You have probably been told by your high school instructor that writing is an important and practical skill. However, you may not be convinced that the ability to write will be important in your own future. If so, you will be surprised at the results of a recent survey by the National Institute of Education. More than four thousand working men and women who had graduated fifteen years earlier were asked to name the courses they would have taken in college if they had known better. The designer of the survey expected people to name courses in computer science, mathematics, or business. But the course most often mentioned was writing.

    If you already have a job, you are probably not surprised at their answers. Many jobs require the ability to write. Despite the increasing use of the telephone and the computer, much information must be communicated in writing.Some ten million people—managers, engineers, sales representatives, and many others— write regularly as part of their jobs. Summaries, reports, reports, letters and speeches are required in today's work world. The ability to write, therefore, is an important skill. The successful individual is almost always the one who can communicate successfully in writing.

    Writing communicates your thoughts and feelings to others; it also tells you something about yourself. Maybe this is what Eldridge Cleaver had in mind in his autobiography, “I started to write... to save myself...I had to seek out the truth... I had to find out who I am and what I want to be ,what type of man I should be ,and what I could do to become the best of which I was capable.”

    Imagination and fantasy can play an important role in achieving the things we fear. Children know this very well. Fred Epstein, in his book If I Make It to Five, tells a story he heard from one of friends about Tom, a four-year-old boy with a cancer in his back bone. He came through several operations and a lot of pain by mastering his imagination.

    Tom loved to pretend, and he particularly loved to play superheroes, Dr. Epstein explained that it was actually a brilliant way for his young mind to handle the terrifying and painful life he led.

    The day before his third trip to the operating room, Tom was terribly afraid. ”Maybe I could go as Superman,”he whispered to his mom. Hearing this, the mother hesitated for a while. She had avoided buying the expensive costume（戏装），finally she agreed.

    The next day Tom appeared as the powerful Superman, showing off through the hospital halls and coolly waving his hand to the people greeting him along the way. And Tom, with the strength of his fantasy, successfully made it through the operation.

    The power of imagination need not be reserved for children only. We all have the power to use our fantasies to attempt things we never thought possible, to go through those things that seem impossible, and to achieve what we never believed we could. Just as Dr. Epstein puts it, ”If you can dream it, you can do it.”

    It doesn't mean that you should dress as a superhero for your next job interview. But, next time you are texted in a way that seems impossible, imagine what it would take to overcome it .Become the person you need to become to win over your challenge and do it in your mind first. So, let your imagination run wild, and dare to dream.

    One of the greatest sources of unhappiness, in my experience, is the difficulty we have in accepting things as they are.

    When we see something we don't like, we wish it could be different. We cry out for something better. That may be human nature, or perhaps it's something ingrained(根深蒂固的) in our culture. The root of the unhappiness isn't necessarily that we want things to be different. However, it's that we decided we didn't like it in the first place. We've judged it as bad, rather than saying, "It's not bad or good, and it just is it."

    In one of my books, I said "You should expect people to mess up and expect things to go differently than you planned". Some readers said it's too sorrowful to expect things to go wrong. However, it's only negative if you see it as negative and judge it as bad. Instead, you could accept it as the way the world works and try to understand why that is.

    This can be applied to whatever you do: how other people act at work, how politics works and how depressing the news media can be. Accept these things as they are, and try to understand why they're that way. It will save you a lot of sadness, because you'll no longer say, "Oh. I wish bad things didn't happen!"

    Does it mean you can never change things? Not at all. But change things not because you can't accept things as they are, but because you enjoy the process of changing, learning and growing.

    Can we make this world a better place? You can say that you'll continue to try to do things to help others, to grow as a person, to make a difference in this world. That's the correct path you choose to take, because you enjoy that path. Therefore, when you find yourself judging and wishing for difference, try a different approach: accept, and understand. It might lead to some interesting results.

