A Cleaner River (1)

　　《365个英语小故事》:实用简洁的小故事，都是日常生活小故事，在学习英语的同时了解美国文化，循序渐进，轻松掌握。

　　The three brothers were sitting on their boat, having a few beers and talking about the good old days. As they talked, they watched the trash float by on the St. James River. Their conversation turned to the trash.

　　It didnt use to be like this, said Manny. Remember how we used to go swimming in this river? I wouldnt put my big toe in this river nowadays. Theres no telling what disease youd catch. Time was when people knew that trash went into trash cans. Nowadays, the streets, the woods, the public parks, and the lakes and rivers are just huge trash cans without lids.

　　Not to mention the freewayslast night on the radio they reported a refrigerator in lane one and a washing machine in the middle of an off-ramp, said Moe. And almost every day drivers have to dodge mattresses, ladders, and tires on the freeways. And what about all the graffiti on the freeway signs?

　　They all agreed that slobs were making America ugly. Then Jack had an idea. Look, since were all retired and we have the time and energy, why dont we do something instead of just complaining? We cant clean up everything, but maybe we could clean up our river. They liked this idea, and talked about it for another couple of weeks. Manny suggested a name for their effortthe Green Fleet, an organization devoted to turning the St. James River blue again.