Day 10——Humanity and Environment 人类与环境（口语部分）

Passage Reading 段落朗读

The problem with friends is that most people don’t feel they have enough of them, or they think the friendships they have aren’t close enough. Many people who have rich social lives are so worried that they are missing something. When friend is involved, people really believe they are somehow lacking. They worry that their friends will go to others when they want close companionship.

Some 70% of Americans share this sense of unease about their friendships. One explanation is that we have such unrealistic expectations about friendships. We expect our friendships to be perfect. Yet each friendship is imperfect in some way, though it is precious and cannot be replaced.

A recent interview shows that most people have only one or two really close friends; the maximum is five. Some experts believe that most friendships are based on self-interest and that friends do things for one another thanks to the promise of reward. Other researchers believe that friendship is based on unselfish giving which makes ourselves, and others, happy.

Women differ from men in the matter of friendship. They are more likely than men to seek emotional support and comfort from each other. Therefore, one of the most important places for friendship is the work place. There, people can make connections without a lot of arranging. Friends can make work easier, and bad jobs better. The downside of work friendship is competition. But friends in every area may feel competitive. Furthermore, we have to learn to be competitive to get better prepared for the society.

权威名师解析：

注意involved, companionship, expectation, maximum, competitive等难词的发音。

involved  [in'vɔlvd]  （adj.） 所包含的

companionship  [kəm'pænjənʃip]  (n) 交谊；友谊

expectation   [ˌekspek'teiʃən]   （n）期待；期望

maximum    ['mæksəməm]  （n） 最大数；最大值

competitive   [kəm'petitiv]  （adj.） 竞争的；比赛的

Free talk

Advantages and Disadvantages of Similar Friends

权威名师解析：

1.  Advantage: share similar interests (example: since the two friends are similar in personality, they are more likely to share similar interests, which can provide a lot of common topics)

2.  disadvantage: diversity (example: the lack of diversity makes it difficult for them to know other personalities well)

3.  My own opinion: don’t bother to do (example: they don’t bother to guess what he/she is thinking)