Happy people work differently. They’re more productive, more creative, and willing to take greater risks. And new research suggests that happiness might influence (1) _____ firms work, too.

    Companies located in places with happier people invest more, according to a recent research paper. (2) _____ , firms in happy places spend more on R&D (research and development). That’s because happiness is linked to the kind of longer-term thinking (3) _____ for making investments for the future.

    The researchers wanted to know if the (4) _____ and inclination for risk-taking that come with happiness would (5) _____ the way companies invested. So they compared U.S. cities’ average happiness (6) _____ by Gallup polling with the investment activity of publicly traded firms in those areas.

    (7) _____ enough, firms’ investment and R&D intensity were correlated with the happiness of the area in which they were (8) _____ . But is it really happiness that’s linked to investment, or could something else about happier cities (9) _____ why firms there spend more on R&D? To find out, the researchers controlled for various (10) _____ that might make firms more likely to invest—like size, industry, and sales—and for indicators that a place was (11) _____ to live in, like growth in wages or population. The link between happiness and investment generally (12) _____ even after accounting for these things.

    The correlation between happiness and investment was particularly strong for younger firms, which the authors (13) _____ to “less codified decision making process” and the possible presence of “younger and less (14) _____ managers who are more likely to be influenced by sentiment.” The relationship was (15) _____ stronger in places where happiness was spread more (16) _____. Firms seem to invest more in places where most people are relatively happy, rather than in places with happiness inequality.

    (17) _____ this doesn’t prove that happiness causes firms to invest more or to take a longer-term view, the authors believe it at least (18) _____ at that possibility. It’s not hard to imagine that local culture and sentiment would help (19) _____ how executives think about the future. “It surely seems plausible that happy people would be more forward-thinking and creative and (20) _____ R&D more than the average,” said one researcher.

答案精析：根据空格前的would可知，空格处应填入动词原形作谓语。根据上文可知，研究表明幸福感会使公司投入更多的资金，由此可知，研究者想知道伴随幸福感而来的乐观精神和冒险倾向是否影响公司的投资方式，它也会影响公司运作的方式。也就是说公司的投资方式是否会发生变化。D项表示“改变公司的投资方式”，符合文意。

错项排除：文章主要讲述了幸福感对投资的积极影响，因此可以排除表示负面的B项和C项。A项填入空格意为“冒险精神‘回响’公司的投资方式”，不符合语义，故排除。

长难句分析: The researchers wanted to know if the optimism and inclination for risk-taking that come with happiness would change the way companies invested.

本句的主干为The researchers wanted to know…，if后引导宾语从句，作know的宾语，if在此意为“是否”，其中the optimism and inclination为宾语从句中的主语。宾语从句中包含that引导的定语从句，修饰宾语从句的主语，以及省略that的定语从句，修饰the way。

句意为：研究者们想知道伴随着幸福感出现的乐观精神和冒险倾向是否会改变公司投资的方式。