Mrs. Strickland did not talk much, but she had a pleasant gift for keeping the conversation general; and when there was a pause she threw in just the right remark to set it going once more.

    "Why do nice women marry dull men?"

    "Because intelligent men won't marry nice women. "

    Mrs. Strickland had the gift of sympathy.

    There was another thing I liked in Mrs. Strickland. She managed her surroundings with elegance(优雅). Her flat was always neat and cheerful with flowers. The meals in the little dining room were pleasant; the table looked nice; the food was well cooked. It was impossible not to see that Mrs. Strickland was an excellent housekeeper. And you felt sure that she was an admirable mother. There were photographs in the drawing room of her son and daughter. The son—his name was Robert—was a boy of sixteen at Rugby. He had his mother's fine eyes. He looked clean, healthy, and normal.

    “I don't know that he's very clever,” she said one day, when I was looking at the photograph, “but I know he's good. He has a charming character.”

    The daughter was fourteen. Her hair, thick and dark like her mother's, fell over her shoulders, and she had the same kindly expression and untroubled eyes.

    “They both look like you,” I said.

    “Yes, I think they are more like me than their father.”

    “Why have you never let me meet him?” I asked.

    “Would you like to?” she smiled and her smile was really very sweet.

    “You know, he's not at all literary,” she said. “He has no interest in literature.”

    “He's on the Stock Exchange(证券交易所), and he's a typical broker(经纪人). I think he'd bore you to death.”

    “Does he bore you?” I asked.

    “You see, I happen to be his wife. I'm very fond of him.” She smiled to cover her shyness, and her eyes grew tender.

    “He doesn't pretend to be a talent. He doesn't even make much money on the Stock Exchange. But he's awfully good and kind.”

    “I think I should like him very much.”

    “I'll ask you to dine with us quietly some time, but mind, you come at your own risk; don't blame me if you have a very dull evening.”

Helicopter Aerial Tour

    Explore the Grand Cannon(大峡谷)from the eyes of the eagle. A wonderful 12-to 15-minute helicopter tour will soar through the canyon for an aerial experience of wonderful views. Our aerial tour is not available anywhere else in the world! Ticket: $120. 00 per person, plus 10% tax. Please call us at 1-888-868-9378 for seasonal rates, specials or to book by phone.

Helicopter-Boat Tour

    Helicopter tour starts at the Grand Canyon, West Side. Take a 4,000-fool fall to the Colorado River below. Helicopters fall 4,000 feet from the canyon side to the banks of the Colorado River where visitors can enjoy 3 15- to 20-minute boat ride down the Colorado.

Ticket: $150.00 per person, plus 10% tax.

Champagne Helicopter Tour

    Experience the beauty of the Grand Cannon: Soar above the Hoover Dam and the dead volcanoes. You go aboard a million-dollar helicopter with all forward facing scats allowing 180 degrees of views in air-conditioned comfort. You will see the Hoover Dam, the Colorado River, the Grand Cannon and more! You land to have a champagne picnic lunch at the Grand Cannon.

Las Vegas Adventure Tour

    Helicopter tours to the Grand Canyon West include a wonderful Las Vegas adventure tour. Aerial sightseeing tours originating in Las Vegas, Nevada include breathtaking views of Lake Mead, the Mohave Desert, and the west edge of the Grand Canyon. Aerial tours including the round trip as well as combination tours attract many visitors.

    Visitors arriving at the Hualapai elation's Grand Cannon West Airport may select one of the activities above.

    For anyone still doubting the belief that our emotions influence our physical health, a new study from New Zealand should be able to settle the matter. It reports that the physical wounds of healthy seniors healed more quickly if they wrote about their most upsetting experiences.

    This confirms the results of a 2010 study, and extends those findings to cover older adults—a group that is likely to suffer wounds (as from surgery), and one with less access to other ways of lowering tension (such as exercise).

    Reported in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, a research team led by the University of Auckland's Elizabeth Broadbent made a study featuring 50 healthy adults ranging in age from 64 to 97. They were asked to write for 20 minutes per day for three consecutive (连续的) days.

    Half were asked to write about the most upsetting experience in their life, describing their deepest thoughts, feelings, and emotions about the events, ideally not previously shared with others. The others were asked to write about their daily activities without mentioning emotions, opinions or beliefs.

    Two weeks after the third day of writing, all participants received a standard 4mm skin biopsy (皮下活体组织检查) on their inner arm. The very tiny wounds caused by the biopsy were photographed regularly over the following days to determine the rate at which they healed.

    On the 11th day after the biopsy, the wounds completely healed on 76.2 percent of those who had done the expressive writing. That was true of only 42.1 percent of those who had written about everyday activities.