    Charlie is a teacher and his wife, Maria is an artist. The night before last, just before the longest day of the year, Charlie was sitting in a deckchair enjoying the warm summer air when Maria touched his shoulder and he could tell immediately she was a little worried about something. He asked her what the matter was and she replied that there was a strange thing on the jacket that was hanging in the bedroom. They had both lived in the West Indies (西印度群岛) and had seen a lot of strange creatures in their house before. But now they were living in England and so Charlie just laughed and said he would have a look at the "thing".

    He walked to the bedroom. He saw a jacket hanging in the bedroom and went up to it to have a closer look at the "thing". The moment he touched it, the thing sprang into life. Now Charlie experiences fear like the rest of us but when this creature opened its wings, he jumped out of his skin and ran screaming from the room like a small child doing about 100 miles an hour.

    For a moment the next-door neighbours thought that Charlie was murdering his wife because of the noise they could hear. In fact, it was a bat that frightened Charlie.

    Eventually Charlie managed to trap the bat in a box and took it to the garden to let the bat fly. Maria, who had been playing the guitar while Charlie was upstairs, asked Charlie if he had found out what the thing was. "Oh, nothing to worry about", he said casually hoping that the terror could not be seen in his eyes, "it was just a bat."

    As computers become more popular in China, Chinese people are increasingly depending on computer keyboards to input Chinese characters. But if they use the computer too much, they may end up forgetting the exact strokes of each Chinese character when writing on paper. Experts suggest people, especially students, write by hand more.

    Do you write by hand more or type more? In Beijing, students start using a computer as early as primary school. And computer dependence is more widely spread among university students. Almost all their assignment and essays are typed on a computer.

    All the students interviewed say they usually use a computer.

    It's faster and easier to correct if using a computer. And that's why computers are being applied more and more often to modern education. But when people are taking stock in computers increasingly, problems appear.

    "When I'm writing with a pen, I find I often can't remember how to write a character, though I feel I'm familiar with it."

    "I'm not in the mood to write when faced with a pen and paper."

    Many students don't feel this is something to worry about. Now that it's more convenient and efficient to write on a computer, why bother to handwrite?

    Many educators think differently. Shi Liwei, headmaster of a famous primary school in the capital said, "Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic value. But those characters typed with computer keyboards only maintain their practical value. All the artistic beauty of the characters is lost. And handwriting contains the writer's emotion. Through one's handwriting, people can get to know one's thinking and personality. Beautiful writing will give people a better first impression of them."

    To encourage students to handwrite more, many primary schools in Beijing have made writing classes compulsory(必修的)and in universities, some professors are asking students to turn in their homework and essays written by hand.

San Francisco Fire Engine Tours

    San Francisco Winery Tour

    Running: February 1st through April 30th

    This delicious tour goes through the city on its way to Treasure Island where we will stop at the famous Winery SF. Here you can enjoy 4 pours of some of the best wine San Francisco has to offer.(Included in tickets price)

    Departing from the Cannery: Tell time upon request.

    Duration(时长): 2 hours

    Price: $90

    Back to the Fifties Tour

    Running: August 16th through August 31st

    This tour transports you back in time to one of San Francisco's most fantastic periods, the 1950s! Enjoy fun history as we take you through San Francisco for a free taste of ice cream.

    Departing from the Cannery 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm

    Duration: 2 hours

    Price: $90

    Spooky Halloween Tour

    Running: October 10th through October 31st

    Join us for a ride through the historical Presidio district .Authentic fire gear （服装）is provided for your warmth as our entertainers take you to some of the most thrilling parts of San Francisco

    Departing from the Cannery: 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm

    Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

    Price: Available upon request

    Holiday Lights Tour

    Running: December 6th through December 23nd

    This tractive four takes you to some of San Francis's most cheerful holiday scenes. Authentic fire gear is provided for your warmth as you get into the holiday spirit.

    Departing from the Cannery 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm

    Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

    Advance reservations required.