ARTICLES
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'If You Forget Me' by Pablo Neruda
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A volleyball match lets students and teachers become closer
On 17 of May, we had a year 9-10 girls volleyball match with teachers in the afternoon when the school was over. I'm a member of the girls' volleyball too, so I attended the match and had fun with the teachers.
On that afternoon, although the sun was really fierce and the temperature was so high, it didn't affect the mood of the match. We really enjoyed it.
In the match we didn't care about the result, we just played for fun with teachers. For the first time, I could feel how the relationship between teachers and students can be closer, just like the relationship of students.
In the end, the teachers won 2 games and the students won 1. The teachers were the champions. But, we didn't feel sad because we thought it was just a game to play with teachers. We don't have these chances very often in our school days, so it was very precious. And the precious things always are the most beautiful things in the world.
We enjoyed this match and are looking forward to the next time.
By Turby
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A Good Book
Today I would like to recommend a good book, The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time. This book tells a story about a boy who named Christopher. Christopher is a smart boy, with a lot of frenetic ideas.
It was seven minutes after the midnight when a dog, Wellington, was killed and lay on the yard of Mrs. Shears's house. Christopher was so shocked to find out about his death. Holding the dog in his arms, Christopher was determined to find the murderer. When Mrs.Shears came out of her house, the scene before her made her scream and panic. She was thinking that Christopher may be the murderer! She reported the matter to the police immediately and she lost her temper. Christopher hated noise; he simply closed his eyes and ignored her screaming. He acted the same way when police arrived..and when the policeman patted him, he returned that with a fist, so police took him back to the station for further investigation. Shortly afterwards, his father came to the station for him. After a simple explanation of the situation and an apology to the policeman, the boy was released.
His father told him not to put his nose into others' business, but Christopher still wanted to work out who was responsible for the killing. Therefore he continued his detective work and even wrote all his observation into his daily journals.
Unfortunately his father found this book and, with extreme irritation, took it from Christopher without his agreement. Christopher wanted to continue writing, so went looking for his missing book. To his surprise he found not only his book, but also many letters to him that had been written by his mother.
He was tremendously shocked after reading those letters. It was impossible to receive a letter from his mother as she had died of a heart attack years ago! He found his father had lied to him about his mother's death because she was still alive. Christopher discovered that his mother had just gone to London to live with Mr. Shears. As soon as he realized this, his head turned into a blank page. His father had really not considered that Christopher would find the letters someday.
Apologizing to him, his father tried to find a way to make him feel better. He admitted that he had killed Wellington and he said he had wanted to live with Mrs.Shears. Unfortunately Mrs.Shears only loved her dog and had not any affection for his father at all. He simply couldn't accept the unfair situation. So profound was the anger that arose, he killed the dog. Christopher thought his father might kill him as well. Father seemed not reliable and trustworthy any more! He decided to escape from father's house and find his mother.
Taking his father's cash card, he experienced a harsh journey to London, but found his mother eventually. Christopher made a profound decision after his short stay of three days with his mother.......and it is worth reading the book to find out what that was!
This book is not too difficult to comprehend and the story is really interesting, with many details. It includes lots of Christopher's thoughts; some of them are fantastic and peculiar. He is a very interesting character!
By Sky Xia
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Wright brothers- inventors of the first aircraft
I first heard about these famous inventors who changed the history of aviation when I was six. I was surfing the internet for some interesting things and the Wright brothers came up as the inventors of the aircraft who made the first aircraft to make a sustained and controlled flight. I have been interested in them ever since.
I also saw lots of designs for modern air force jets. The people that make these jets use the rules of the brothers on the factors that affect their ability to fly and even now the people that test them for flying use similar techniques.
So now to the facts, where shall I begin?
1896: the brothers hear about a death of a glider pilot. They start thinking about a control system for aircraft.
1889: they read everything they can about aeronautics and aviation.
1889: Wilbur is twisting a long, slender box in his hands when an idea hits him for an aircraft control system. By warping the wings, he could control roll, banking an aircraft left and right. The brothers test the concept with a kite and it "works like gangbusters," says a historian.
Spring 1990: Wilbur looks for a place to test their glider and chooses Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, as the winds are high and help launch a glider and the soft sand helps cushion a rough landing.
Fall 1990: when they test their glider they FAIL, but the systems work really well so they decide to try again.
Fall 1991 to spring 1992: they decide to make their own engine and effective propellers to make a powered aircraft.
Spring 1903: Octave Chanute tells his club about the brothers' experiments and they copy them to beat them.
Fall 1903 to winter 1903: they finish making their first powered glider and get ready until mid- December to test it.
December 17, 1903: The Wrights make the first sustained, controlled, powered flights in an airplane, the Flyer 1, covering up to 852 feet and staying in the air for up to 59 seconds. After four flights, the aircraft is overturned by a gust of wind and destroyed, said another historian.
1905: they completely rebuild their aircraft, just retaining their engine, propeller and hardware. The new flyer is easy to control and stays in air for longer and longer times. On October 5, Wilbur flies for 39 minutes, covering over 24 miles and running the gas tank dry. The Flyer 3 is the world's first practical airplane, adds a source, (identity withheld.)
