English Showcase II

An exhibition of a map showing the geographic growth of the United States is presented together with some facts about that country, one of the largest and richest in the world.

It is made up of 50 states, each of which has its own government. The national government is based in the capital, Washington DC. The letters DC stand for District of Columbia, the name of the area in which the city is situated.

Alaska is the largest state and it was purchased from Russia in 1867.  Rhode Island is the smallest.

The United States has many natural resources with large deposits of raw materials, such as iron, coal and oil, which are needed to produce industrial goods. It is also rich in farmland and exports huge amounts of agricultural products, especially cereals, cotton, and tobacco.

FLAG: Stars and Stripes. It consists of 13 equal stripes of red and white representing the 13 colonies that rebelled against the British monarchy and became the first states in the Union. The 50 stars represent the 50 states.

NATIONAL ANTHEM: The Star-Spangled Banner

The other showcase is about one of the countries that belong to the United Kingdom (UK): Scotland.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh is the official residence of the Queen in Scotland, but the estate of Balmoral, purchased by Queen Victoria in 1848 has been the Scottish home of the Royal Family ever since.

The patron Saint of Scotland is St Andrews. The city with the same name is the home of golf and of one of the oldest universities in the UK, almost 600 years old.

Among many Scottish traditions the kilt and the bagpipe won´t be forgotten.

Some great Scots: Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle (writers); James Watt, A. Graham Bell (inventors); Alexander Fleming (scientist) and some actors will be referred in the classroom.

October 2011 Newsletter

© Clever Pants 2011

www.clever-pants.com

Quotes on the subject of parenthood

“Your children will become what you are; so be what you want them to be.” - David Bly

“Human beings are the only creatures that allow their children to come back home.” - Bill Cosby

“It takes a whole village to raise a child.”

- African Proverb

Idioms - Cool as a cucumber!

Back once again with some idioms for you. This month we’re hungrily devouring idioms featuring foods!



Idiom: (n). an expression, word or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made.

Bring home the bacon

A person who brings home the bacon earns the money that a family live on.

“When we had our son, we decided that I would stay at home with the kids and Jane would bring home the bacon.”

Butter wouldn't melt in their mouth

If someone looks as if butter wouldn't melt in their mouth, they look very innocent.

“She sat there looking like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, when I knew full well she had cheated on the test!”

Chalk and cheese

 Things, or people, that are like chalk and cheese are very different and have nothing in common.

“Olivia and Sam are really happy even though she’s a Jewish, vegetarian liberal and he’s a Muslim, meatloving conservative! They’re like chalk and cheese!”

Don't cry over spilt milk

When something bad happens and nothing can be done to help it people say, 'Don't cry over spilt milk'.

“You failed the test? Well you’ll just have to study hard and take it again! There’s no use crying over spilt milk.”

About as useful as a chocolate teapot

Someone or something that is of no practical use is about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

“Some of our politicians are about as useful as a chocolate teapot when it comes to sorting out this financial crisis!”

All your eggs in one basket

If you put all your eggs in one basket, you risk everything at once, instead of trying to spread the risk.

“If I were you, I would try a few different gyms before you join one. That way you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket.”

As cool as a cucumber

If someone is as cool as a cucumber, they don't get worried by anything.

“Everyone around her was going mad, but she was cool as a cucumber!”

Bun in the oven

If a woman has a bun in the oven, she is pregnant.

“Have you heard? Tim and Sandra have got another bun in the oven!”

The text was taken from:

© Clever Pants 2011

www.clever-pants.com

Tony Cabral is running for Mayor of New Bedford



Antonio F. D. Cabral (Tony Cabral) is a Massachusetts State Representative from the Democratic Party. In June he announced that he was running for Mayor of the city of New Bedford (The Whaling City). Mr. Cabral will remain as state representative during the campaign, but will resign his seat if elected Mayor on 8^th November 2011. 

Tony Cabral won the primary elections on 4th October (elections in the USA are always held on a Tuesday) and now the mayoral race will be between Tony Cabral and Jon Mitchell.

He was born in the island of Pico, Azores. The Cabral family immigrated to the USA when he was 14 years old. At that time Tony didn´t even speak English but he was very determined to succeed. After graduating from the Bristol Community College, Southeastern Massachusetts University (now UMass Dartmouth) and Brown University, he began his career as a public school teacher.

