The ground is full of seeds that cannot rise into seedlings;
the seedlings rob one another of air, light and water, the
strongest robber winning the day, and extinguishing his
competitors. Year after year, the wild animals with which
5 man never interferes are, on the average, neither more nor
less numerous than they were; and yet we know that the
annual produce of every pair is from one to perhaps a
million young; so that it is mathematically certain that,
on the average, as many are killed by natural causes as
10 are born every year, and those only escape which happen
to be a little better fitted to resist destruction than
those which die. The individuals of a species are like
the crew of a foundered ship, and none but good swimmers
have a chance of reaching the land.
Adapted from an essay by T H Huxley
1. The �robber� in the first sentence is most like which of the following mentioned in the paragraph
A. wild animals
B. produce of every pair
C. individuals of a species
D. crew of a foundered ship
E. good swimmers
2. The main point the author conveys is that
A. natural populations of animals in the wild increase in numbers exponentially
B. all members of a species are in violent competition with one another
C. in the struggle to survive, the fittest survive
D. members of one generation of a population are all more or less alike
E. man�s interference destroys the natural balance