independently correct, since bulliform cells are large, empty, colourless epidermal cells.

Check against the options: A-iii, B-iv, C-i, D-ii matches option (a) exactly.

Notice how this method sidesteps a common trap: someone unsure of the distinction between "epidermis" (the whole layer) and "bulliform cells" (a specific cell type within it) could easily mismatch B and D directly. But because the two easy anchors (C-i, A-iii) are removed first, only a two-way choice is left, and the definitional link between "single layer" and "epidermis" resolves it cleanly.

Conclusion: option (a) is correct — reached by anchoring on the two unambiguous pairs first, which reduces the harder B/D choice to a simple, definition-driven decision.