My coolest holidays

One of my coolest and unforgettable holidays were spent last Easter, when I went to Egypt with mw parents and my brother. We flew off the airport of Lisbon and the plane landed in Hurghada in the evening.
I stayed in two cities: 5 days in Hurghada and 1 day in Cairo, the capital.
In Hurghada, an old fishermen city at the seaside, we stayed at a resort with two pools, two slides and a beach. During the day we went to the beach or the pool and there we read while we were sunbathing. We had lunch at the beach restaurant, which was a very nice place made of wood and with a great view to the sea. In the evening we usually had dinner in the hotel restaurant and after that we saw the show but there was a special night; we were having dinner and a walk in Hurghada. We had dinner in a restaurant our guide advised us and then had a drink in a special bar where we also smoked “catchimba”. Then we went for a walk and visited Hurghada’s HRC and a store with only handmade stuff: bracelets, boxes and wood sculptures, bags, clothes, etc. we took lots of pictures and bought some souvenirs.
Another thing I loved to do in Egypt was visiting an ancient and old capital of the country, Luxor. In Luxor I went to the Valley of the Kings, where I had the chance to visit the tombs of the mythical Pharaoh Tumtankamon. We also visited the biggest temple of the world, Karnak Temple and the Temple of the Queen Hatshepsut. We went on a little boat ride in the Nile. Our guide told us amazing things about the symbols in the tombs, about the meaning of their old Gods and some egyptian traditions and their costumes as arabian people. We arrived very late at the hotel and we were very tired but we didn’t care because it had been absolutely amazing to be in such a full of History place!
Some days after, we went to Cairo. Being there was a great experience too, because I had the chance to visit fabulous places and see many artefacts. We woke up very early on that day because there were lots of things to do. We caught a taxi and went to the Pyramids of Gize! When we arrived there I just couldn’t believe I was so close to such an important thing, one of the 7 Wonders of the World! I took lots of pictures and there I went on a camel ride around the Pyramids and the Sphinx. We climbed up the monument and from there we could see a part of the city. In the afternoon, we went to the Cairo Museum, a place full of artefacts, sculptures and other treasures of the egyptian civilization. The main “attraction” of the museum is the Tumtankamon’s room, where they put all the things they found in their tomb in Luxor: gold, bracelets, clothes, his war stuff, food, his mask and sarcophagus. It was like a travel to the ancient Egypt! Then we got back to reality and went to the hotel, after passing the confusing Cairo traffic.
We got back to Portugal on the next day but I know I’ll never, ever forget these holidays because I met new amazing places, learnt lots of things and had awesome experiences. Being in Egypt and going to all those fabulous places was like being in a mummies movie! I loved Egypt!


Sara Daniela Machado de Sousa, 902

We are disconnected

I disagree with the statement “We are disconnected” because I think that nowadays we, teenagers, use technologies a lot, to do everything. Everyone watches TV, everyone listens to music, everyone plays videogames; for instance, I can’t do my homework without listening to music and can’t spend one afternoon without playing a game. The Internet is indispensable for a student’s routine. I learn a lot when I’m using new technologies. A good example of this is the Internet. First, I can find everything about what’s going on in the world on the Internet. Second, I
can talk with a lot of people in chats or on any social network like Facebook., hi5 and Twitter. Third we can use the Internet to send school assignments to our teachers, for example, last week, me and my friend Helena sent our piece of work to our Information Technology teacher by mail. However, some people don’t have access to new technologies, because they don’t have much money to spend. For instance, a friend of mine doesn’t have a cell phone and this is a thing that teens can’t do without. Without your cell phone during one week? No way!
I think that our life is good with technologies.

Beatriz Sampaio – Class 902

Technologies are isolating us from the world

We partly agree with the statement “Technologies are isolating us from the world” because when we are listening to music, watching TV, playing computer games,… we don’t know what is going on around us, for example, our friend Peter never talks with us when he is listening to music on his IPod.
The ones who are hooked on technologies rarely talk face-to-face with other people. That’s the case of Sofia, who usually talks to me on the phone or on the Internet. However, technologies are a very good way to relax a little bit and to do research. A good example of this is us - when we have to do some research, we usually use the Internet and when we want to enjoy ourselves, we play computer games or we listen to music.
We think technologies nowadays may have a bad influence on teens and children, particularly because they prefer playing computer games or listening to music to going for a walk or talking face-to-face with friends. Nevertheless, we can’t forget the importance of technologies in today’s society.
Ana Isabel Fernandes
Ana Carolina Passos – Class 902

