It was almost the worst birthday of Abraham Lincoln's life.

    On February 11, 1861 (the day before he turned fifty-two), Lincoln left for Washington to become the nation's sixteenth President. As he left home in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln handed his son Robert a black oilskin(油布) bag, and told him to keep it carefully. He did not tell Robert what was inside.

    Unknown to his seventeen-year-old son, Lincoln had placed his newly written inaugural speech in the bag. It was to be the most important speech he ever made. And it was his only copy.

When the train arrived in Indianapolis—the first stop on the long journey—Lincoln rode off in a special carriage without his family. Robert walked from the station to the local hotel.

    When Robert arrived at the hotel, he learned that his family's rooms were not ready. So he asked that the bag should be held at the front desk. Then he went off to be with friends.

    On his return, Robert found his father waiting anxiously. Where was the bag? Robert explained that he had checked it at the desk.

An angry Lincoln sped to the hall and leaped over the front desk. He began searching through a huge pile of luggage.

    As puzzled guests looked on, Lincoln dragged from the pile a familiar-looking black bag and opened it, only to find someone else's dirty clothes. It was the wrong bag. Back he went to the pile.

    At last he found the valuable bag and the speech inside. Lincoln handed it to his son and said strictly, “Now you keep it!”

    It was the one and only time, Robert said, that his father had ever lost his temper at him. But with his speech fond and his birthday yet to be celebrated, Abraham Lincoln grew cheerful. As Robert proudly recalled, “Father did not scold(责骂).”

    Admission & Opening Times

    Museum Opening Times

    The museum is open daily: 10 am—5 pm

    Collections Centre opens daily: 11 am—5 pm

    Last admission to the museum and Collections Centre is 4:30 pm.

    Closed: December 24, 2017—January 1, 2018 inclusive

    Museum Admission

    Your entry fee will be treated as a donation to our charity on which we may also be able to claim Gift Aid. In return you will receive FREE admission to the museum for a year with our Annual Pass (this excludes 5 Special Show Days per year).

    Tickets for today's date are only available to buy at the museum.

Museum Tours

    An optional tour of the museum is included in your entry fee. The tours are available between 11:15 am and 2 :15 pm every day. They do not have to be pre-booked but have time limits.

Collections Centre

    Access to the Collections Centre is included in your entry fee, so you will just need to show your museum admission ticket at the door to gain entry. The Collections Centre is open from 11 am to 5 pm with last entry at 4:30 pm.

Show Days

    On most show days the normal museum entry prices are applied. There are, however, five Special Show Days per year when the admission price varies, including entry both into the show and the museum. On these days, Gift Aid tickets and promotional vouchers(促销券) are not valid. Advance discounted Show Day tickets are available online or via our Ticket Hotline 019-266 45033.

For more information about the British Motor Museum, please click here.

    A dog can keep us company. Sweetie is a big dog who spends every Friday of the month in the Children's Area of our local library. Earlier today, I was so lucky to be nearby when she was partnering with a boy who was reading a mystery of Magic Tree House. Every time Sweetie listened to the boy reading the most challenging words, she would softly lick（舔）his hand which was holding the book. With his mom in the background, Sweetie and the young boy shared a 10-minute happy partnership, and he was rewarded by Sweetie's great attention to his every word.

    Next Sweetie had an appointment with the twins who took turns reading poetry. With each girl giggling over the funny words, Sweetie was also smiling with her tongue dropping a bit as they each read. After the 10-minute interaction was done, each girl gave Sweetie a gentle hug and were rewarded by Sweetie's foreleg bow.

    In speaking with Sweetie's owner and transportation “captain”, I learned that Sweetie had been specially trained to work as a service dog. She has retired（退休）after a career of wonderful service, and now she is “in her sunset years” in her service at the library.

    Sweetie has a special resting carpet behind the scenes in the Children's Area, so that she can refresh herself with fresh water and some food when she is tired and hungry. This is Sweetie's third summer that she has been the “regular” partner. Oh Fridays from 2 pm~4 pm, Sweetie is ready to listen and act as a devoted partner.

    In 2006, a New York City English teacher named Ms Lockwood asked her students to write to their favorite authors and persuade them to visit the school. Five of those pupils chose novelist Kurt Vonnegut who was the author of 14 novels. He was the only author to reply. Though he never made the trip to their school, Vonnegut responded to the students with the following letter.

    Dear Xavier High School, Billy, Sally, Jonny, Maurer and Kathy,

    I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up an old man (84) in his sunset years. I don't make public appearances anymore. I'd like to advise you to do the following things: Practice any art—music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, poetry, fiction, essays—no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what's inside you, to make your soul grow.

    Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms Lockwood and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower, and on and on. Pretend that you're Count Dracula. Here's an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms Lockwood will not let you pass the test if you don't do it.

    Write a six-line poem about anything. Make it good as you possibly can. But don't tell anybody what you're doing. Don't show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents, or Ms Lockwood. OK? Tear it up into pieces and throw them into dustbins. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learnt a lot more about what's inside you, and you have made your soul grow.

      God bless you all.

                                                                                                                                                                          Kurt Vonnegut

      Are you interested in teaching in a foreign country? Schools all over South Korea are looking for skilled teachers interested in teaching English. There are chances all around the country. Apply today 1

Req uirements:

    Native English speaker

    Bachelor's degree or higher (English or Education majors preferred)

    Teaching experience is preferred, but not required.

    Those who want to get the job must be from one of the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, or the United Kingdom.

Payment/Working Hours:

    Salary:  $ 1,800 $ 2,300 per month (depending on conditions and experience)

    Free apartment

    Overtime pay

    10-14 days of paid vacation

    Medical insurancegenerally half provided

    Roundtrip ticket

    How to Apply:

    To apply, only send us the following information:

    Resume(简历)

    Date of birth

    Recent picture

    Once we receive your information we will get you into our job matching lists. When a match is recorded we will contact you for an interview. Click on the following "Apply Now" button to offer your resume and other required information.

    For any question, please send us an email at primejobs@koreateachers.com.

Be careful on January 8^th — It's officially the most dangerous day of the year. The insurance company Hyperion has studied accident statistics(统计数字) and has found that there are more accidents on January 8^th than on any other day.

    Accidents are certainly more likely to happen at particular times of the year. One general rule is that more accidents happen in winter months, because risk increases in bad weather. In 2004 and 2005 Hyperion found that the worst day was January 8^th, with 298 accidents reported to them. March 3^rd was the safest day, with only 89 reports. Six of the ten worst days for driving were in January.

    It's clear that icy and snowy conditions are dangerous, but some other statistics are puzzling. A British Medical Journal report in 2001, for example, found that hospital admissions(住院) were always higher than usual on Friday the 13^th.

But it is not only when Friday falls on the 13^th that it is a dangerous day. Four of the top ten worst days for accidents last year were Fridays — perhaps because everyone is rushing home for the weekend — while Thursdays are the safest day of the week.

At what time of the day is an accident most likely to happen? The Health and Safety Authority found that people are most likely to have an accident at 11.00 a.m., while the safest time of day is between 4.00 and 5.00 a.m. — probably because most people are in bed!

    Finally, good news for Harry Potter fans. Doctors at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford noted that fewer children were in hospital on the weekend when Harry Potter books were available to the public. Casualties(伤亡人员) fell by over 50% when the last two books went on sale. So if you want to be really safe, you should read a Harry Potter book in bed, at around 5.00 on a Thursday morning, in summer.