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עמוד:24
Readers Write The monthly magazine Ecology & ' Environment invited readers to take part in a "Readers Write" contest . Every contestant was required to write a short story with an ecological or environmental theme . 1 Read the following excerpts from some of the top stories and choose the story that you think should win first prize . Explain your choice . She woke up to a gray dawn — not as dark as the day before , but gray nevertheless . Gray had been the color of the air for as long as she could remember . The color never varied , just changes in the shades of gray . Some days , the gray was not so heavy and depressing and she could almost smile . Other days , when the smog and pollution got really bad , the gray was darker , and even if she stayed inside the dimly lit apartment , she found it stuffy and difficult to breathe . On those days , she went to the only window that would open on clear blue skies and bright sun : the old , carefully kept display of photographs in her mother's album ... "That's where I draw the line , " said Janice . "I quit !" "Quit ? " Tom echoed in disbelief . He knew how hard Janice had worked over the past eight years to become a top manager in his logging company . "Yes , " replied Janice . "As long as we were cutting down trees on the edges of the forests , I could justify it to myself . After all , the population is increasing and the people in the area need the land for farming . " "Right , " Tom agreed . "We've talked about this before . The company's logging activities are completely legal and as you know , the government encourages what we are doing . , Now , we just want to increase the logging so that we can carry on making a profit . That's all . " "No , that's not all , " said Janice , trying to sound calm . She felt strongly about the issue , but she liked Tom and she felt sorry for him . She knew that his youngest son was very sick . "You ' re talking about extending the logging area beyond the waterfall , " she continued . "What about the indigenous tribes who have lived for generations in those rainforests ? I'm sorry , Tom , the waterfall is where I draw the line . You'll receive my letter of resignation tomorrow . " The bulldozers cleared the last patch of rainforest . The sounds of the engines and electric saws drowned out the gentler sounds of the few frightened animals , birds and insects that still remained there . Tom had given the order but had not stopped to think about the plants destroyed forever that may have held the promise of life for his dying son .
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