Cleaning Up

Last weekend, my class went on a field trip. It was a great success, and we

became famous on the Internet after posting photos of our “Trash challenge.”

There is a big national park next to my town. People go fishing and rock climbing

there on weekends. Some people just go and have picnics.

Trash is a problem. On Mondays it’s usually covered in a whole lot of horrible

plastic bags, cups, and empty cans.

This term in school we’re learning about the environment. You know, things about

recycling and reducing waste, and taking care of the planet. We talked about what

we could do as a class to help. First, we all came up with ideas.

There were many good ones, like having a campaign to clean the oceans and save

the whales or helping a charity to take care of animals and plants that are in danger

of extinction. In the end, we decided that it was best to concentrate on something

that was close to home and easy to do something about. We all got permission from

our parents, and our teacher booked a bus.

On the actual day, we each took four empty trash bags and gloves to help us with

our new goal.

Most of it was easy. There were some really disgusting things that needed to be

picked up, and one person cut themselves with a broken jar. The rest went quite

quickly. In just a few hours, all the trash had disappeared, and our bags were all

full.

We took pictures before and after. A few days later in class, we recorded a video

that showed everyone what we had done and invited students from all over the

world to accept the challenge. I’m looking forward to watching their videos!
I. Circle the word that matches each definition.

1111 something dif icult that tests your abilities

a) challenge b) concentrate c) success

2 to cause something to become less

a) empty b) goal c) reduce

3 an organization that helps people or animals who need it

a) danger b) charity c) goal

4 give attention to

a) challenge b) success c) concentrate

5 a glass container

a) empty b) climbing c) jar

II. Circle the correct answer.

1. Choose the phrase that tells where the trash challenge took place.

a) on Mondays c) this term in school

b) all over the world d) a big national park

2. Choose the phrase that explains how the kids invited other people to the

challenge.

a) we took pictures c) we recorded a video

b) our teacher booked a bus d) in class

3. Choose the detail that best supports the phrase: “we each took four empty

trash bags and gloves to

pursue our new goal”.

a) got permission from our parents c) concentrate on something

b) all the trash had disappeared d) our teacher booked a bus

4. Looking at the above details, which sentence best states the main idea of the

text?

a) They picked up trash and challenged others to. c) They made a video

about littering.

b) They visited a park and learned about it. d) They learned about recycling.

5. Which words express the order of ideas in the text?

a) last weekend; first; in a few hours b) on Mondays; before and after; the

rest

c) in the end; quite quickly; a few days later d) first; there; in the end

6. They posted the video online, they went to the park and cleaned it.

a) after that b) a few days after c) finally d) before​