WHAT can help you make a fortune in the future? Graduating from a top university might not be enough．A new study from the University of Essex in Britain has shown that the more friends you have in school, the more money you'll earn later．

The idea that popularity could have a serious influence on one's earning potential shouldn't come as too much of a surprise．The researchers noted that if you want to get ahead in life, social skills and networking are easily as powerful as talent and hard work．

"If a person has lots of friends, it means that he or she has the ability to get along with others in all kinds of different situations," said Xu Yanchun, 17, from Nantou High School in Shenzhen, who totally agreed with the recent finding．" Also, friends always help each other．They not only create wider social circles for you but lift your mood when you are occasionally in low spirits," said Xu．She believed that all this helps you “earn a higher salary”．

Maybe that's why some people think the younger generations are in the age of Friendalholism （交友狂症）?A woman even complained that the networking website Facebook's 5,000-friend limit was too low for her large reserve of social contacts．

But what does a friend mean? Should friends be regarded as a form of currency?

"Call me uncool, but I think of a friend as an actual person with whom I have an actual history and whom I enjoy actually seeing．It seems, however, ．that this is no longer the definition of ' friend'," said Meghan Daum, who works with The Los Angeles Times in the US．

Daum dislikes the idea that quantity trumps quality in the age of friendaholism．She thought the idea of friendship, at least among the growing population of Internet social networkers, was to get as many of not-really -friends as possible．For example, a friend might be someone you might know personally but who could just as easily be the friend of a friend of some other Facebook friend you don't actually know．Although she agreed that social ties grease （润滑） the wheels of life, she also warned, "Too bad one thing money can't buy is a real friend．"

1．What can friends do in the eyes of Xu Yanchun?

       A．They can help you with your schoolwork．

       B．They teach you how to make more money．

       C．They introduce their friends to you．

       D．They help you to get rid of sadness and cheer up．

2．What will be needed if you are to achieve success according to the researchers?

       A．Social skills, friends, good mood and fortune．

       B．Social skills, talent, hard work and the facebook．

       C．Social skills, networking, potential and fortune．

       D．Social skills, networking, talent and hard work．

3．We learn that Meghan Daum's attitude towards friends-is somewhat____．

       A．up-to-date        B．traditional           C．confused             D．optimistic

4．What does the word "trumps" in the last paragragh mean?

       A．is worse than     B．is equal to            C．is better than    D．is similar to

WHAT can help you make a fortune in the future? Graduating from a top university might not be enough．A new study from the University of Essex in Britain has shown that the more friends you have in school, the more money you’ll earn later.

The idea that popularity could have a serious influence on one’s earning potential shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise．The researchers noted that if you want to get ahead in life, social skills and networking are easily as powerful as talent and hard work.

“If a person has lots of friends, it means that he or she has the ability to get along with others in all kinds of different situations,” said Xu Yanchun, 17, from Nantou High School in Shenzhen, who totally agreed with the recent finding．“Also, friends always help each other．They not only create wider social circles for you but lift your mood when you are occasionally in low spirits,” said Xu．She believed that all this helps you “earn a higher salary.”

Maybe that’s why some people think the younger generations are in the age of Friendalholism （交友狂症）? A woman even complained that the networking website Facebook’s 5,000-friend limit was too low for her large reserve of social contacts.

But what does friend mean? Should friends be regarded as a form of currency?

“Call me uncool, but I think of a friend as an actual person with whom I have an actual history and whom I enjoy actually seeing．It seems, however, that this is no longer the definition of friend”, said Meghan Daum, who works with The Los Angeles Times in the US.

Daum dislikes the idea that quantity trumps quality in the age of friendaholism．She thought the idea of friendship, at least among the growing population of Internet social networkers, was to get as many of not-really-friends as possible．For example, a friend might be someone you might know personally but who could just as easily be the friend of a friend of some other Facebook friend you don’t actually know．Although she agreed that social ties grease（润滑）the wheels of life, she also warned．“ Too bad one thing money can’t buy is a real friend.”

1．What can friends do in the eyes of Xu Yanchun?

A．They can help you with your schoolwork.

B．They teach you how to make more money．

C．They help you to get rid of sadness and cheer up

D．They introduce their friends to you.

2．What will be needed if you are to achieve success according to the researchers?

A．Social skills, friends, good mood and fortune.

B．Social skills, networking, talent and hard work.

C．Social skills, networking, potential and fortune.

　 D．Social skills, talent, hard work and the facebook.

3．We learn that Meghan Daum’s attitude towards friends-is somewhat　　 .

　 A．up-to-date B．optimistic　 C．confused 　 D．traditional

4．What does the word “trumps” in the last paragraph mean?

　 A．is better than　 　　　　　 B．is equal to　　 　 C．is worse than D．is similar to

One day a famous speaker gave a speech to a crowd of people. He held up a   21   bill. He asked, “Who would like this $20 bill ? ” Hands were   22  . Then he said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first let me do this.” He began to crumple（弄皱）the   23 . He then asked the audience, “   24  still wants it ?” Still the hands went  25  in the air.

“ What   26  I do this? ” He asked, and he  27  it on the ground, and started to step on it. He  28  it up. Now the bill was  29  and crumpled. “ Now who still wants it?” Still the hands went up.

“My friends,” He continued, “You have all  30   a good lesson . No matter   31  I did to the money, you still wanted it because the bill did not lose its  32 . It was still worth $20. Many times in our   33 , we are dropped, crumpled, and stepped on, because we sometimes  34  wrong decisions, or we may   35  with something we do not   36 .When that happens, we feel depressed and think we are   37 . But in fact no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. The worth of our life comes not   38  what we do or whom we know, but in who we are! Don’t forget ‘the worth of a thing does not depend on its outside   39  , but on its inner value.’ This is the   40  of life.