In my next post I am going to show you my orchid and take a close look at the maintenance instruction card which was attached to the plant!
The photos come from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalaenopsis
piątek, 30 września 2011
My orchid
The orchids have been very popular in Poland for a few years. Even though my family memebers bought their specimens long time ago, not until last Monday did I become an owner of this beautiful plant. The most popular genus of orchids is Phalaenopsis. My flower also belongs to this group. The orchids can boast a great variety of colous - they can be white, cream, violet, rose, pink, orange, yellow, spotted and stripy...Just take a look :
In my next post I am going to show you my orchid and take a close look at the maintenance instruction card which was attached to the plant!
The photos come from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalaenopsis
In my next post I am going to show you my orchid and take a close look at the maintenance instruction card which was attached to the plant!
The photos come from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalaenopsis
piątek, 23 września 2011
Species of birds
We can see them everywhere..They live close to us...In winter we feed them, their trilling heralds the spring...Do you know the names of the most common birds?
The swallows are easily spotted. You have surely often seen these graceful black and white birds. Swallows are one of the greatest migrants of our skies. Depending on species, they fly thousands of miles to spend the winter in Africa, Asia, and South America. Remember : one swallow doesn't make a summer! ;)
One of the most popular birds - little joyful sparrow!
This bird is found in most parts of the world and is strongly associated with human habitations. It can live in urban or rural settings. This small bird has a length of 16 centimetres and weighs 24–39.5 grams. Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. The House Sparrow eats mostly seeds, weeds and insects, The predators of the House Sparrow include, among others, domestic cats, hawks and owls.
Our next bird is a lovely colourful bird - the Blue Tit.
The Blue Tit is about 11 cm long. It is widespread in Europe and western Asia. As it is a resident bird (it doesn't migrate), remember to feed Tits in winter! You can build or buy a bird feeder, which you can fill with grains, seeds and pork fat.
The photos come from :
http://blog.closer-to-nature.com/tag/swallow/ (great blog, congratulations!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sparrow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Tit
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| The Swallow |
The swallows are easily spotted. You have surely often seen these graceful black and white birds. Swallows are one of the greatest migrants of our skies. Depending on species, they fly thousands of miles to spend the winter in Africa, Asia, and South America. Remember : one swallow doesn't make a summer! ;)
One of the most popular birds - little joyful sparrow!
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| The House Sparrow |
This bird is found in most parts of the world and is strongly associated with human habitations. It can live in urban or rural settings. This small bird has a length of 16 centimetres and weighs 24–39.5 grams. Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. The House Sparrow eats mostly seeds, weeds and insects, The predators of the House Sparrow include, among others, domestic cats, hawks and owls.
Our next bird is a lovely colourful bird - the Blue Tit.
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| The Blue Tit |
The Blue Tit is about 11 cm long. It is widespread in Europe and western Asia. As it is a resident bird (it doesn't migrate), remember to feed Tits in winter! You can build or buy a bird feeder, which you can fill with grains, seeds and pork fat.
Vocabulary:
feed - karmić
trilling - śpiew (ptaków)
herald - zwiastować
common, popular - popularny
easily spotted - łatwo zauważalny
graceful - pełny gracji
joyful - radosny
associated - związany
urban - miejski
rural - wiejski
setting - miejsce, sceneria
weigh - ważyć
marking - upierzenie
seed - ziarno, pestka
grain - zboże, ziarno
weed - chwast
predator - drapieżnik
among others - między innymi
domestic - domowy
hawk - jastrząb
owl - sowa
the Blue Tit - sikorka
the House Sparrow - wróbel
The Swallow - jaskółka
widespread - rozpowszechniony
migrate - migrować
bird feeder - karmnik
pork fat - słonina
The photos come from :
http://blog.closer-to-nature.com/tag/swallow/ (great blog, congratulations!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sparrow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Tit
poniedziałek, 19 września 2011
Great American Landmarks - Part 1
The United States is a country of great variety. The abundance of wonders of nature, great monuments and interesting places is overwhelming! Here is an overview of great American landmarks :
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge. It is 2,7 km long. The bridge is located in sunny California.
The Capitol is the place where the United States Congress meets. It is located, of course, in Washington.