Miss Dirtiness

Hello my name is Miss Dirtiness and I live in a landfill. You can’t imagine the big amount of waste that people dump into my house. For example, two days ago I was searching for food when a lot of rubbish was dumped on my hair by the men who drive the big truck.
Few years ago, at nightfall I loved to stay on my couch appreciating the starry sky. However, at the present time, there are only a few stars at the sky.
Near my house there is a river and last summer I used to refresh there, but this summer it was impossible to have a shower because the river had a new colour everyday. The responsible for this is a big industry that exists in the top of my residence. Since they have influenced people, the family of Lord Mayor, no one did anything or accuse them to the police.
My cousin that lives in the North Pole, has written to me all the news, and says that his home is decreasing everyday, due to the melting Polar Regions caused by global warming. He says that the Humans ratified the Kyoto Protocol, the climate treaty was finally agreed at Marrakech in November 2001, and it was a crucial big step. The problem is that the countries are for behind to achieve the targets agreed. So, the problem still exists.
The consequences of the melting of the Polar Regions are related to the rising sea levels, causing floods in regions that are under sea levels.
For more than a century, people have used fossil fuels as their first source. The burnt of fuels has been very harmful to the planet, because of the emissions of CO2 (responsible gas for the greenhouse effect). So, it’s time to prefer renewable energy sources such as wind and solar that offer abundant clean energy that is safe for the environment and good for the economy.
In my house there are many different types of waste as plastic, metal, glass... people need to recycle, re-use and reduce. If they acquire these simple habits the world could be much better as well as the life of Earth’s inhabitants.
This way listen to the old big rat and you will see that it’s wonderful to live in this planet.

Bárbara Machado, 1101

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Present Simple vs Present Continuous

Round Up Your Grammar

GRAMMAR HELP - 8th grade

Round Up Your Grammar

GRAMMAR HELP -7th grade

Round UP Your Grammar

Pros and Cons of Online Shopping

Online shopping has both advantages and disadvantages to the consumer.
I can shop from my home or office, at any hour, and I can save time. I can also compare prices and shop from distant places and I can choose from a great variety of products.
The disadvantages of online shopping are that I can´t neither feel, nor smell, nor taste nor try on products. I might also waste hours looking for the right site. In most cases I have to pay delivery charges.
I prefer not to shop online. I love wandering through shops.

Claúdia Pereira, 12.16

My "fake" aunt!

Her name is Maria Augusta, she is my aunt. She is a housewife. She has got blue eyes and curly blonde hair. She’s tall and slim. She’s friendly, cute and very pretty. She wears glasses.
She has got two sons, Eduardo and Ricardo. They are very handsome boys and good students too!
She was born in México on the 26th of June 1960. She’s fifty years old. Now she lives in the Azores.
She loves chocolate and coffee. She likes swimming, listening to music, watching TV, writing, reading, eating and buying clothes.
I love my aunt!

Inês Cavaleiro, 701

A postcard from Rui

Thursday,21st october 2010

On my best summer holidays I went to Paris. On the 24th July I arrived at the airport. I went to the hotel with my grandmother. My room was room 306. At ten o'clock I went to sleep because the next day I was going to Disneyland. It was great. On the 26th July I visited the Eiffel Tower. It is so big! I also visited the Louvre Museum. I went to the famous restaurant "Hippopotamus". In the evening me and my grandma visited Notre Dame. At ten o'clock we went to the hotel and on the 27th July we came back home.
I liked my holidays because the weather was great and I loved Disneyland. I hated travelling by plane.
With love

P.S.- send me a post card back.

Rui Neves, 801

The Greed of an Ant

Once upon a time, in a far far away land, where the ants ruled the world, and no other animal dared enter their kingdom, a story of desperation and catastrophe took place.
The ruling king, Fred, wanted it all, he wanted to be a god. So against all the warnings of the court’s counsellors, he began the construction of a massive tower, which would take him to the sky.
The construction took seconds, minutes, hours even days, it even took the lives of their most valuable allies, the Trees, but finally, after two days the tower was ready.
In the tower’s inauguration day, all the ants of all the kingdoms, of all the lands were there to witness the ascension of the king to the Olympus. But suddenly a catastrophe took place, the skies started to turn grey and a stormy wind blew upon them.
Fred assumed that this was the critical point in which he would be transformed into a god, the other ants, however, knew better, they knew that the structure of the tower was compromised by all those raging winds.
Suddenly a noise was heard in the four corners of the world, and the tower began to fall. Up there the king realised that it was the death of the trees that provoked this, for it were the trees that protected the kingdom from the deadly winds above.
The colossal construction fell upon the kingdom, killing all the ants. Incredibly King Fred had a parachute so he was able to save himself.
As he was floating, the King promised that he would dedicate the rest of his life to the protection of Mother Nature, and never harm other animals’ life.
The wind dragged him to the lakes, where he spent the rest of his life doing humanitarian missions with other surviving ants.

Ana David, Catarina Aboim, José Paulo; Tiago Rocha - 1103

Pix and Posy Love Story

Once upon a time there was an iceberg named Pix,
During her youth time she was very large
One of the largest in the North Pole
But she melted away and now she’s just a little iceberg.
The evil sun separated her from her friends
And now she’s wandering in the long, lonely and cold ocean.
She roamed with no direction trying to run away from the sun
But he was always there, there was no escape.
Her life was ending. Pix knew she had to do something.
Pix had the size of a little house when she saw her last chance to survive.
A majestic iceberg approached. He introduced himself as Posy.
Posy was the biggest piece of ice she had ever seen.
Her only chance to live was to stay side by side with him.
They spent a lot of time together and became real friends.
When they were together their heart stopped; they couldn’t talk like normal icebergs
Their stomach felt weird. And just like that they were in love.
Their love was bigger than anything, so they decided to merge together.
Posy not only saved Pix’s life but he also added a new meaning to her life
They stayed together forever and lived happily ever after.

Rui, Pedro Henrique, José Carlos, Paulo - 1101