Cabral was elected for the first time to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1990.  In the last two decades he has been successfully re-elected in an area of New Bedford City, where its inhabitants are mainly Portuguese descendants.

As a State Representative, he always cared for matters related to education, passing anti-bullying legislation, securing education funds for New Bedford, and strengthening registration requirements for sex offenders, among many other projects.

Throughout the primary campaign, Cabral mainly focused on his own experience, choosing not to criticize his opponents.  Asked by Dan McDonald from SouthcoastToday if that would change, Cabral said, “I’ve always ran positive campaigns, I’ve really believed in ... staying with the issues and debating the issues. I’m going to continue to get my message across.”

Congratulations, Tony Cabral!

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111004/NEWS/111009959 consultado em 5 de outubro de 2011

Spillane, Jack. (blog). All Politics is Local. Consultado em 5 de outubro de 2011.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/cabralformayor

Guião para a Elaboração de Trabalhos

Quando fizeres um trabalho deves preocupar-te com a exposição clara do seu conteúdo, o aspeto gráfico e as referências bibliográficas.

A. Aspeto gráfico:

1. Elaborar uma capa onde esteja mencionada a escola, ano letivo, título, disciplina, professor responsável e o nome de todos os participantes, número e turma.

2. Apresentar em papel A4, a um espaço e meio (1,5); corpo de letra 12, Times New Roman.

3. A citação que fizeres, com menos de quatro linhas, deve ser integrada no corpo do texto, entre aspas (" ‘ ’ "); a indicação da fonte (autor, página) deve ser colocada preferencialmente no final da frase, antes do sinal de pontuação.

Ex: “Logo na Primavera de 1839 chegaram a Lisboa os resultados das eleições nos Açores” (Magalhães 119).

4. Omissão de parte do texto citado - assinalada por três pontos com um espaço entre cada um deles e um espaço depois do último.

Ex: “Logo na Primavera  . . .  Angra do Heroismo elegera Garrett novamente como deputado”(Magalhães 119).

B. Referências bibliográficas: lista completa das obras referidas ao longo do texto, por ordem alfabética de apelido dos autores, de acordo com os seguintes modelos:

1. Livros (1 autor)

Magalhães, José Calvet. Garrett, a Vida Ardente de um Romântico. Venda Nova: Bertrand Editora, 1996.

2. Livro de vários autores

Saraiva, António José, e Óscar Lopes. História da Literatura Portuguesa. 14ª ed. Porto: Porto Editora, 1987.

3. Antologias ou coletâneas

Usar, depois do último nome do(s) autor(es), e antecedido por uma vírgula, as

abreviaturas ed.(editor), trad.(tradutor), org. (organizador)

Berardinelli, Cleonice, org. Antologia do Teatro de Gil Vicente. Rio de Janeiro: Grifo, 1971

4. Artigos em revistas ou jornais

Cerdeira, Sónia. “Madeira. Passos diz que serão os madeirenses a pagar o desvio nas contas.” Jornal I 29 Setembro 2011: 28

5. Edição eletrónica

http://www.mla.org/style consultado em 2 de Outubro de 2011

Nota: Este guião baseou-se nas normas de referência bibliográfica MLA (Modern Language Association)

A celebration of fall

                             

Leaves

How silently they tumble down
And come to rest upon the ground
To lay a carpet, rich and rare,
Beneath the trees without a care,
Content to sleep, their work well done,
Colors gleaming in the sun.

At other times, they wildly fly
Until they nearly reach the sky.
Twisting, turning through the air
Till all the trees stand stark and bare.
Exhausted, drop to earth below
To wait, like children, for the snow. 

 Elsie N. Brady

Every Autumn many people in the USA travel to New England (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine) simply to look at leaves as its forests are made up of a diversity of tree species that turn into a beautiful and spectacular palette of colours. The fall foliage spreads southward from Canada often reaching its peak in southern New England by mid-October. When the season begins days are still pleasantly warm but nights are cool.

Why do leaves change colour?

All trees, whether deciduous or evergreen have one thing in common: they use a chemical called chlorophyll to transform sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into glucose, through a process called photosynthesis. This glucose, a type of sugar, provides trees with the energy they need to survive.

Trees are green because chlorophyll is green and there is so much of it in a tree´s leaves that the green hides the other pigments that are also present.

