In this age of Facebook and Twitter, we are all supposed to have hundreds of friends.
But in fact most of us have just two people we would consider to be close friends – down from an average of three 25 years ago, a study claims.Researchers say this is no cause for concern. Instead, they claim that while some of us may be getting ‘more vulnerable’, many are simply becoming more adept at deciding who they can trust to be a close confidant.
adept at: 熟练于……
confidant:知己,密友
The figure contrasts sharply with the race among the young to collect as many ‘friends’ as possible on social networking sites to prove their popularity.
According to Facebook the average user has 130 friends, but many of these are chance acquaintances or people they will never meet in real life.
But according to Matthew Brashears from the University of Cornwell, although this shrinking social network 'makes us potentially more vulnerable, we’re not as socially isolated as scholars had feared'.
For his study, Mr Brashears used data from a nationally representative experiment.
More than 2,000 adults ages 18 and older were surveyed from the nationally representative Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences (TESS) programme.
Time-sharing:分时(一个中央处理系统同时为数个使用者服务的安排)
Mr Brashears found that 'modern discussion networks have decreased in size, which is consistent with other researchers' findings, but that social isolation has not become more prevalent'.
prevalent:流行的;普遍的,广传的
When asked to list the names of people they had discussed 'important matters' with over the previous six months, about 48 percent of participants listed one name, 18 percent listed two, and roughly 29 percent listed more than two names for these close friends.
On average, participants had 2.03 confidantes. And just over four percent of participants didn't list any names.
Female participants and those who were educated were the least likely to report no names on their confidante list.
回顾:【读报笔记】系列>>
点击查看口译备考专题,阅读更多相关文章!
The Bank of England has made contingency plans for a changeover to plastic bank notes, Sky News has confirmed.Tender documents for a new contract to print money have included a clause...
Teenagers will be told to ‘stand up for their elders’ on public transport – or risk losing their right to free travel.London Mayor Boris Johnson will unveil plans today to make youngs...
Honiara, Solomon Islands (CNN) -- Britain's royal family will go to court Monday to try to stop the publication of more topless photos of Catherine, the duchess of Cambridge -- the same day...
Sunday trading laws are to be relaxed this summer in a move that could pave the way for longer weekend opening hours all year round.George Osborne confirmed yesterday that he is to pu...
Gold has lost a fifth of its value since its record peak last year, as fears that Greece will exit the euro prompt investors to move into cash.Futures contracts for the precious metal...