Question

    Many people spend more than four hours per day on WeChat, and it is redefining the word “friend.” Does friending someone on social media make him or her your friend in real life?

Robin Dunbar, a professor at Oxford University, found that only 15, of the 150 Facebook friends the average user has, could be counted as actual friends and only five as close friends. WeChat may show a similar pattern.

Those, with whom you attended a course together, applied for the same part-time job, went to a party and intended to cooperate but failed, take up most of your WeChat friends. In chat records, the only message may be a system notice, “You have accepted somebody’s friend request”. Sometimes when seeing some photos shared on “Moments”, you even need several minutes to think about when you became friends. Also, you may be disturbed by mass messages sent from your unfamiliar “friends”, including requests for voting for their children or friends, links from Pinduoduo.com (a Chinese e-commerce platform that allows users to buy items at lower prices if they purchase in groups) and cookie-cutter blessings in holidays.

You would have thought about deleting this type of “friends” and sort out your connections. But actually you did not do that as you were taught that social networking is valuable to one’s success. Besides, it would be really awkward if they found that you have unfriended them already. Then, you keep increasing your “friends” in social media and click “like” on some pictures that you are not really interested. But the fact is that deep emotional connections do not come with the increasing number of your friends in social media.

If the number of your friends reaches 150, maintaining these relationships can be tough to you, and sometimes even will make you anxious. According to Robin Dunbar, 150 is the limit of the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships.

1.What can we learn from Robin Dunbar’s finding in Paragraph 2?

A.A Facebook user has 250 friends on average.

B.Most of the social media friends can be actual friends.

C.Among our social media friends, only a few people matter.

D.Only 15 people of a person’s Facebook friends can be close friends.

2.What does the third paragraph tell us about most of your WeChat friends?

A.You have deep communication with them.

B.You benefit a lot from their mass messages.

C.You just have a nodding acquaintance with them.

D.You become friends with them in important occasions.

3.What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A.We will be anxious if we make friends online.

B.We should avoid making any friends in social media.

C.We should make as many friends as possible in social media.

D.We have difficulty managing relationships with over 150 people.

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.D

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。许多人每天花在微信上的时间超过4个小时，这正在重新定义“朋友”这个词。但是实际上你和你的大部分微信朋友可能只是点头之交而已，但是碍于情面你不能删除这类朋友，却不知道深层的情感联系并不会随着社交媒体上朋友数量的增加而增加。研究人员也指出人们很难处理超过150人的关系。

1.

细节理解题。根据第二段中Robin Dunbar, a professor at Oxford University, found that only 15, of the 150 Facebook friends the average user has, could be counted as actual friends and only five as close friends.可知牛津大学教授Robin Dunbar发现，在Facebook用户平均拥有的150个好友中，只有15个可以算作真正的朋友，只有5个可以算作亲密朋友。由此可知，一个人的Facebook好友中只有15个人可以成为亲密朋友。故选D。

2.

推理判断题。根据第三段中In chat records, the only message may be a system notice, “You have accepted somebody’s friend request”. Sometimes when seeing some photos shared on “Moments”, you even need several minutes to think about when you became friends.可知在聊天记录中，唯一的信息可能是系统通知，“您已接受某人的好友请求”。有时候，当你看到朋友圈里分享的照片时，你甚至需要花几分钟想想你们是怎么成为朋友的。由此可推知，你和你的微信朋友可能只是点头之交而已。故选C。

3.

推理判断题。根据最后一段中If the number of your friends reaches 150, maintaining these relationships can be tough to you, and sometimes even will make you anxious.可知如果你的朋友达到150个，维持这些关系对你来说会很困难，有时甚至会让你焦虑。由此可推知，我们很难处理超过150人的关系。故选D。