In Autumn the other chemicals in the leaves (phytochrome) give a sign to the tree that cold is on its way, so the nutrients move from the leaves to other parts of the tree for winter storage, and chlorophyll production is reduced. The colours of the other pigments, the yellow, orange, red and purple become more prominent.

Yellows and oranges come from carotene, chemicals that protect chlorophyll from the bleaching properties of the sun.

Reds and purples come from anthocyanin, a chemical used by plants to attract pollinators to flowers.

Browns are the result of a waste product called tannin.

It is very difficult to predict the exact time of peak colours as rain and wind may knock leaves from the trees. When this happens fall´s colour display moves from the forest canopy to the forest floor and the roads become carpeted in gold and red.

                             

This is the time to decorate your home with the colours of Autumn.

The fall foliage has been the theme of many paintings, but perhaps no one has ever been able to show the beauties of the nature like the group of seven, a Canadian group of landscape painters, influenced by the impressionism movement.

                                                                   Tom Thomson

References:

Monkman, Jerry, and Marcy Monkman. The Colors of Fall. Vermont:The Countryman Press, 2003

Murray, Joan. Northern Lights- Masterpieces of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1994

Lisbon, Portugal 2011

Tea Time - Uma pausa para o chá

Mary Cassat. Five O’Clock Tea.1880

O hábito de tomar chá ultrapassou os limites da China, após a chegada dos Portugueses no inicio do século XVI. Foi nessa altura que tiveram pela primeira vez contacto com aquela bebida, denominada pelos chineses de tcha. Era no interior dos barcos portugueses que chegavam a Lisboa os caixotes com o chá seguindo depois, em trânsito, para a Europa. Para melhor identificação estavam assinalados com um T, que significava em trânsito. Daí que passasse a ser chamado o T (tea para os ingleses e thé para os franceses).

Portugal detinha a exclusividade de comércio com Macau, desde 1557. Quando os holandeses se interessaram pelo comércio com o oriente, foi-lhes negado o acesso a Macau e a Cantão. Faziam-no através da Ilha de Java na Indonésia, onde se deslocavam comerciantes da província chinesa de Fujian, cujo dialeto para tcha assemelhava-se mais a “tay”. Seja qual for o motivo, é interessante notar que a designação original chinesa tcha (chá) na Europa ocidental só será mantida pelos portugueses, que o comercializavam diretamente com a China.

Sir Peter Lely (1618-80). Catarina de Bragança (1638-1705) c. 1663-65. Palácio de Holyroodhouse

D. Catarina de Bragança (1638-1705) habituada a tomar chá diariamente, não prescinde de o fazer, após o seu casamento com o rei inglês Charles II, em 1662.

Prato de Casamento de Catarina de Bragança com Carlos II.1662. Cerâmica de Delft.   Casa- Museu Medeiros e Almeida

Partilhava esses momentos de lazer e descontração com as damas inglesas, que se mantinham ao seu serviço. A introdução daquela bebida na Corte, contribuiu para enraizar o hábito do seu consumo na aristocracia inglesa. Aliás, foi consagrado num poema escrito por Edmund Waller em homenagem à Rainha Catarina de Bragança: “ The Muse’s friend, tea (which) does our fancy aid,/repress those vapours which the head invade,/And keep the palace of the soul serene” (Ferguson14).

A partir do início do século XVIII, o chá começou a tornar-se a bebida mais popular em toda Inglaterra. No século XIX tornou-se um ritual com a 7ª duquesa de Bedford. Uma pausa para o chá entre as 4-5h um acontecimento social na moda. Hoje em dia, os britânicos são os maiores consumidores desta bebida em todo o mundo.

Apenas mais uma nota histórica a propósito da importância do chá: o assalto perpetrado a um navio inglês cheio de fardos de folhas de chá, por independentistas americanos em Boston, que ficou conhecido como Boston Tea Party .

Como preparar o Chá

1- Ferver água, de preferência numa chaleira elétrica.

2- Escaldar o bule, onde vai ser servido o chá, deitando um pouco de água a ferver, durante 2-3 minutos. Deitar fora a água.

3- Deitar uma colher de chá de folhas soltas por pessoa e uma extra no bule ou saquetas (2).

4- Deitar água a ferver, até o bule estar 2/3 cheio. Deixar em infusão 2-3 minutos. Encher o bule com mais água.

