On 29 May last year, I was doing my swim training for a half Ironman race in the bay near my home.

    I was finishing my first loop (圈) when I felt jaws coming around my body and a sharp pain. The water was dark, so I couldn't see anything. It just came out of nowhere and then it was gone in a flash. I knew it was something really big and assumed it was a shark. I panicked, but knew I needed to get out of the water. I was kicking wildly in case it came back. There was a lifeguard boat close by, so I waved my arms in the air and screamed for help. It got to me within 20 seconds. At that point I didn't feel anything; adrenaline (肾上腺素) had taken over. The lifeguards held me under the arms and pulled me up out of the water. Then the pain kicked in and it was pretty hard to bear. Some muscle had been bitten off my right arm. I felt a lot of warm, gushing blood.

    My chest felt heavy, as if someone had put their foot on it, and I was having trouble breathing. It was extremely painful. When I got to the hospital, I told the nurses to put me to sleep because of the pain. I just wanted them to fix me.

    I woke up after surgery four hours later. My doctor was amazed when I managed to move my fingers: the bite just missed a major nerve. My right lung had been damaged; I had several broken bones and a nerve in my leg was cut, so I have reduced feeling at the top of my leg. The shark also bit through my upper back muscle.

    Local experts determined that the shark was probably 9-10 feet long. It was young, about seven years old. It just attacked me, left and didn't come back because it figured I wasn't food.

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Do you want to get home from work knowing you have made a real difference in someone's life?

If yes, don't care about sex or age! Come and join us, then you'll make it!

    Position: Volunteer Social Care Assistant

     (No Pay with Free Meals)

    Place: Manchester

    Hours: Part Time

We arc now looking for volunteers to support people with learning disabilities to live active lives! Only 4 days left. Don't miss the chance of lending your warm hands to help others!

    Role:

    You will provide people with learning disabilities with all aspects of their daily lives. You will help them to develop new skills. You will help them to protect their rights and their safety. But your primary concern is to let them know they are valued.

    Skills and Experience Required:

You will have the right values and great listening skills. You will be honest and patient. You will have the ability to drive a car and to communicate in fluent written and spoken English since you'll have to help those people with different learning disabilities. Previous care-related experience will be a great advantage for you.

    Some people will do just about anything to save money. And I am one of them. Take my family's last vacation. It was my six-year-old son's winter break form school, and we were heading home from Fort Lauderdale after a week-long trip. The flight was overbooked, and Delta, the airline, offered us $400 per person in credits to give up our seats and leave the next day. I had meetings in New York, so I had to get back. But that didn't mean my husband and my son couldn't stay. I took my nine-month-old and took off for home.

    The next day, my husband and son were offered more credits to take an even later flight. Yes, I encouraged—okay, ordered—them to wait it out at the airport, to "earn" more Delta Dollars. Our total take: $1,600. Not bad, huh?

    Now some people may think I'm a bad mother and not such a great wife either. But as a big-time bargain hunter, I know the value of a dollar. And these days, a good deal is something few of us can afford to pass up.

    I've made a living looking for the best deals and exposing （揭露） the worst tricks. I have been the consumer reporter of NBC's Today show for over a decade. I have written a couple of books including one titled Tricks of the Trade: A Consumer Survival Guide. And I really do what I believe in.

    I tell you this because there is no shame in getting your money's worth. I'm also tightfisted when it comes to shoes, clothes for my children, and expensive restaurants. But I wouldn't hesitate to spend on a good haircut. It keeps its shape longer, and it's the first thing people notice. And I will also spend on a classic piece of furniture. Quality lasts.

    Watson entered Mr. Smith's office. The boss was a hard man. He fired people who didn't do well without giving them a second chance.

    “Watson,” said Mr. Smith, “this past year your department hasn't earned money. We're going to drop that department. It's finished. I'm sorry, —but you'll have to go.” “But, sir — if I just had a little more time. For the moment I need the job to keep my son at Riverside School.”

