If it’s possible to see red(get angry) about not seeing red, that is what I was doing. We had  26    the timing of our autumn trip to see the changing   27  in the Great Lakes States, and I was really   28   . No matter how I strained my eyes I couldn’t spot red anywhere. Not   29  a bit of golden yellow broke through the dull greenery.
This vacation was a complete   30   . I sat alone in the backseat of our rented car and got   31  as we drove north through the dull, dark green. In the   32   seat my brother and my father chatted merrily, obviously   33   .
Then a motto came to mind: “Happiness is a decision.” It must have been something my mother said. She was always passing on words of   34   . When I was a child, she gave me a black book with   35   pages. On the flyleaf she had written, “Look for a beautiful thing and you’ll find it.” I was supposed to   36  a record of the most beautiful thing I saw each day.
I remembered spending hours discussing what I’d   37   . A baby’s smile? A stone shining with fool’s gold? Pictures in the clouds, or tulips tipping their heads? I found so many beautiful things that it was   38   to pick just one.
Now, on the road, I played Mother’s game again. I took in the all-green   39   . Thick forests lined both sides of the highway. The long hill pines and spruce were seen   40   . Maple leaves danced in the gentle wind. I felt like a little girl again—   41   by beautiful things.
Later in the   42   , after we crossed the Upper Peninsula and drove into Canada, I found the bright   43   plants I had been looking for. But by then I’d already seen a million shades of __44   , the infinite variety and beauty that only our heavenly Father can   45   . And that we can always find—if we look closely enough.
26. A. kept    B. missed   C. misjudged    D. seized
27. A. situation    B. weather  C. plants   D. leaves
28. A. upset    B. excited  C. happy    D. sorry
29. A. yet  B. even C. still    D. ever
30. A. success  B. time C. waste    D. pleasure
31. A. sleepy   B. mad  C. patient  D. angry
32. A. front    B. back C. right    D. left
33.A. unconcerned   B. disappointed C. worried  D. surprised
34. A. order    B. advice   C. apology  D. help
35. A. nice B. common   C. missing  D. empty
36. A. set  B. break    C. keep D. put
37. A. brought in   B. written down C. got through  D. referred to
38. A. impossible   B. valuable C. necessary    D. strange
39. A. forests  B. leaves   C. hills    D. scenery
40. A. nowhere  B. anywhere C. everywhere   D. somewhere
41. A. wondered B. surrounded   C. waken    D. treated
42. A. trip B. autumn   C. course   D. game
43. A. leaf B. hill C. highway  D. fall
44. A. red  B. trees    C. green    D. plants
45. A. observe  B. produce  C. find D. provide