St John's Festival - 24th June

This is the biggest festival on the Porto calendar, and one of Europe's liveliest street parties. There is a religious element to the festival, but it is first and foremost a huge party that attracts people from all over the country to Porto's old town centre - a UNESCO World Heritage Site that makes a stunning background for the revelries. Loud music pumps up from huge amplifiers set up on the main square, the smell of sardines being grilled on makeshift barbecues fills the streets, lit up balloons eerily go up in the summer evening sky, and boats ply the river with their loads of merry locals and tourists keen to get the best spot for the main event - the spectacular firework display. Afterwards revellers take to the narrow streets of the old town armed with plastic hammers and wild garlic stalks, banging each other on the head - a tradition whose origins nobody seems to remember, but which is fervently continued every year. The centre of the action then shifts to the beaches on the Douro estuary for a beach party that usually lasts well into the early hours.

in World Events Guide

Holidays

It has been a while since my last post...
As you problably know, most of my students are on holiday and some of them will be on holiday soon.
This has been a hard year...changes in the teaching system, school discipline, all sorts of reforms...
Today is the prom night for the 9th grade students. For them this is the last year at this school. Next year a new life begins...Different teachers, different coleagues and of course a new school... They'll be fine. I'm sure...

An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has calculated the percentage of endangered species as 40 percent of all organisms based on the sample of species that have been evaluated through 2006.Many nations have laws offering protection to conservation reliant species: for example, forbidding hunting, restricting land development or creating preserves. Only a few of the many species at risk of extinction actually make it to the lists and obtain legal protection. Many more species become extinct, or potentially will become extinct, without gaining public notice.

What is «acid rain»?

"Acid rain" is a broad term used to describe several ways that acids fall out of the atmosphere. A more precise term is acid deposition, which has two parts: wet and dry.
Wet deposition refers to acidic rain, fog, and snow. As this acidic water flows over and through the ground, it affects a variety of plants and animals. The strength of the effects depend on many factors, including how acidic the water is, the chemistry and buffering capacity of the soils involved, and the types of fish, trees, and other living things that rely on the water.
Dry deposition refers to acidic gases and particles. About half of the acidity in the atmosphere falls back to earth through dry deposition. The wind blows these acidic particles and gases onto buildings, cars, homes, and trees. Dry deposited gases and particles can also be washed from trees and other surfaces by rainstorms. When that happens, the runoff water adds those acids to the acid rain, making the combination more acidic than the falling rain alone.

Recycling

Recycling involves processing used materials into new products in order to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling) by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to virgin production. Recycling is a key component of modern waste management and is the third component of the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" waste hierarchy.

Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles, and electronics. Although similar in effect, the composting or other reuse of biodegradable waste – such as food or garden waste – is not typically considered recycling.

In a strict sense, recycling of a material would produce a fresh supply of the same material, for example used office paper to more office paper, or usedfoamed polystyrene to more polystyrene. However, this is often difficult or too expensive (compared with producing the same product from raw materials or other sources), so "recycling" of many products or materials involves their reuse in producing different materials (e.g. cardboard) instead. Another form of recycling is the salvage of certain materials from complex products, either due to their intrinsic value (e.g., lead from car batteries, or gold from computer components), or due to their hazardous nature (e.g., removal and reuse of mercury from various items).Critics of recycling claim that it often wastes more resources than it saves, especially in cases where it is mandated by the government. Note here that municipal recycling may nevertheless still be worthwhile if the net cost is less than the landfill or other disposal costs for the same amount of material.

Recycle games

Wikipedia

Saint Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick, one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17.
The day is the national holiday of Ireland. It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Montserrat. In Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the United States, and New Zealand, it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday.
Celebrations are generally themed around all things Irish and, by association, the colour green. Both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green, eating Irish food and/or green foods,drinking Irish drinks(such as Irish stout, Irish Whiskey or Irish Cream) and attending parades.

Future Career

If you have doubts about your future career, here is a site to help you find out what are the future trends.You can find a big list of jobs that are becoming increasingly popular.

Future career trends

A Media quiz

As you know, we are studying vocabulary related to the Media.
Let's find out how much you have learned. Do this quiz. It's easy...

The Media

Future career

Consumer's Day

History and purpose

World Consumer Rights Day is an annual occasion for celebration and solidarity within the international consumer movement.
More importantly it is a time for promoting the basic rights of all consumers, for demanding that those rights are respected and protected, and for protesting the market abuses and social injustices which undermine them.
World Consumer Rights Day was first observed on 15 March 1983, and has since become an important occasion for mobilising citizen action.
Consumer organisations around the world use materials produced by Consumers International to generate local initiatives and media coverage for their work over the coming year.
The four basic consumer rights:
World Consumer Rights Day has its origins in former US President John F. Kennedy's declaration of four basic consumer rights:

* the right to safety
* the right to be informed
* the right to choose
* the right to be heard.

To these, the consumer movement through Consumers International has in recent years added four more rights:

* the right to satisfaction of basic needs
* the right to redress
* the right to education
* the right to a healthy environment

St. Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. In the West, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. The holiday is named after two among the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines." Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards                                                                          (Wikipedia)