Reading and comprehension (5): study guide

Reading and comprehension

Can you really make friends online?

Task 2: Read the two texts quickly. Then answer the questions.

Text A: a news story about friends on the Internet

Note

Text A A new study into how the Internet is changing the nature of friendship has found that social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace don’t help people make more close friends. Although people (especially young people) using these sites claim to have thousands of ‘friends’, this research suggests that face-to-face contact is usually needed to form genuine relationships. Many previous studies of friendship have established that the maximum number of people in a standard friendship group is 150, with about five of these regarded as close friends. This new study has found that, in terms of how many people we keep in regular contact with, these figures remain roughly the same for online friends. What’s more, the five closest friends of regular Internet users are likely to be people they have actually met. ‘To form close friendships, we need to be able to trust the other person,’ explains Dr Samuel Holiday, one of the report’s co-authors, ‘and with people that you only know through the Internet, you can’t even be sure they’re who they say they are.’

Now read Text B, and see how its writer sees online friends.

Text B: a writer who is tired of a common idea

Note

Text B As someone who has made a lot of friends via the Internet, I’m tired of hearing that they’re not ‘real friends’. The argument seems to be that you can never really know someone unless you’ve actually met them. The fact is, though, that meeting someone is no guarantee that they’re who they say they are. I’ve met lots of people whose real character and intentions turned out to be different from those first presented. In fact, I regard some people I’ve met online as my closest friends. We actually have many interests in common, which is why we got together in the first place. The things I’m interested in are perhaps a bit unusual, and there’s little chance of meeting others with the same interests without the Internet. Compare this with people I met at school and haven’t seen or contacted for nearly twenty years, or people I know at work. I’m supposed to think of these as ‘real’ friends, and the ones I chat to nearly every day as just ‘Internet friends’. I’m told that these Internet friends are somehow less real, which doesn’t make sense. In my experience, friendships made online are just as real as the ones we happened to make face to face.

1 Which text is probably a news story? _____

2 Which text gives a personal point of view? _____

3 Which text complains about a common idea? _____

4 Which text refers to research done in the past? _____

5 Which text gives examples from real life? _____

Period 1 / Reading and comprehension

Find the words that say it another way

1 It’s hard to describe what friendship is really like. _____

2 Some people say that they are your friends, but aren’t really friends at all. _____

3 He’s just pretending to be friendly. His feelings aren’t real. _____

4 150 is considered to be the largest number of friends most people can have. _____

5 All my friends are approximately the same age. _____

6 It was a long journey because we had to get to London by going through Paris. _____

7 There is no way to be sure that what he says is true. _____

8 My brother and I have a lot of ideas and opinions that we share. _____

9 We didn’t plan or arrange to arrive at the same time. _____

True or false? Find the sentence that proves it

Misprint: Text A prints “Holiday”, the statements print “Holliday”. It is the same person.

1 New research shows that online friendships are less real than ones with people you’ve actually met.

2 The size of online friendship groups seems to be very different from ‘real-life’ ones.

3 Samuel Holliday wrote the report by himself.

4 The writer of Text B would disagree with Samuel Holliday.

5 The writer of Text B has similar interests to most people.

6 The writer of Text B keeps in touch with his/her old school friends.

Talk about it: online friends and real-life friends

Period 2 / Reading and comprehension

Five tips for turning an acquaintance into a lasting friend

Task 1: Read the text quickly. Then match the titles below with the tips in the text.

Now read the text. Each tip has a blank line for its title.

Note

Text: the top five tips It used to be thought that friendship was something that ‘just happened’ between people. However, many studies by social scientists have shown that becoming friends with another person is a complex process, but one that can be learnt. Making (and keeping) friends isn’t easy – it takes effort. Here are the top five tips for turning someone you know into a lasting friend. 1 ___ Everyone has acquaintances – people we know, but who aren’t (yet) friends. To take your relationship further than just discussing the weather, you need to show an interest in their lives. Ask them questions (but don’t get too personal at first). Even more importantly, listen to their answers and remember the information for the next time you meet. 2 _ Maybe you made a joke that annoyed your new friend, or forgot to call when you promised to. It’s almost inevitable that something will go wrong at some point, but it’s how you react to the situation that may be more important than the initial error. An honest apology and making the effort not to let it happen again are usually all that’s needed. 3 _ When making arrangements, there are two opposite ways of behaving that can harm a friendship. The first is forcing the other person to make all the decisions by saying things like ‘I don’t mind, you choose’ or ‘Whatever you want’. The other is being too particular and inflexible about what you want to happen, or where, or when. Try to find a middle way between the two extremes. 4 _ It’s understandable that you want to impress a new friend and make them aware of your good points, but don’t go too far. Research shows that most of us tend to like people who don’t boast about their achievements or take themselves too seriously. 5 ___ If someone tells you something ‘in confidence’, it means just that – they are confident that you won’t tell anyone else. In other words, they trust you. If you then pass on this information to another person, that trust is broken. Even if your friend doesn’t find out what you’ve done, this kind of behaviour can easily destroy a friendship over time.

Tip 1: Everyone has acquaintances

Tip 2: Maybe you made a joke that annoyed your new friend

Tip 3: When making arrangements, there are two opposite ways of behaving

Tip 4: It’s understandable that you want to impress a new friend

Tip 5: If someone tells you something ‘in confidence’

Words from the tips: match each one to its meaning

1 lasting

2 acquaintance

3 initial

4 inflexible

5 extremes

6 impress

7 boast

8 in confidence

Use the new words in sentences

Task 2, part 2: Use the words and phrases in Part 1 to complete the sentences below.

1 Please remember that what I’ve told you is ___, so don’t tell anyone.

2 My ___ idea was that he wasn’t very nice, but now I know him better.

3 It’s not polite to ___ about how clever or rich you are.

4 He seems to change between two ___: Sometimes he can’t stop talking, but sometimes he doesn’t say anything at all.

5 Tell the interviewers about your exam results. That will ___ them.

6 I’m not ___. If anyone has a better plan, I’ll listen to it.

7 She’s not a close friend of mine, just an ___.

8 Reading stories to children helps to create a ___ love of literature.

Give advice to each person using the text

Task 3: Complete the advice for each person below, using ideas and information from the text.

I said something silly and I think he might be angry with me.

Don’t worry. Just give your friend _ and make sure _.

We see each other every day, but I’m not sure how to take it further.

Show that you’re _ by (and of course remember to __ the answers!)

Should I tell people about my big expensive house?

It’s OK to tell people, but ___ because nobody likes that.

Should I say what I want to do or let others decide?

Say what you want, but don’t _. You need to find _.

Reading and comprehension

The topic explained