Answer from cs61c-ax (Amanda Alfonso 15906918) for Question 2
C:  basic comparisons (<, >, ==, !=, <=, >=), if/else, loops (for, while, go to, etc.), cases/switch statements

MIPS: slt, beq, bne, and the fixed value 0 (to carry out basic comparisons)

I believe that the designers of MIPS did not include more instructions for making decisions because it would make hardware design needlessly complex.  Fewer instructions increases the speed at which operations are carried out.