What Can I Do?

What Can I Do?

Mark came back from school very sad. His mother looked at him and said: 'You look very sad. It seems that you had a rough day. What happened?'

"Today, in science, the teacher was talking about Earth Day and the environment. Earth Day is a day when every person promises to do something to protect our world from pollution. Mrs. Green was telling us that many companies do not do their best in order to get rid of their industrial waste. She said that our world is getting dirtier and that many animals and plants are becoming extinct. She wants us to think of something we can do to help. On the way home, I thought that there is nothing I can do. I can't stop the companies from polluting our air and dumping toxic waste in the sea and I can't save all of the animals! There is not anything that I can do to make a difference."

Mark's mother sat for a minute, thinking. "Let me tell you a story that your grandfather told me. I don't know where he heard it, but I think that it might help you think about the problem in a different way." She began:

"One morning a man was walking down a beach covered with dying starfish. The night before the tide had been especially strong and had washed up thousands of starfish on shore. The man was sorry that all the starfish would die on the beach. He came upon a boy who was throwing starfish back into the ocean as fast as he could. The boy was out of breath and it was obvious that he had done a lot of work as he looked tired.

"Son," the man said, "you might as well quit. There are thousands of them. There is no way you can make any sort of a difference."

The boy did not even stop in what he was doing. He kept bending and throwing but as he did, he spoke to the man: "I can make a difference to this one, and this one, and this one."

And the man knew the boy was right. He began to help return the animals to their home, and kept thinking that sometimes little children can teach elderly people real lessons in life.

Mark stared at his mother. "But he did make a difference, didn't he? To every starfish that he threw back in?" His mother nodded, smiling. He sat for a moment, thinking about what his mother had said.

"So, what it means is that even though I can't change everything, I can make a big difference by doing the little things that matter?"

A.Read the story and the following sentences. Which one summarises the main idea of the story?

1. There is nothing we can do to save the world.

2. Animals and plants will disappear in a few years

3. We can't change everything, but there are things we can do to protect the environment.

B. Read the text again and tick ☑ the correct answer.

1. What were Mark and his classmates learning about in school? a. maths b. history c. grammar d. protecting our environment 2. Why was Mark sad when he went home from school? a. He didn't know how to do long division. b. He didn't think he could help our environment. c. He wanted to go for a walk to the beach. d. He was disappointed with his friends.

3. What did Mark's Mom do to help him understand how he could help to save the environment? a. She talked to him. b. She called his grandfather. c. She told him a story about a boy on the beach. d. She took him for a walk. 4. When the old man saw the boy on the beach a. the boy had already thrown some starfish in the sea. b. the boy was resting. c. the boy had caught some fish. d. the boy had given up.

C. Find words from the story which mean:

1. The air, water, and land on Earth. ______________________________

2. When air, water, soil etc. are dangerously dirty and not suitable for people to use. ______________________________________

3. Throw away. __________________________________

4. Chemical material that factories throw away. ____________________________________

5. Type of animal or plant that does not exist any more. ______________________________

6. Putting something somewhere in a careless, untidy way. ___________________________

7. A flat sea animal that has five arms forming the shape of a star. _____________________

8. To give up. __________________ ____________________________