We have a staggering 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 reach 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, at post-natal groups and when taking their toddlers 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.
Almost a quarter of Brits name their partner as their best friend while a fifth name their mum and 14 per their brother or sister.
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.
Professor of Psychology at Manchester University Geoff Beattie said: "At school, college and university we are used to being thrown together with people and having to make a lot of new friendships."
"The age of 21 is such a criticaljunction in life and that's why we have so many friends then."
"As we get older we become more selective and have fewer, closer 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 we share different things with a variety of different people".


据英国《每日邮报》10月31日报道，一项最新的研究显示，在我们21岁时，拥有的朋友数量达到了惊人的99个--这比我们一生中其他任何时候都多。
比较有代表性的21岁年轻人的社交圈子，人数接近于100人，其中有13个"最要好的"朋友，17个"亲密的"朋友，以及70个熟人。
护肤品牌妮维雅进行的这项研究发现，我们的社交圈在21岁时达到顶峰，在这个年纪我们在工作中接触到新的人，同时也保持着与中学大学好友的联系。
但当我们的人生逐渐以工作为主，我们渐渐失去了与一些老友的联系，这导致了好友数的下降，到我们29岁的时候，社交圈的人数大约降至68人。
尽管这种下降趋势会一直持续到老年，但在人们30岁时会略微减慢，许多人在此时第一次为人父母。

这是因为当人们在产科病房、面对产后群体以及在幼儿园谈论自己的孩子时，建立了新的友谊关系。

妮维雅亲密度报告显示，在我们的"最要好朋友"、"亲密朋友"和"熟人"的数量之间存在着一种平衡，这种平衡始终贯穿于我们一生。

英国人均拥有18个亲密好友，如果把Facebook和其他社交网络上的"朋友"也包括在内的话，则每人都拥有一个大约有208人的好友圈。
近四分之一的英国人会把他们的父母归为最好的朋友，五分之一只把妈妈当作好友，而百分之十四的人会把兄弟姐妹囊括在内。

报告发现，男性的亲密好友数有大约27人，是女性的两倍，女性只有12人。

伦敦人最善于交际，有39个"亲密好友"，而威尔士人则只有11个。

曼彻斯特大学心理学教授杰夫·贝蒂说："在中学、学院和大学，我们通常都是被扔进了人堆里，人们也因此建立了许多新的友谊。"
"21岁正是这样一个生命中重要的路口，这也就是为什么我们在那个年龄会有这么多的朋友。"

"当我们年龄渐长，我们变得更加有选择性，能够与自己推心置腹的亲密好友也就越来越少。"

"也许在我们更年轻一些的时候，我们能够与各种不同的人分享不同的事，而不是只拥有一个值得信赖的知己。"

• circle [´sə:kəl] n.圆圈 v.环绕；盘旋 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
• contact [´kɔntækt] n.接触；联系 v.联络 (初中英语单词)
• slightly [´slaitli] ad.轻微地；细长的 (初中英语单词)
• constant [´kɔnstənt] a.坚定的；坚贞的 (初中英语单词)
• partner [´pɑ:tnə] n.伙伴 v.同....合作 (初中英语单词)
• variety [və´raiəti] n.变化；多样(性)；种类 (初中英语单词)
• typical [´tipikəl] a.典型的；象征的 (高中英语单词)
• psychology [sai´kɔlədʒi] n.心理(学) (高中英语单词)
• manchester [´mæntʃistə] n.曼彻斯特 (高中英语单词)
• critical [´kritikəl] a.批评的；关键性的 (高中英语单词)
• briton [´britn] n.布立吞人；英国人 (英语四级单词)
• junction [´dʒʌŋkʃən] n.连接；交叉点 (英语四级单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)