Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 44 to 50.
According to the latest figures, the average number of friends people have on social media is somewhere between 200 and 300. Research suggests that this figure is actually higher for teenagers. But is this a realistic amount? Is it feasible to maintain meaningful relationships with so many people, in particular those you may never actually meet in person?
Nowadays, we are just one click away from making new friends on social media. This has led some people to question just how sincere the friendship is. We're living in a time where we expect things to happen instantly, so is it really all that surprising that the way we form friendships has adapted to this trend? Perhaps it shows how social media has made friendships less sincere, reducing them to a series of meaningless 'adds' and 'likes'.
Real friendships, on the other hand, take time to build. My most important relationships haven't grown out of a few trivial online exchanges. It's taken years of shared experiences to develop strong and lasting bonds. And these for me - and I believe for most other people too - are much more valuable and meaningful. It's something that cannot be replicated on social media, no matter how many times you have 'liked' a person's posts.
It has been suggested that technology is ruining our relationships with other people. However, it seems undeniable that it has now altered people's priorities, and transformed the way that we manage our friendships in the most fundamental ways. Ultimately, though, it's up to us to decide how real and meaningful those friendships truly are.
(Adapted from Open World)
