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ICSE Question Bank
2019Q3(b)(v)The Reproductive System
Short answerHard1 mark
3(b)

State the main functions of the following:

Seminal Vesicles

Topic: Seminal vesicles

Previous-year question practice database

Answer

Exam answer

The seminal vesicles secrete a viscous ALKALINE fluid that forms much of the semen. It provides a MEDIUM in which the sperms can swim, neutralises the acidity of the urethra and the vagina so that the sperms are not killed, and contains FRUCTOSE which supplies the sperms with energy for swimming.

Explanation

Three functions are available and giving two secures the mark: the MEDIUM, the NEUTRALISING alkalinity, and the FRUCTOSE for energy.

The fructose point is the one candidates miss and the most specific — a sperm has almost no cytoplasm and therefore carries no food of its own, so the sugar must be supplied in the fluid around it.

The male accessory glands worth knowing as a set: SEMINAL VESICLES, PROSTATE and COWPER’S (bulbourethral) GLANDS — all three contributing alkaline secretions to the semen.

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