Passage (Charles Darwin, *On the Origin of Species*, 1859, Ch. III): "I should premise that I use the term Struggle for Existence in a large and metaphorical sense, including dependence of one being on another, and including (which is more important) not only the life of the individual, but success in leaving progeny. Two canine animals in a time of dearth, may be truly said to struggle with each other which shall get food and live. But a plant on the edge of a desert is said to struggle for life against the drought, though more properly it should be said to be dependent on the moisture. A plant which annually produces a thousand seeds, of which on an average only one comes to maturity, may be more truly said to struggle with the plants of the same and other kinds which already clothe the ground. The missletoe is dependent on the apple and a few other trees, but can only in a far-fetched sense be said to struggle with these trees, for if too many of these parasites grow on the same tree, it will languish and die. But several seedling missletoes, growing close together on the same branch, may more truly be said to struggle with each other." What can be inferred about Darwin's view of the relationship between the mistletoe and the apple tree?
AThe mistletoe and the apple tree engage in mutually destructive competition.
BThe apple tree's survival is wholly threatened by even a single mistletoe parasite.
CThe mistletoe's relationship with the apple tree is the clearest example of struggle in the passage.
DCalling the relationship a "struggle" is technically defensible but rhetorically strained.
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. Calling the relationship a "struggle" is technically defensible but rhetorically strained.
Darwin's exact phrasing is decisive: the mistletoe "can **only in a far-fetched sense** be said to struggle with these trees." *Far-fetched* signals he is willing to extend the term that far — for completeness — but only with strain.
- **A** describes mutual destruction, but Darwin makes the relation *one-directional*: the mistletoe depends on the tree, not the other way around. (He even notes the tree dies only if *too many* parasites grow on it — a one-way threat at high density.)
- **C** is the inverse of Darwin's claim — the *canine* example is the clearest, not the mistletoe.
- **D** overstates: Darwin says "if **too many**... grow on the same tree, it will languish and die." A single parasite does not threaten the host.
The inference required is that *far-fetched* concedes a stretch in language while preserving the term's coverage — a characteristic Darwinian move.
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