Edgar McGregor, a climate activist, spent hundreds of days straight picking up litter 【小题1】 (drop) on the roads in Eaton Canyon, which is part of the Angeles National Forest in southern California.

McGregor was committed to clearing up litter while 【小题2】 (post) his progress on Twitter. His Twitter account quickly rose from one 【小题3】 (follow) to more than 17,000! McGregor was motivated to start this journey by the news 【小题4】 Los Angeles would be hosting the Olympic Games in 2028. He thought the litter-infested (垃圾遍布的) forests would be a “national embarrassment” for the United States. He decided to start with cleaning Eaton Canyon since he lived close to it.

Many people are thankful 【小题5】 his work, as this area is now free of waste. Recently, McGregor 【小题6】 (public) announced that there was no longer trash to be found in the area. However, his work was not complete. He planned to go back there 【小题7】 (maintain) its clean condition.   

When asked about his experience, McGregor said, “【小题8】 it was burning hot or pouring with rain, I would be out there for at least an hour every single day, cleaning up my area.” All of the recyclables he finds 【小题9】 (turn) in and the money goes to charity. Up to now, many 【小题10】 (organize), such as World Central Kitchen and rural schools in Uganda have received donation from McGregor.

In the past few years, scientists have found microplastics in our soil, tap water, bottled water, beer and even in the air we breathe. And there’s growing concern about the potential health risks they pose 【小题1】humans.

The new analysis in the UK have discovered microplastics widely distributed across all 10 lakes and rivers sampled. More than 1,000 small pieces of plastic per litre were found in the River Tame, which was revealed last year as【小题2】 (pollute) place tested worldwide. Even in relatively remote places such as the Falls of Dochart and Loch Lomond in Scotland, two or three pieces per litre were found.

Microplastics are not a specific kind of plastic, but rather any type of small pieces of plastic【小题3】 is less than 5 mm in length according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They【小题4】originate from a variety of sources, including cosmetics, clothing, and industrial processes.

Humans are known to consume the tiny plastic particles through food and water, but the possible health effects on people and ecosystems have yet【小题5】 (determine). One study, in Singapore, has found that microplastics can harbor harmful microbes.

Research by the National University of Singapore found more than 400 types of bacteria on 275 pieces of microplastic【小题6】 (collect) from local beaches. 【小题7】 included insects that cause gastroenteritis (肠胃炎) and wound infections in humans.

“Microplastics【小题8】 (find) absolutely everywhere now but we do not know the harm they could be doing,” said Christian Dunn at Bangor University, Wales, who led the work. “It’s no use【小题9】 (look) back in 20 years’ time and saying: ‘If only we’d realized just how bad it was.’ We need to be monitoring our waters now and we need to think, as a country and a world, 【小题10】 we can be reducing our reliance on plastic.”

Sanjiangyuan, literally meaning the “source of three rivers”, is home to the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers. The pilot national park, with a total area of 123,100 square km 【小题1】 (locate) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and harbors more than 70,000 herdsmen. Therefore. 【小题2】 is very important to maintain the purity and cleanliness of this area, because it directly affects the water quality in most of China.

For a long time, there were too many local herdsmen and animals 【小题3】 (use) the grass in the area and consequently the local lakes were getting smaller. 【小题4】 the national park was established, the government has invested a significant amount of money in equipment and training for accurate monitoring of wildlife. For example, the population of snow leopards is an important indicator of ecological health in the area, and as long as 【小题5】 number of these animals stays stable, the area is safe and 【小题6】 (environmental) healthy. Much of the grassland has been returned to its natural state, and the herdsmen have been helped to move to the local towns and to find new jobs. 【小题7】 (encourage) by local government, more and more local people are supported to take part in environmental protection. They have been appointed as conservators in the area, responsible for collecting rubbish or for observing the wildlife. 【小题8】 more people working as conservators, the 【小题9】 (aware) of environmental protection has gradually become part of their lives. Local officials also have said that their jobs have become a lot 【小题10】 (easy) now that the training programmes and government support are in place. Now, in Sanjiangyuan National Park, the mountains have become greener, the water clearer and the sky bluer.