The city of Stockholm shoots thousands of wild rabbits spread across the green spaces of the Swedish capital and sends their bodies to be burned as heating fuel, a practice which has angered animal rights groups．

The rabbits going up in smoke are the inhabitants of Stockholm’s parks who are killed to protect the bushes and trees on which they feed．But many of them are tame domestic pets turned loose by owners who no longer want them．Six thousand rabbits were killed last year．The bodies were frozen and then sent to a special heating plant at Karlskoga, in central Sweden, where the bodies were burnt in order to help heat the homes of residents of Värmland．

“One should put this in the view that we （humans） are actually cremated （火葬） ourselves and that generates a completely different reaction,” Freij said in response to criticism．

Animal Rights Sweden spokeswoman Lise-Lott Alsenius questioned whether the practice was humane or ethical and suggested neutering （阉割） the male rabbits as an alternative method of holding down the population．“One at least has to evaluate what possible alternatives are to just simply shooting them,” she said．

Konvex, the company handling the operation, said the rabbits were ground up with the bodies of other beasts, mainly farm animals such as cows which have been thought unfit for human consumption, turned into flammable （可燃的） form and burnt．“Just as with us people ．．．the bodies contain a lot of fat and fat has exactly the same energy content as normal heating oil for instance,” Konvex Chief Executive Leo Virta said．

1．The rabbits in Sweden are killed because ______．

       A．the rabbits made the animal rights groups angry

      B．there are too many rabbits for people to keep as pets

      C．Sweden lacks fuel for heating the homes of residents of Värmland

      D．the rabbits feed on the trees thus causing great damage to them

2．Which of the following statements is true according to the animal rights groups?

       A．The number of rabbits shouldn’t be cut down．

       B．Animals are more important than plants．

       C．It is not acceptable to use rabbit bodies as heating fuel．

      D．Neutering the male rabbits is the best way to reduce rabbit population．

3．The writer quotes Freji’s speech with the purpose of ______．

       A．supporting the writer’s own point of view

       B．illustrating that the opinion of animal rights groups is wrong

       C．indicating that human bodies should also be burnt as heating fuel

       D．showing that people don’t quite agree with each other on the burning issue

4．What does the underlined phrase “ground up” probably mean?

       A．eaten up              B．crushed up          C．burnt up              D．dug up