Rabbits are easy to raise. They are clean and quiet. They don’t need a lot of room. And it costs a small amount of money to feed them, but you can get a big return.
One male and two females will produce as many as fifty more rabbits in a year. That is enough to provide enough meat for a family. Rabbit meat is high in protein and low in fat.
You don’t have to be a farmer to raise rabbits. You can raise them in the city.
Rabbit houses are easy to make with wood and wire. They don’t have to be very big. But each rabbit must have its own little room in the house. This is very important. Each room should be about 75 centimeters wide, 60 centimeters high and one meter deep.
Fencing is used for the sides and floor of the rabbit house. The holes in the wire fencing should be about one centimeter square. Waste from the animals will drop through the holes. This keeps the rabbit house clean and dry.
Rabbits need a lot of fresh air and sunlight. Cover the sides of the rabbit house only to protect it from rain.
Rabbits eat mostly grass and leaves. Hang feeding containers on the outside of the house to let the rabbits eat whenever they want. They simply pull the grass and leaves through the holes in the fence.
Each room should have fresh water. The water containers should be heavy so the rabbit cannot turn them over. Or you can tie the containers to the fence.
One month after mating(交配), female rabbits give birth to about eight babies. In two months, a baby rabbit should weigh about two kilograms. This is big enough to make a meal for a small family.
Rabbits are also valuable for their fur. It takes time, skill and money to prepare the fur and skin for use. If you have only a few rabbits, it probably would be best to let a tanner(制革工) prepare the fur for you. Skill is also needed to remove the fur from the rabbit.
But rabbits do not have to be dead to be valuable. Many people enjoy keeping rabbits as friendly pets. And rabbit waste makes an excellent fertilizer(肥料). It can be mixed directly into the soil to improve the growth of vegetables, trees, and flowering plants.
小题1:The text is written mainly_______.
A．to explain why rabbits are clean and quiet
B．to let people know more about rabbits
C．to tell readers how to raise rabbits
D．to introduce a small friendly animal pet小题2:What is important if you raise rabbits?
A．Holes are needed for waste to drop through.
B．Each rabbit must be given a separate room.
C．Each room must have clean water every day.
D．Feeding containers are hung on the fence.小题3:Why should the holes in the wire fence be about one centimeter square?
A．Because the holes let in sunlight.
B．Because rabbits like these holes.
C．Because rabbits get food from them.
D．Because waste of rabbits drops through the holes.小题4:What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?
A．You don’t have to kill rabbits to make more money.
B．Rabbits cannot be sold to make money when they are alive.
C．Rabbits are more valuable when they are alive.
D．Rabbits have to be killed to be more valuable.