5- Servir o chá usando um coador se utilizou folhas de chá soltas. Se preferiu usar saquetas, não é necessário.

A maioria dos britânicos toma o chá com leite. Aqui reside a maior controvérsia sobre quando deve ser deitado o leite: antes ou depois do chá. Existem argumentos defendendo o “antes” ou o “depois”, pois os defensores de qualquer hipótese afirmam resultar uma mudança de sabor. 

Originalmente as chávenas de chá na Europa eram feitas de porcelana fina e pouco resistente. Servir-se leite frio primeiro constituía uma garantia que as chávenas não se rachavam com o chá quente.
À medida que foi sendo fabricada uma porcelana mais resistente deixou de ser necessário pôr o tal leite antes; na verdade, até se tornou um sinal de riqueza deitá-lo já com o chá servido, uma vez que se mostrava aos convidados que as chávenas eram de ótima qualidade.

No entanto, o que é mais importante realçar é que a água deve estar mesmo a ferver. NUNCA deitar água quente numa chávena/caneca e acrescentar depois a saqueta. Não deixar as saquetas no bule por mais de 3 minutos, porque o gosto pode alterar-se e ficar muito amargo.

Tipos de chá

Plantação de chá

Preto-Oolong-Verde-Ervas

O chá preto é o mais forte, contém mais cafeína e passou por um processo de oxidação e fermentação mais longo. Os mais conhecidos são:

Assam- proveniente da Índia. Tem um sabor forte e encorpado

Ceylom- cresce em grandes altitudes no Sri Lanka e é considerado um dos melhores chás do mundo.

Darjeeling- é proveniente das colinas dos Himalaias. È usado em misturas.

Earl Grey-mistura de chás chineses e indianos e muito aromático. Melhor se for servido simples, sem leite.

English Breakfast mistura de chás de Ceilão e índia. Muito utilizado ao pequeno almoço, como o nome indica, forte, muitas pessoas preferem-no com leite.

Keemun- chá claro com aroma floral

Lapsang Souchong- proveniente da província de Fujian. Pode ser servido com limão, mas nunca com leite.

Prince of Wales- mistura de chás Keemun, com uma cor dourada.

O chá Oolong passa por um processo semelhante ao preto, tendo, contudo, um processo mais curto de oxidação.

O Chá verde contém menos cafeína e deve ser servido sem leite, limão ou açúcar.

Os chás de ervas, também chamados infusões ou tisanas (na sua composição não há folhas de chá) são feitos com uma só erva ou mistura de ervas, flores, frutos e especiarias. Não têm cafeína e são utilizados muitas vezes para fins medicinais.

                                                           Renoir 

“A woman is like a tea bag: only in hot water do you realize how strong she is”
 Nancy Reagan

Obras consultadas:

Akmon, Nancy. Tea Time. Blushing Rose Publishing, 2000

Burrell Paul. In The Royal Manner. Warner Books, 1999

Fergusson, N..Empire- How Britain Made The Modern World. Penguin Books, 2004

Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne. History of Food. Blackwell Publishers, 1994

Vilaça, T. Tesouros da Intimidade Real, Objectos do uso pessoal de Príncipes Europeus. Fundação Medeiros e Almeida, 2005



Ainda sobre chá pode ler:

Would anyone like a cup of tea?

The Tea Spy

The English Showcase is back…

After the removal of the showcases to restore the ceiling of the corridors, the English showcase is back with new topics.

In September we have to remember 9/11, that tragic day that changed the world and the skyline of New York ten years ago. A sample of newspaper front pages and headlines is presented. Students in 8th grade will study British and American newspapers this year.

 



The other showcase is about the European Day of Languages, on 26th September. A map is presented with the 27 countries that belong to the EU. A special attention is given to the UK, republic of Ireland and Malta, the only English speaking countries in Europe.

Dez anos depois do 11 de Setembro

9/11

11 de Setembro de 2001 foi um dia trágico na história dos EUA.

Há dez anos 4 aviões comerciais americanos foram sequestrados por terroristas, dois dos quais embateram intencionalmente nas torres gémeas do World Trade Center* em Nova Iorque. Este ataque trágico provocou a morte de todos os passageiros e de vários milhares de pessoas que trabalhavam naqueles edifícios.

