Task 5. Read the text and put the verbs given in brackets in the correct form. Summarize the text

Happiness Is …?

Singers sing about it: Dorothy, for example, sang about what she hoped (1)________ (find) "Over the Rainbow" in The Wizard of Oz. Bobby McFerrin's advice to us in song was "Don't worry, be happy." Filmmakers often make movies with happy endings. Fairy tales typically end with "And they all lived happily ever after." People go to psychiatrists and psychologists (2) _______ (find out) if they've got it or (3) _____ (get) it if they haven't. There's a common belief that it's essential for us (4) ______ (be) happy in life. The American Declaration of Independence says people are entitled to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. It’s clear that happiness is central to human existence. But what is it? How can we (5) ____ (get) it, and how can we (6) ______ (keep) it?

It was difficult for me (7) ________ (come up) with answers to these questions, so I went to The American Heritage Dictionary and looked up "happy." Here's the main definition 1 found: "(8) _______ (enjoy), (9) _______ (show), or marked by pleasure, satisfaction, or joy." OK. That seems like a reasonable definition. But the concept of happiness is nonetheless elusive. We tend (10) ____ (say) things like, "If only 1 could (11) _____ (find) someone I could really (12) _____ (love), I'd be happy forever," or "I'd be so happy if I just had enough money (13) ______ (buy) the things I want and need." That things and even people are not the key to happiness is quite clear, however. How many times have we gone all out (14) _______ (get) something we really wanted, only (15) _______ (discover) that it wasn't so great once we had it? I decided (16) _______ (do) some additional research about happiness. I found out some interesting things.

The first thing I learned about happiness is that there's a big difference between what we think will make us happy and what actually does. According to psychologist Daniel Gilbert of Harvard University, we human beings are very good at (17) __________ (describe) our feelings and emotions at the moment of a significant experience. What we're not so good at is (18) _________ (predict) what our feelings will be like in the future and how long we'll have those feelings. This is because feelings are produced by certain brain chemicals right after we've had an experience. The feelings are recorded in our memory, but the specific chemicals associated with the experience fade rather soon. When we look back on emotional experiences, we still feel the emotions we once felt but not as strongly as before. It's evident that some force in our brain seeks (19) _______ (keep) our emotions on an even keel. When we have a (20) __________ (humiliate) or (21) _______ (irritate) experience, for example, our brain takes steps (22) _______ (lessen) the impact of this experience in order to (23) _________ (maintain) mental equilibrium. Gilbert likens this process to the way an oyster produces a layer of pearl around an (24) ________ (invade) grain of sand. It appears that the brain reduces the emotional impact of very positive experiences as well. A few weeks after a positive experience, we've gotten over the "high," and our feelings have returned to "normal."

Psychological experiments bear out this notion that humans are not good at (25) _________ (predict) their future happiness. In one case, a number of lottery winners who had won large jackpots were interviewed after they had won. They expected (26) _______ (feel) happy for a long time afterwards. They did, in fact, feel euphoria for a short time, but this feeling faded, and their level of happiness was soon back to its usual state. In another experiment, students were interviewed about where they thought they would (27) ________ (feel) happier (28) ________ (attend) school, in a warm climate like that in California or in a colder climate. Most predicted that they would be happier in warm California, but later interviews showed that students felt equally happy in warm and cold climates. In a third case, people who had been tested for Huntington's disease or AIDS expected that they would be devastated if they got bad news. Most of them, however, were not. It was those who decided not (29) _________ (test) who suffered the greatest anxiety.

The second thing I learned about happiness is that it apparently centers around our ability (30) __________ (adapt) to a situation and (31) _______ (live) through it, especially under adverse circumstances. For example, a professor recounted an experience he'd had with his wife (32) _________ (regard) which curtains they should (33) _____ (buy) for their bedroom. The professor's wife wanted some brown curtains with vertical stripes. The professor hated them and was sure he would always (34) ______ (hate) them. His wife was adamant, however, and the professor felt it was important that he not get into an argument with her. They went ahead and bought the brown curtains. In time, he got used to them. In fact, not only did he (35) _____ (adapt) to them, but he also came (36) ______ (like) them. It may be the same with most of our experiences. It's not things or people or relationships in themselves that make us happy; it's the process of (37) ___________ (experience) and (38) ________ (adapt) to them that brings us joy and satisfaction.

So it appears that the secret to happiness lies not in (39) ______ (think) about what makes us happy but in just "(40) ____ (do) it." Perhaps Bobby McFerrin had it right when he said, "Don't worry, be happy."