Imagine a beautiful painting or portrait of the grand canyon. the morning light rolls in from the east, and a purple haze eats away at the horizon. there is a gold line where the sun is cutting its way into the empty gorge that seems to go on forever. now imagine the same beautiful image where the landscape is riddled with styrofoam plates, empty aluminum cans and water bottles, and clusters of fast food bags blowing onto the foreground. suddenly, the grand canyon doesn't look nearly as majestic. the way something is presented can change someone's perspective on something. in order for america to protect its beautiful scenery, more individuals need to adopt highways.
the population of the u. s. is growing all the time. a growing population means more cars on our roadways. that means more trash. one way to reduce the amount of trash on roads is for more people to adopt highways. several states have "adopt-a-highway" programs. the programs allow people or groups to "adopt" a section of a highway. that person or group is responsible for making sure that section of the highway stays clean. this the state save money. that money can then be used to make landmarks and monuments beautiful. this is money that the state would have had to pay someone to clean the highway.
research has also shown that highways that have "adopt-a-highway" programs are usually less littered than those cleaned by road crews. the south carolina litter patrol statistics state that of the 250 miles from gaffney to macedonia, 100 of the miles were part of the state's adopt-a-highway program. 100 of the 250-mile stretch had 18,285 fewer pounds of garbage. this shows that the programs work.
finally, adopting a highway doesn't take up nearly as much time as hiring an outside group to clean up a highway. people complain about time, well, all the time. time is precious to everyone, but cleaning up an adopted highway doesn't take up any time at all. think about how much time it takes to cut the grass in your front lawn. think about the time it takes to spend an afternoon shopping. if more people knew that volunteering to clean up the highways they use took up less time than they think, most would jump at the chance to do it.
what does the author use to support the idea that presentation changes perspective?
the author includes the image of the grand canyon being filled with litter.
the author shows how national landmarks are not important.
the author shows how litter affects the way people drive on the highway.
the author includes testimony from state governors.