O terceiro avião atingiu o Pentágono**, em Washington D.C., causando novamente a morte de todos os passageiros e tripulação e de cerca de 200 pessoas que estavam no local.

Um quarto avião dirigia-se também para a capital dos EUA, mas os passageiros, através de telefonemas, tomaram conhecimento do ataque concertado e revoltaram-se contra os terroristas que tinham tomado posse da aeronave. Conseguiram assim impedir que um novo ataque fosse perpetrado, possivelmente contra o Capitólio*** ou Casa Branca****, mas o avião despenhou-se no estado da Pensilvânia – um sacrifício heróico, já que nenhum passageiro ou elemento da tripulação sobreviveu.

As notícias dos ataques terroristas foram primeira página em todo o mundo. A conhecida revista The New Yorker, habitualmente com capas muito originais, que podem até ser adquiridas como poster, publicou uma só em cor preta.

                                              

Veja as torres gémeas no cinema ao longo dos anos:

http://vimeo.com/28171399

Veja o video em memória do 11 de setembro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdo7aWfTRXM


*World Trade Center

O World Trade Center era constituído por sete edifícios, sendo as gigantes torres gémeas as mais emblemáticas. Foram inauguradas em 1973 e custaram 400 milhões de dólares. Nessa altura eram os edifícios mais altos do mundo com 110 andares. Embora a maioria dos andares não fosse aberta ao público em geral, porque eram escritórios de empresas privadas, muitas delas financeiras, no rés-do-chão existia um centro comercial e no último andar havia um terraço com uma vista deslumbrante sobre toda a ilha de Manhattan assim como um restaurante panorâmico.

Veja como está a ser feita a reconstrução da área do WTC:

http://www.wtc.com/media/

**Pentágono

O Pentágono é o Ministério da Defesa dos EUA, onde estão instalados os principais comandos das forças armadas americanas.

***Capitólio

O Capitólio é um símbolo dos EUA. Aí encontra-se o seu principal orgão legislativo- o Congresso- formado pela Câmara dos Representantes e o Senado.

****Casa Branca

A Casa Branca é a residência oficial do presidente dos EUA e fica situada em 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC.

A capa da revista The New Yorker dez anos após o 11 de Setembro

Nova Iorque em 1997




Ano Letivo 2011/2012

The importance of learning English

     

      

English is the most prominent language in the world. No other language than English is spoken as an official language in more than 50 countries (see English Speaking Countries). It is spoken worldwide by more than 500 million native speakers. Still, the significance of English isn’t derived simply from the fact that it spoken in the most largely populated countries in the world, since India and China, for example, do not use English as their primary means of communication. The importance of English, therefore, originates from its importance as a second language, allowing people from different parts of the world, who do not share the same mother tongue, to communicate.

English is the most studied language in the world and its influence is so great that it has affected the vocabulary of other languages. It is used in music heard daily as well as in films and, it is absolutely necessary for the internet or some computer games. Did you know that 75% of the world´s mail is written and addressed in English? 

So, English, nowadays, is the leading language of science, technology and commerce. It is also the universal language of air transport, shipping and sport and obviously one of the six official languages of the United Nations, which includes 193 member states and has its headquarters in New York. Moreover, as a Lingua Franca, English is an immensely varied language, since it has absorbed material from many other idioms.

Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon

       

Last but not least, for all those reasons, fluency in English has become a top requirement to get a good job. 

In the last few years the internet has allowed the English language to spread around the world faster than music and movies had previously been able to. 

Some teachers in schools in Europe are very eager to use CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) in their classes where students learn some school subjects in English (this is quite different from contextualized language learning, of which the main aim has been to foment experience in the language. With CLIL the focus is on a specific subject that has to be taught in English).

English is here to stay. Even with China’s 10% annual GDP growth, for the last ten years, Mandarin is only spoken in China, Taiwan and some dispersed communities in South East Asia. Even in India and Pakistan, both with a tremendous population boom, English is still a crucial language used by many of the main political elites. 

King´s College, Cambridge

          

Finally, concerning education, which is the main objective of this blog, English, besides being generally an easy language to learn, is also the mother tongue of some of the best universities in the world, namely in the United States and in the United Kingdom, where students from all over the world, still strive to enter. Hence, by reinforcing an appropriate education of English, we are contributing to the future success of our students. 

Maria Teresa Relva,
School Year: 2011/2012