So, this was kind of a summary of how they built the first plane to make a sustained and controlled flight, and how they persevered even after their designs failed them so many times.
I am inspired by the creativeness of these brothers, since they got the idea from gliders. I am also very much interested in aviation now, as the views from a plane are spectacular and the designs of the aircraft are really cool.
By Anant Shukla 7B
Acknowledgements
If you are interested in the topic of aviation, you can visit the links below.
http://www.wright-brothers.org
http://www.wright-brothers.org/History_Wing/History_of_the_Airplane/Who_Was_First/Who_Was_First_Intro/Who_Was_First_Intro.htm
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A CLASSIC NEW ZEALAND DESSERT
PAVLOVA
This dish is New Zealand's most famous dessert. It was named after the famous Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlov, who visited NZ in 1926. The pav (as it is affectionately called by Kiwis) is very sweet. It is a meringue, (pronounced mer-rang) with a crisp outside and a lovely marshmellowy centre. Kiwis love to serve it to visitors and most families have their own favourite version of the recipe handed down through the generations.
Ingredients:
3 egg whites
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Method:
Beat egg whites (to be at room temperature) in a clean, grease-free bowl until stiff peaks form.
Add caster sugar gradually, one heaped spoonful at a time, beating well after each addition.
Beat for at least 10 minutes more after all the sugar has been added.
Sprinkle vinegar, cornflour and vanilla essence into mixture, in that order.
Beat the mixture again until it is all blended together.
Place a sheet of baking paper on the oven tray.
Draw a 20cm circle on the paper.
Sprinkle a few drops of water on the paper to allow baking paper to stick to the oven tray.
Pile the pavlova mixture into the 20cm circle.
Heat oven to 150°C. (300°F)
Place the pavlova into the middle of the oven.
Immediately turn the oven down to 125°C (250°F)
Cook for 1 hour.
Turn oven off and leave the pavlova inside the oven until it is completely cold. (Usually overnight.)
Shortly before required for serving, place the pavlova on a serving plate.
Cover the dessert with whipped cream and decorate with fresh fruit. Passion fruit, kiwifruit, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries are some of my personal favourites.
Note: The cooled meringue can be kept for a few days if it is kept in an airtight container and stored in a cool dry place.
Mrs. McGregor
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Sharina
Graeme
LOOKING FOR NEW CHEESE
When I heard about the book Who Moved my Cheese? I had to read it. So I went hunting for the book in Hong Kong airport about an hour before departure. It was also past lunch time and I had not eaten, but I did not care that I was hungry at that time; all I cared was to get that book and find out what it was all about. This happened on May 1st, when I was on my way home to Brunei for a job interview.
Funnily, I did not get a chance to read the book as I was so busy with my kids, as well as my friends whom I miss so dearly. I managed to eventually read it on the flight back to Hong Kong on the last day of the May holiday and finished it before touchdown. I must say that the book had an impact on my way of thinking.
The book was all about change and it inspired me to write this. People go through changes whether they like it or not. I, myself, have gone through many changes, but in this story, I will only focus on the changes I have experienced in China.
China was an adventure; it was an exciting and eventful two-years. On top of that, it was stressful, to say the least.
I have learnt a lot of Chinese, that's one thing for sure and about people. Before I arrived in China, my friends and family were trying to discourage me from coming to China; they were telling me all sorts of horror stories but I was stubborn! I wanted to see things for myself.
What I discovered was that some things were totally different from what people back home were saying. Generally people were helpful and friendly. They find foreigners very curious creatures. Yes, there were some who were very aggressive when business was involved and yes, there were aspects of their culture that were very peculiar, but I learnt to adapt and I learnt to look for positive things rather than negative things.
I think if you are able to look at the good side of things, you will find that life is so much easier and you will be so much happier. Being able to reflect on things that you have experienced or even things that you have done, helps you to improve, not just in the way you experience things or see things but also in the way you do things. These experiences make you stronger.
We all have a little bit of each of the characters described in the book: Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw. I have decided to be Sniff because the time has come for me to move on to yet another adventure (look for new cheese). When the opportunity made itself present, I scurried into action - like Scurry. At one point, I was like Hem - being hemmed in by the comforts and familiarity that was gained over a year and a half and feared change (trying to stick to the old cheese). Now, I will be like Haw in the book being able to laugh at all the follies of my past experiences and move on without regret.
I will miss all the good times that I have had in China. I am forever grateful that I have had the chance to work with some very nice people, but I learn also from the not-so-nice or difficult people. They say that you will learn more from the difficult people than from people who are nice, and I believe this is so.
Finally, I will miss all the students I have taught. They are all gems. Without them, life would have been terribly boring. Without them, there will not be a school. I have seen so much change in the students I have taught here and it makes me feel proud to have crossed their path at one point in their life. I wish them all the best.
I am glad to have met some great people but it is time for me to go home to my family, until the next adventure starts...
Ms Sharina Graeme
Head of Secondary (Aug 2008 - July 2010)
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Congratulations to Maya Mei of Year 9C who has been awarded an "Honorary Credential" by the Shenzhen Daily for an article she wrote entitled "My First Interview in a Museum" She is the first Green Oasis reporter to have her work published and will be an inspiration to other students to become reporters.
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