“In general, the role of friendship in our lives isn’ t well appreciated，” said Rebecca G. Adams, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. “There are a lot of things on families and marriage, but very little on friendship. It baffles me. Friendship has a bigger impact on our psychological wellbeing than family relationships.”

　　Bella DePaulo, a visiting psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, whose work focuses on single people and friendships, notes that in many studies, friendship has an even greater effect on health than a spouse or a family member.

　　It isn’ t entirely clear why friendship has such a big effect. It may be because people with strong social ties also have better access to health services and care. Beyond that, however, friendship clearly has a profound psychological effect. People with strong friendships are less likely than others to get colds, perhaps because they have lower stress levels.

　　Last year, researchers studied 34 students at the University of Virginia, taking them to the base of a steep hill and fitting them with a weighted backpack. They were then asked to estimate the steepness of the hill. Some participants stood next to friends during the exercise, while others were alone.

　　The students who stood with friends gave lower estimates of the steepness of the hill. And the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.

【2016届高考英语二轮专题总复习精选综合能力专练：阅读理解14】相关文章：

★ 【三维设计】2017届高考英语（江苏专用）二轮复习素材：高考单词3.高中单词分类记忆

★ 2013高考英语冲刺-专项篇 3阅读理解

★ （全国通用）2014届高考英语一轮单元复习 限时强化训练四

★ 【人教版】2014届高考英语一轮复习指导考点针对练：必修5 unit4《Making the news》

★ 2016高考英语听力提升素材

★ 安徽省淮南市2014高考英语一轮单项选择及文章训练（14）及答案

★ 2017届高考英语二轮复习大题冲关秘籍语法填空：体验真题（含解析）

★ 湖南省汝城二中2014届高考英语一轮复习阅读训练 (22)

★ 湖南省汝城二中2014届高考英语一轮复习阅读训练 (3)

★ 【北师大版】2014届高考英语一轮复习指导课时作业：Unit 7 A卷 Word版含解析