The Empire State Building is a skyscraper situated in New York City. It is 443,2 meters high. It is the third tallest building in the USA.
Monument Valley is situated on the border between Arizona and Utah. Its characteristic feature is sandstone buttes, the highest of which is 300 metres tall.
Famous Death Valley is a desert valley located on the border of California and Nevada. It is the location of the lowest elevation in USA, which constitutes 86 metres below sea level.
Source of the photos : the Internet
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| THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE |
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge. It is 2,7 km long. The bridge is located in sunny California.
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| THE CAPITOL |
The Capitol is the place where the United States Congress meets. It is located, of course, in Washington.
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| THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING |
The Empire State Building is a skyscraper situated in New York City. It is 443,2 meters high. It is the third tallest building in the USA.
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| MONUMENT VALLEY |
Monument Valley is situated on the border between Arizona and Utah. Its characteristic feature is sandstone buttes, the highest of which is 300 metres tall.
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| DEATH VALLEY |
Famous Death Valley is a desert valley located on the border of California and Nevada. It is the location of the lowest elevation in USA, which constitutes 86 metres below sea level.
Vocabulary:
varity - różnorodność
abundance - obfitość
wonder - cud
overwhelming - przytłaczający
overview - przegląd
landmark - charakterystyczny obiekt
suspension - wiszący
skyscraper - wieżowiec
border - granica
characteristic - charakterystyczny
feature - cecha
sandstone - piaskowiec
butte /bjuːt/ - wzgórze
desert - pustynia
elevation - wysokość (nad poziomem morza)
constitute - stanowić
below sea level - pod poziomem morza
środa, 14 września 2011
Polish mountains
There are many mountain ranges in Poland. Do you know all of them? Let's see...:
The Sudetes stretch from eastern Germany to Poland and the Czech Republic. The highest peak, Sněžka, (Polish: Śnieżka, German: Schneekoppe) in the Krkonoše Mountains on the Czech-Polish border, measures 1,602 metres.
The Beskids
The Beskids are approximately 600 km in length and 50–70 km in width. They are situated along the southern border of Poland, in the eastern Czech Republic, northern Slovakia, and western Ukraine.
The Tatra Mountains
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains. Tatras cover an area of 750 km², of which the greater part (600 km²/232 mi²) lies in Slovakia, with the highest peak Gerlach at 2,655 m, located north of Poprad. In turn, summit Rysy (2,499 m/8200 ft), located in the north-western part of Tatras, is the highest mountain in Poland.
The Pieniny mountains consist mainly of the limestone and dolomite rock strata. The most famous peak, Trzy Korony (Three Crowns), is 982 meters high. It is also the summit of the Three Crowns Massif. The Pieniny’s highest peak – Wysoka (Polish); Vysoké Skalky (Slovak) – reaches 1,050 meters above sea level.
The Bieszczady Mountains
The Bieszczady is a mountain range in the extreme south-east of Poland, extending into Ukraine and Slovakia. It forms the western part of what is known in Polish as the Eastern Beskids (Beskidy Wschodnie), and is more generally part of the Outer Eastern Carpathians. The mountain range is situated between the Łupków Pass (640 m) and the Vyshkovskyi Pass (933 m).The highest peak of the Bieszczady is Mt. Pikuy (1405 m) in Ukraine. The highest peak of the Polish part is Tarnica (1346 m).
Roztocze
Roztocze is a range of hills in east-central Poland and western Ukraine which rises from the Lublin Upland and extends southeastward through Solska Wilderness and across the border into Ukrainian Podolia. Low and rolling, the range is approximately 180 km long and 14 km wide. Its highest peak within Poland is Wielki Dział at 390 meters, while in Ukraine it is Vysokyi Zamok (Lviv High Castle) at 409 m. The Polish portion of the range makes up the Roztocze National Park.
The Świętokrzyskie Mountains (The Holy Cross Mountains),
The Holy Cross Mountains are a mountain range in central Poland. The mountain range consists of a number of separate ranges, the highest of which is Łysogóry (lit.bald mountains). The two highest peaks are Łysica at 612 meters (2008 ft) and Łysa Góra at 593 meters (1946 ft).
