Friends play an important part in our lives£¬and although

we may take the friendship for granted£¬we often don’t clearly

understand how we make friends.While we get on well with a

number of people£¬we are usually friends with only a few.For

example£¬the average among students is about 6 per person.In all the cases of friendly relationships£¬two people like one another and enjoy being together£¬but beyond that£¬the degree of intimacy between them and the reasons for their shared interests vary greatly.As we get to know people£¬we take into account things like age£¬race£¬economic conditions£¬social position£¬and intelligence.Although these factors are not of great importance£¬it is more difficult to get on with people when there is a marked difference in age and background.