Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBCLearningEnglish.com.

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBCLearningEnglish, I'm Neil.

And I'm Beth.

There's a famous English saying, a friend in need is a friend indeed, and it's true.

Everyone needs friends to share life's ups and downs.

Do you have many friends, Neil?

Yes, I have some close friends.

That may be not as many as I'd like.

That's interesting, because often it's women who have many friends, while then find it

harder to maintain strong friendships, especially as they get older.

In fact, according to one recent survey, only 27% of British men say they have at least

six close friends.

So, is it true that men find it difficult to make friends?

We'll be hearing from Max Dickens, author of a book on male friendship called Billy

No Mates.

And as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

But first, I have a question for you.

We know that close friends are important, not just for having fun, but for good mental

health as well.

So, according to research by Oxford University's Institute of Cognitive Anthropology, how

many close friends do we need for our mental well-being?

Is it A, 5, B, 10 or C, 20?

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