    “The biological and psychological mechanisms (机体) behind this effect remain unclear,” the researchers wrote, noting that those who had done the expressive writing did not report lower stress levels or fewer depressive symptoms than the others in the control group. Even if they weren't consciously aware of feeling more relaxed or positive, the expressive writing appeared to have caused some sort of bodily reaction—probably involving their immune systems—that hastened their recovery.

    French writer Frantz Fanon once said: ＂To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture.＂ Since the world changes every day, so does our language.

    More than 300 new words and phrases have recently made it into the online Oxford Dictionary, and in one way or another they are all reflections of today's changing world.

    After a year that was politically unstable, it's not hard to understand the fact that people's political views are one of the main drives of our expanding vocabulary. One example is ＂clicktivism＂, a compound of ＂click＂ and ＂activism＂. It refers to ＂armchair activists＂ — people who support a political or social cause, but only show their support from behind a computer or smartphone. And ＂otherize＂ is a verb for ＂other＂ that means to alienate (使疏远)people who are different from ourselves — whether that be different skin color, religious belief or sexuality.

    Lifestyle is also changing our language. For example, ＂fitspiration＂ — a compound of fit and inspiration — refers to a person or thing that encourages one to exercise and stay fit and healthy.

    The phrase ＂climate refugee＂ — someone who is forced to leave their home due to climate change—reflects people's concern for the environment.

 According to Stevenson, social media was the main source for the new expressions. ＂People feel much freer to coin their own words these days,＂ he said.

    But still, not all newly-invented words get the chance to make their way into a mainstream (主流的) dictionary. If you want to create your own hit words, Angus Stevenson, Oxford Dictionaries head of content development, suggests that you should not only make sure that they are expressive (有表现力的) and meaningful, but also have an attractive sound so that people will enjoy saying them out loud.

    Most people agree that eating healthy food is important. But sometimes making good food choices can be difficult. Now, there are apps that can help people learn about the food they eat to improve their health and their dining out experience.

    Happy Cow app

    Vegetarians do not eat animal meat. Vegans do not eat any animal products. The HappyCow app is made for both groups. Users can search for vegetarian-vegan restaurants and stores around the world.

    Open Table app

    Open Table app helps people choose restaurants when they want to go out to eat. It is a free service that shows users restaurant available based on where and when they want to dine. It gives users points when they make reservations(保留，预定), which can add up to discounts on restaurant visits.

    Local Eats app

    Restaurant chains, like McDonalds, can be found almost anywhere a person might travel. But sometimes travelers want to eat like locals. The Local Eats app is designed for that. It can help you find local restaurants in major cities in the US and in other countries. It costs about a dollar.

Where Chefs Eat app

    "Where Chefs Eat" is a 975-page book. Most people would not want to carry that around. But there is a much lighter app version of the same name for just $15. Six hundred chefs provide information on 3,000 restaurants around the world on the Where Chefs Eat app.

    In 1994 I wrote a letter. I stuck it in an envelope, put it away and completely forgot about it. It wasn't until we moved into our new home in 2006 that I found it again. It was addressed to me with explicit instructions not to open until my birthday 2005. It was now 2006 so I decided to open it. This is what it said: Dear Sherri.

    By the time you read this you will be 30. At the age of 18 I had so many hopes and dreams about where you'd be, what you'd be doing and with whom you'd spend your life with.

    Right now I hope that you have traveled and seen everything you've always wanted to, both in Canada and overseas, and maybe even settled down somewhere in Australia doing some research in the field of biology (genetics).I hope you're married to the man of your dreams. The man of mine is Gwynn. He is originally from South Africa (another place I wish to visit).

    However, if things don't go according to plan for you, I wish you all the love, happiness and joy in the world and don't settle for anything less than the best since that is absolutely what you deserve.

    Live long, be happy and live life to it's fullest.

    Love Sherri "18"

    When I read this for the first time since writing it I was floored. Even now having dug this up again another 4 years later I still can't help but think this is really cool. So much of what I wanted for myself has materialized. I did travel to a few more places in Canada although I haven't seen everything I'd like to.

    I did marry the man of my dreams and yes he still is my one and only. I lived in Australia for nearly 4 years, I had a career in Biology in the field of genetics for 10 years. I have two lovely kids I have not one dog but two dogs. Gwynn is a computer programmer.

    I suppose these were things that I really did want. Having never strayed too far from home overseas travel was a huge deal. Having never been away from my family moving to Australia for several years was an huge decision. I find it fascinating how the dreams of a young and naive little girl can become a grown woman's reality.

    How about writing a letter now to yourself in, say, 10 years from now? It's an interesting experiment.