Find the Mean Without Calculating: Numbers 33, 38, 49, 45, 40

To find the average of the numbers $33, 38, 49, 45, 40$ without calculating directly, we can roughly estimate it by identifying a central value.

Step 1: Arrange the numbers for clarity: $33, 38, 40, 45, 49$.

Step 2: Observe that these numbers range from $33$ to $49$, with $40$ being the middle value.

The numbers $38, 40, 45$ are tightly centered around $40$, suggesting that the average would be closer to $40$.

Step 3: Evaluate the closest given choices. The choice of $41$ aligns closely with our estimation, just slightly above $40$ due to the higher numbers $45$ and $49$. This suggests a slight increase around the middle.

Therefore, the approximate average of the numbers is $41$.