¹     Marco liked to play in the rain. He put on his galoshes. He splashed in puddles. He turned his face up to the sky. He opened his mouth and caught the rain! It tasted cold, fresh, and clean.
 
²     Marco lived in New Jersey. New Jersey is in the northeastern United States. There are many factories near Marco's home. There are also power plants. A lot of smoke comes out of these places. This smoke affected the rain that Marco played in.
 
³     The rain still looked clean. But it wasn't. It was polluted acid rain. The rain made Marco very sick. Marco had asthma. It affected his lungs. The acid rain made it worse. Marco could not breathe. His throat hurt. Marco had to go to the emergency room. Acid rain hurt Marco. It hurts people with asthma and causes other problems.

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