Fill in the blanks.

It ……1…… (feels / is feeling/ feel) good to be happy. Ask anyone what they want in life and most would say, ‘I just want to be happy.’ Today, happiness ……2…… (is / was / has been) a hot subject of research. Studies …3…… (suggest / suggesting / suggested) that, among other benefits, happy people are …..4…… (healthy / healthier / healthiest), have more friends, and make more money than their sadder peers.

It is difficult to scientifically …..5….. (measure / measuring / measures) happiness. In recent years, however, researchers ……6……. (develop / developing / have developed) what they consider to be accurate measurements of happiness. One technique ……7……. (involve / involves / is involving) looking at how often people genuinely ….8….. (smile / are smiling / have smiled) in their daily lives. In their studies, scientists also ask people to describe how happy they feel. Brain scans also ……9….. (help / helps / are helping): in happy people an area called the left frontal cortex ……10……. (tend / tends / tended) to ‘light up’, in brain scans.

Answers

It feels (1) good to be happy. Ask anyone what they want in life and most would say, ‘I just want to be happy.’ Today, happiness is (2) a hot subject of research. Studies suggest (3) that, among other benefits, happy people are healthier (4), have more friends, and make more money than their sadder peers.

It is difficult to scientifically measure (5) happiness. In recent years, however, researchers have developed (6) what they consider to be accurate measurements of happiness. One technique involves (7) looking at how often people genuinely smile (8) in their daily lives. In their studies, scientists also ask people to describe how happy they feel. Brain scans also help (9): in happy people an area called the left frontal cortex tends (10) to ‘light up’, in brain scans.