Answer from cs61c-cj (Peter Lau 16539384) for Question 2
C statements for making decisions: if, else, >, >=, <, <=, ==, !=, &&, ||, switch.  (11 statements)

MIPS statements for making decisions: beq (branch on equal), bne (branch on not equal), slt (set on less than), slti (set less than immediate), sltu (set less than unsigned), sltiu (set less than immediate undsigned), bgez (branch on greater than equal zero), bgtz (branch on greater than zero), blez (branch on less than equal zero), bltz (branch on less than zero), beqz (branch on equal zero), bge (branch on greater than equal), bgeu (branch on greater than equal unsigned), bgt (branch on greater than), bgtu(branch on greater than unsigned), ble (branch on less than equal), bltu (branch on less than unsigned), bnez (branch on not equal zero). (18 statements)

The designers of MIPS wanted to have the least number of instructions possible to minimize circuitry in a processor and to increase the speed at which calculations could be done.