    “What's that!” said the boss. “Riverside! I didn't know you had a boy there. That's an expensive school for a man with your salary.”

    “I know, sir. But he likes it there so much! He's a star athlete and the best boxer in the school. The boys call him Champ there.”

    The boss sat perfectly still for a long time — a faraway (恍惚的) look in his eyes. Then, suddenly, he said, “We've got to close your department, Watson. But you'll take over a new job in another department. It means longer hours—maybe more pay. Now get out. You're here for life.”

    Watson got out, with surprise on his face. Then the boss took a letter from the top drawer of his desk. It was Herbie's last letter from Riverside School —written a few days before he died. He had read it over and over again with sick pain. The letter read:

    I can't say the boys here are any nicer to me than the others were. I guess it's the same everywhere when you're a cripple (跛脚的人). But don't worry about me, Dad, They've got a good chemistry department here. And there's one boy here who is really great. He's a track star and boxing champ (冠军) and just tops in chemistry.

    The boys call him Champ. He made them stop throwing my books around. And he knocked a boy down who hit me. He is the best friend I ever had. Dad, when I grow up, I want to do something for Champ. Something big — that he won't even know about.

Your son,

Herbie

    Spring is coming, and it is time for those about to graduate to look for jobs. Competition is tough, so job seekers must carefully consider their personal choices. Whatever we are wearing, our family and friends may accept us, but the workplace may not.

    A high school newspaper editor said it is unfair for companies to discourage visible tattoos (纹身)，nose rings, or certain dress styles. It is true you can't judge a book by its cover, yet people do "cover" themselves in order to convey certain messages. What we wear, including tattoos and nose rings, is an expression of who we are. Just as people convey messages about themselves with their appearances, so do companies. Dress standards exist in the business world for a number of reasons, but the main concern is often about what customers accept.

    Others may say how to dress is a matter of personal freedom, but for businesses it is more about whether to make or lose money. Most employers do care about the personal appearances of their employees, because those people represent the companies to their customers.

    As a hiring manager I am paid to choose the people who would make the best impression on our customers. There are plenty of well-qualified candidates, so it is not wrong to reject someone who might disappoint my customers. Even though I am open-minded, I can't expect all our customers are.

    There is nobody to blame but yourself if your set of choices does not match that of your preferred employer. No company should have to change to satisfy a candidate simply because he or she is unwilling to respect its standards, as long as its standards are legal.

If you take a minute to think about the things that catch your attention, they're usually outsized (the Pyramids of Giza), extraordinarily delicate (a well-composed song), boldly colored (peacock feathers), or shocking (a bolt of lightning or a twist ending). These attention-grabbing things make us curious: Why is it like this? Where did the idea come from, or what made this happen?

From these questions come boundless story possibilities. From those ideas, though, we have to eventually cut them down to the ones worth telling, the ones that will grab and keep our readers' attention. This issue looks at that challenge from a variety of angles. Jane K. Cleland tackles the idea of thematic writing — writing that encourages readers to think about big issues that may or may not affect their lives, but at the very least will make them think What if… Then Jessica Strawser shares nine ways to write more authentic (真实的) child characters in adult fiction to bring a fresh perspective and engage readers. Tiffany Yates Martin takes on the debate of the controversial prologue (序言) — should you or shouldn't you use one? You'll have to read on to find out. When it comes to short fiction, Ran Walker offers tips for making the most of titles and first lines when every word counts. Finally, Amy Cook looks at the topic from a different angle — when your published book has stopped selling but you know it has more life in it, how can you use rights reversion to help it reach a new audience?

Our WD Interview for this issue features one author, Michael Cunningham. I was lucky enough to talk with him about his newest novel, Day, which features everything I love about a Cunningham novel: family drama, global issues made local, and impossibly affecting, heartbreaking prose. His writing advice was some of the most unexpected I've heard.

Maybe you're thinking about what you want to focus your attention on this year. Whatever your goal may be, we are glad to be with you along the way.