Friendships have a huge impact on your mental health and happiness. Good friends give     1     (encourage), bring joy, and prevent loneliness. Developing close friendships can also have a powerful impact on your physical health. Lack of social connection may pose as much of a risk as smoking, drinking too much, or leading a sedentary (久坐的) lifestyle. Friends are even tied to long life. One Swedish study has found that, along with physical activity, maintaining a rich     2     (联络网) of friends can add significant years to your life. So it’s important to keep in touch with friends and   h    3         4     with them often.

But close friendships don’t just happen. Many of us struggle to meet people and develop quality connections. Whatever your age or circumstances, though, it’s never too late to strengthen the     5     (纽带) of friendship and improve your social life, emotional health, and overall well-being.

Nowadays, we can move around the world and still stay in     1     with (保持联络) the people that we want to remain friends with. Social media tools let us see what our friends are up to and maintain friendships. The     2     (数码的) age also enables us to find people who share our interests or have     3     (独一无二的，独特的) talents. Whatever our hobbies, the Internet can connect us with others who also enjoy doing them, even if they live on the other side of the world.

But when you “friend” people online, does this mean that they really are your friends? It depends. If people always     4     (交流信息，想法等) true personal information online, then yes, these friendships can be real and meaningful. But we need to     5     in mind (记住) that what we see on social media is often not the whole     6     (真相，实情) about a person. On social media sites, people tend to post only positive     7     (最新消息) that make them appear happy and friendly. But smiling photos can hide real problems. This doesn’t mean that we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. Although technology has changed the way we acquire friends, the meaning of friendship remains the same.

Here are some qualities that a true friend possesses. He accepts who you are and trust you with his authentic self. He stands by you and offer words of     8     (安慰，慰藉) when you feel upset. He wants what’s really good for you and is willing to share     9     (资源). If you want to find such a friend, be one yourself. Your friend is a     10     (反映，映射) of your own personality.

As we live in social groups, there are many b    1     of friendship that we can enjoy. G    2     speaking, close friendships have three “fruits”: they may c    3     the heart, advise the head and help us a    4     the goals we set for ourselves. Through friendship, we can become happier, wiser and more s    5     humans.

What is    1    （友谊）? It implies    2    （忠诚）,     3    （同情），affection, and     4    （乐意）to help. Friendship is like sunshine. It brings us     5    （热情）and     6    （幸福）. If you are in trouble, your friends will help you or     7    （鼓励）you. When you are happy, they     8     （分享）your pleasure with you. You could be having the worst day of your life, and they would still make you laugh. Friendship is also one of the greatest pleasures that we can enjoy. In order to develop and keep our friendship, we should learn to communicate with others properly, to be a good listener and to be     9    （诚实的）and     10    （坦率的）. Most importantly, we need to have a correct understanding of friendship.

A survey has been published which shows that British people don’t like their neighbours very much.80% of the people who took part in the survey feel that their neighbours h    1    pay attention to others’ feelings.25% don’t talk to the people who live next door and 10% don’t even know their names.In fact，one million people in Britain would like to m    2     because they don’t get along well with their neighbours.

According to the survey，the b    3     problem is noise.Many of the complaints about noise come from people who live in flats and old houses.These places often have thin walls which can’t s    4     the noise from next door.

The other main problems are disagreements about car parking spaces，and old people complaining about the young.Some disagreements last a l    5     time.In one case，people who live in the same building haven’t talked to each other for fifteen years.Sometimes the disagreements end in violence.In one of the worst cases，a man killed a neighbour because he kept larking(讥笑) in “his space”．

Another survey shows that 90% of the n    6     never share a meal，80% have never had a drink t    7     and 20% have never even spoken.However，when neighbours become each other’s f    8    ，they are often ready to offer help，as we can see in many parts of the world.

One solution to such problems is to talk about them with a professional organization and，if necessary，to sign a written agreement.Now people can get this service in more and more towns.

8 . Money problem

Do you know what the easiest way to kill a friendship is? It’s not having a quarrel o    1     which movie you’d like to watch, or going to a basketball game without your friend, but s    2     seven simple words “Can I borrow some money from you?”

According to finance advice website Money Crashers, there are many r    3     why friends shouldn’t borrow money from each other. They include that the loans(借款) are often open-ended, which m    4     you don’t normally set a date to pay them back, making asking for the money back d    5    . It may also make meeting with friends awkward(尴尬的).

H    6    , according to a survey, nearly 60 percent of people in the US actually said that borrowing money from friends wouldn’t a    7     their relationships. They say borrowing money is no problem; just r    8    to pay back as soon as possible.

So, what’s your o    9    ? Do you think borrowing money from friends is a w    10     thing to do?