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| The Bieszczady Mountains |
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| The Tatra Mountains |
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| Morskie Oko in The Tatra Mountains |
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| Rafting in the Pieniny (the Carpathians) |
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| Poland |
wtorek, 13 września 2011
The Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef system made up of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands. It covers an area of 133,000 square miles.The reef is situated in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in north-east Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef can be observed from outer space and is the world's biggest structure made by living organisms.This reef structure is made up of and built by billions of midget organisms, known as coral polyps. This reef is home to numerous species and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN named it one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
A part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which helps to limit the influence of human use, such as fishing and tourism.
The Great Barrier Reef supports a great variety of life, including many vulnerable and endangered species, some of which may be endemic to the reef system.
Six species of sea turtles breed in the reef – the green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, hawksbill turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, flatback turtle, and the olive ridley. Thirty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises can be found in the Great Barrier Reef, including the dwarf minke whale, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, and the humpback whale. Large populations of dugongs and sharks also live there.
What is more, saltwater crocodiles live in mangrove and salt marshes on the coast near the reef.
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| The Great Barrier Reef seen from outer space |
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| Coral reef |
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| The Green Sea Turtle |
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| The Dugong |
I invite you to watch a film showing the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef:
The photos come from :
niedziela, 11 września 2011
9/11 - 10th Anniversary of the Attacks
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| World Trade Center |
Ten years ago two planes hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center, killing nearly 3,000 people. Family members of the victims gathered at the 9/11 memorial on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.
One by one, they read aloud the names of the 2,977 killed on September 11 — people who died in New York, as well as those who perished at the Pentagon and in rural Pennsylvania.
Apart from reading the names of the lost relatives, personal messages to the dead were called out.
President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush also participated in the memorial ceremony, each giving a speech.
The ground zero ceremony paused for the moments in which the hijacked planes hit the towers 10 years ago and when they collapsed. The times when the other planes struck the Pentagon and crashed in Pennsylvania were also marked.
The names of the victims are inscribed in bronze around square pools that evoke the footprints of the towers.
I invite you to listen to a song which makes me think about the 11th of September...
Source of the photo : the Internet
środa, 7 września 2011
Poland-Germany - a two-all draw!
Did you watch the match yesterday? The Polish team squared off (=zmierzyła się) against the German national team. The match was quite exciting with lots of twists. The Polish team was very close to win a historic victory but they let in a goal in the last second of extra time. Polish supporters were disconsolate (=niepocieszeni).
I think it's a good occasion to revise some football vocabulary, isn't it? ;)
I think it's a good occasion to revise some football vocabulary, isn't it? ;)
ball - piłka
foot (pl. feet) - stopa
player - gracz
team- drużyna
national - narodowy
national anthem - hymn
defence GB, defense US - obrona
to play in defence - grać w obronie
dać się zepchnąć do obrony - to be pushed back onto the defensive
atak - attack
grać w ataku - to play in attack
atak - attack
atak na bramkę przeciwnika - an attack on the opponents' goal
bramka - goal
stać na bramce - to be in goal / to keep goal
strzelić bramkę - to score a goal
spalony - offside, e.g.
The goal was disallowed for offside.
gol - goal
~ samobójczy - an own goal;
~ honorowy - a consolation goal;
strzelić a. zdobyć ~a - to score a goal;
wyrównujący ~ - an equalizer;
puścić ~a - to let in a goal
kibic - supporter, fan
chuligan - hooligan /ˈhuːlɪɡən/
gwizdek - whistle
play-off - spotkanie barażowe; US decydujące spotkanie
karny - penalty
strzelać karnego - to take a penalty
strzelić/nie strzelić karnego - to score/miss a penalty
rzut rożny - a corner kick
rzut wolny - a free kick
rzut wolny - a free kick
draw - remis
zwycięstwo - victory (over/against sb)
przegrana - defeat
trophy - trofeum
square off against sb - zmierzyć się z kimś
twist - zwrot akcji
disconsolate - niepocieszony
trophy - trofeum
square off against sb - zmierzyć się z kimś
twist - zwrot akcji
disconsolate - niepocieszony
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| offside |
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