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Present and Future Real Conditionals
ESSe)\ RR

O 1 READ the article about why people do not always make logical decisions.
What often influences the decisions we make?

Making Decisions: Are you in control?

It’s vacation time. You are planning a trip to visit your family, so you compare
airlines. You learn that 87 percent of Flyright flights arrive on time and that Skyway
flights are late 13 percent of the time. Which airline will you choose the next time you fly?

If you are like most people, you will probably choose Flyright. It seems more
efficient than Skyway. However, if you stop and think, you will find no difference
between the two flight records. Then, why did Flyright seem better at first?
Psychologists explain that we are greatly influenced by the way we see information. For

example, if an option! is presented in a positive way, people usually prefer it. That’s
why an 87 percent success rate seems better than a 13 percent failure rate. Unless we
think carefully, we don’t realize the facts are the same. Instead, we make a decision
based on our first reaction.

The way we perceive? information greatly affects our decisions whether we are
buying toothpaste or a car. It also has a powerful effect in politics and on the way
people vote. Studies show that in the United States, people prefer candidates who talk
about political issues in positive, encouraging ways. A politician’s physical appearance
matters, too. Voters like people who appear to be good leaders.

Even if we think our decisions are completely rational,* they are not. We make
a lot of choices because information is presented in a certain way. However, if we know
this, we will be able to do something about it in the future. We can try to think
more seriously about our choices and consider them from different points of view. In
that way, we can better control our decisions, both large and small.

1 option: a choice
2 perceive: become aware of something through the senses; understand something

3 rational: showing clear, logical thought

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