—What do you think made the girl so glad?
—_____a beautiful necklace.

Tuesday the twelfth was my birthday. I  16 a day of cake and presents  17__     it turned into a day of mystery(神秘). Someone sent a bottle with a letter and a treasure map   18 . It said there was a treasure of over 20 million dollars. I didn’t know if it was a trick(恶作剧) or if I should   19  it. If it was   20  , it would be the best present I had ever got. I decided to  21 . Two of my friends came and we rented a truck.   22 , I thought about turning back twice during this trip, but I didn’t think it was a 23 decision for me to make. I   24 to give this trip twice the effort(努力) I had been putting in. This would take all my trust in order for me to find the  25  .
“The map says you have to turn when you see a large stone with a red circle,” said one of them.
“What do we do after the turn?” I asked   26 .
“It says we should see a tree. We are   27  to turn 20 meters north of it and dig.　
We got there and dug. We had   28  at first digging but we got better and worked very   29 . My trousers were dirty but I kept digging   30  I hit something. It was a large metal box. We   31  the lock and looked inside. There was a letter. It read:
　　“The lesson you have learned will be very   32  . If you put as much   33 in anything you do as you did in finding the   34  , you will have found the key to making over 20 million dollars.”
　　This was a trick from my parents. I thought I would never forget this   35    birthday present.

Decisions, decisions! Our lives are full of them, from the small ones to the life-changing. The right to choose is central to everyone. Yet sometimes we make bad decisions that leave us unhappy or full of regret. Can science help?

  Most of us know little about the mental processes that lie behind our decisions. Luckily, what psychologists（心理学家）are finding may help us all make better choices. Here are some of their amazing discoveries to help you make up your mind.

    Consider your emotions. You might think that emotions are the enemy of decision making, but in fact they're a part of it. Whenever you make up your mind, your brain’s emotional center is active. University of Southern California scientist, Antonio Damasio, has studied people with damage to only the emotional parts of their brains, and found that they were unable to make basic choices about what to wear or eat. Damasio thinks this may be because our brains store emotional memories of past choices, which we use to help the present decision making.

  However, making choices under the influence of an emotion can greatly affect the result. Take anger, for example. A study by Nitika Garg of the University of Mississippi and other scientists found the angry shoppers were more likely to choose the first thing they were offered rather than considering other choices. It seems anger can lead us to make quick decisions without much thinking.

    All emotions affect our thinking and motivation（动机）, so it may be best to avoid making important decisions under their influence. Yet strangely there’s one emotion that seems to help us make good choices. The American researchers found that sad people took time to consider the various choices on offer, and ended up making the best choices. In fact many studies show that people who feel unhappy have the most reasonable view of the world.

45．According to the text, what may help us make better decisions?

A. To think about happy times.  

B. To make many decisions at a time.

C. To stop feeling regretful about the past.

D. To learn about the process of decision-making.

46．Damasio’s study suggests that _________.

A. emotions are the enemy of decision making

B. our brain has nothing to do with decision making

C. people with physical damage find it hard to make up their minds

D. our emotional memories of past choices can affect present decisions

47．Why are angry shoppers more likely to choose the first thing they are offered?

A. They often forget their past choices.    

B. They make decisions without much thinking.

C. They tend to save time when shopping.

D. They are too angry to bargain.

48．What do we learn from the text?

A. Emotions are a part of decision making.

B. Sad people always make worst choices.

C. No emotion seems to help us make good choices.

D. Only sad feelings affect our thinking and motivation.

--What do you think made Mary so upset ?
---______  her new bicycle.

The passengers on the bus watched sympathetically as the attractive young woman with the white cane（杖，手杖） made her way carefully up the steps. She 36 the driver and, using her hands to feel the  37 of the seats, walked down and found the  38 which the driver had told her was empty. Then she settled in.
It had been a year since Mary, 34,  39 a medical misdiagnosis (误诊), was suddenly thrown into a world of  40 . Mark, her husband, was an Air Force officer and he loved Mary with all his heart. He  41  her how to rely on her other  42 , specifically her hearing, to determine where she was and  43 to adapt herself to the new environment. He helped her befriend（友好对待） the bus drivers who could  44 for her, and save her a seat.
 45 , Mary decided that she was ready to try the  46 on her own. Monday morning, she said good-bye and for the first time, they went their  47  ways.
On Friday morning, Mary took the bus to work as usual. As she was  48 the bus, the driver said, “Boy, I  49 envy you.” Mary had no  50  what the driver was talking about, and asked, “What do you  51  ?”
The driver answered, “You know, every morning for the  52 week, a fine-looking gentleman  53  a military uniform has been standing across the corner  54 you as you get off the bus. He  55  you cross the street safely and he watches until you enter your office building. You are one lucky lady.”          
Tears of gratitude poured down Mary’s cheeks.