Learning English

(Image: Getty)
___________________________________________________________________

More articles
_________________________________________________________

Hard: Upper intermediate level and above, B2 and above 

Introduction

Read the article and answer the questions below. To listen to this article, click here for an audio download.

Read 

1      At school you're surrounded by people your own age. Of course you spend a lot of time with them, and so some of the best friendships are forged at school. But later in life, it's easy to lose touch – you work full-time, maybe start a family, and your old friends might be scattered across the country or even the world. A 2016 study in Finland found that after the age of 25, the number of friends someone has falls very quickly, and this number continues to decrease throughout a person's life. So when you're in your mid-to-late 20s, how can you make new friends?

2      Radhika Sanghani, a BBC journalist, tasked herself with making new friends by saying 'yes' to any invitations that came her way. If a colleague asked her for lunch, she didn't shy away from it, and she soon made some of the closest friends she'd ever had. "We all message several times a week often leaving rambling voice notes; we host dinners at each other's houses; and we've all cried on each other at least once (the true mark of friendship)", she wrote in a 2018 article.

3      The website Talk Twenties recommends joining a local class or group, like taking up running or joining a choir. Having something in common gives you something to talk about with your new acquaintances, which will hopefully then translate into meaningful relationships. When you don't have mutual interests with someone, it can be difficult to get past the small talk stage, where conversation can quickly fizzle out, and a class can help avoid this.

4      Nowadays, there are also apps for meeting new people, like Bumble BFF or Meetup. Dr Robert Puff who writes for Psychology Today says solidfriendships are essential for two main reasons. One is to help make life more enjoyable, and two is for support in difficult times – to make hardships more tolerable!

5      As we grow up, we can feel like we're not in control of what's happening around us, but we can control our social life, so enrich your life with fulfilling friendships.

Questions

1. Choose the best summary for the article.

a. Let go of friends who don't bring you happiness.
b. Meaningful relationships help you live longer.
c. There are lots of ways to make new friends.

2. Choose the correct option based on the content of the article.

1. What did a 2016 Finnish study find?

a. That you make more friends as you age.
b. That the number of friends you have decreases with age.
c. That you have the closest friends after the age of 25.

2. What did Radhika decide to do?

a. Make a new friend each week
b. Say yes when invited to something
c. Host dinner parties for her school friends

3. Which benefit of joining a class or group is mentioned?

a. They give you the chance to meet people you wouldn't normally mix with
b. Developing a new interest gives you something to discuss with friends
c. Sharing an interest can help develop more meaningful friendships

4. Small talk can sometimes lead to conversation ending quickly.

a. True
b. False
c. Not given

5. What two reasons does Dr Puff give for having friends?

a. Increased presence on social media and the ability to control our social life
b. More interests and a more fulfilled life
c. A happier life and support when life gets hard

3. Use the words from the list to complete the summary of the article.

As we get older, turning a/an 1) ________ into a more 2) ________ can be difficult. After school, friends are often 3) ________ and it can be easy to 4) ________. Dr Puff says friendships are extremely important, so don't 5) ________ from meeting new people. You could join a class so that you have something in common to discuss.

acquaintance
lose touch
shy away
forged
BFF
scattered
solid friendship

Vocabulary

forge
make, often under difficult circumstances

lose touch
stop communicating with someone, often because you do not live near each other now

scattered
spread over a wide area

shy away
avoid something you don't like, are scared of or feel nervous about

voice note
a spoken message recorded on an electronic device, usually a phone

acquaintance
a person you have met but do not know well

small talk
conversation about unimportant things, like the weather, often between people who do not know each other well

fizzle out
to gradually end, often used about relationships

BFF
(acronym) best friends forever

solid friendship
a strong friendship

Answers

1. Choose the best summary for the article.

c. There are lots of ways to make new friends.

2.    Choose the correct option based on the content of the article.

1. b. A 2016study in Finland found that after the age of 25, the number of friends someone has fallsveryquickly, and this number continues to decrease throughout a person's life. 

2. b.Radhika Sanghani, a BBC journalist, tasked herself with making new friends by saying 'yes' to any invitations that came her way. 

3. c.Having something in common gives you something to talk about with your new acquaintances, which will hopefully then translate into meaningful relationships. 

4. a. True. When you don't have mutual interests with someone, it can be difficult to get past the small talk stage, where conversation can quicklyfizzle out…

5. c.One is to help make life more enjoyable, and two is for support in difficult times – to make hardships more tolerable!

3.    Use the words from the list to complete the summary of the article.

As we get older, turning a/an acquaintance into a more solid friendship can be difficult. After school, friends are often scattered and it can be easy to lose touch. Dr Puff says friendships are extremely important, so don't shy away from meeting new people. You could join a class so that you have something in common to discuss. 

Next

Listen to the article.

Learn more about relationships in English.