We have an amazing 99 friends at the age of 21--more than at any other time in our life, according to a new study. The typical 21-year-old’s social circle nearly hits 100, with 13 “best” friends, 17 “close” friends and 70 acquaintances.
The research undertaken by skin care brand Nivea found our social circle peaks at 21 as we meet people at work while keeping in touch with friends from school and university. But as our working lives take over，we lose contact with some old friends causing the number to drop to around 68 by the time we are 29 years old. Although this decline continues into old age，it slows down slightly for people in their 30s when many of them become first-time parents. It is believed that this is because people form new friendships while on the maternity ward(产科病房)，at post­-natal(产后) groups and when taking their toddlers(学步时期的小孩) to nursery.
The Nivea Closeness Report found the balance between our numbers of “best friends”，“close friends” and “acquaintances”，remains fairly constant throughout our lifetime. The average Briton has 18 close friends and a friendship circle，when all Facebook and other social networking “friends” are included，of 208 people. The report found that men have more than twice the number of close friends，with around 27 compared to women who have just 12. Londoners are also the most sociable，with 39 “close friends”，while the Welsh have just 11.
The age of 21 is such a critical junction in life and that’s why we have so many friends then. As we get older we become more selective and have fewer close friends with whom we talk about the things that are really important to us. Perhaps when we are younger，instead of having one trusted confidante(知己) we share different things with a variety of different people.
According to the Nivea Closeness Report，who have the largest number of close friends?

A．Canadians.	B．The Welsh.
C．Londoners.	D．Americans.

Older people have fewer friends than the 21-­year­-olds because        .

A．they think friends are no longer important

B．they are more selective and cautious

C．they are less interested in making friends

D．they have little time to make friends

The research suggests that the number of friends in one’s late twenties reduces by     or so, compared to that in one’s early twenties.

A．70

B．20

C．30

D．200

Why does the number of one’s friends decrease slowly when he is about 30 years old?

A．Because they achieve success in business and get acquainted with more colleagues.

B．Because many parents make friends with people who have similar experiences in bringing up children .

C．Because they make more friends through Facebook or the Internet.

D．Because as they grow older, they have more confidantes instead of acquaintances.