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It appears that when it comes to choosing our friends, much of our choice depends on genes. We are more genetically similar to our friends than we are to strangers.
The theme song to Friends, a 1990s American situation comedy about a bunch of best mates. Two of the characters were related, but if they've been real life friends, the rest of them could have been as biologically close as cousins. Researchers from the University of California have analyzed gene variation in around 2,000 people, comparing pairs of unrelated friends with pairs of unrelated strangers. They found that the friends had about 0.1% more DNA in common on average than strangers did. It's a small fraction that makes a big difference.
It's sort of like their family members. And in fact the number of genes they share in common is so large. And that is almost that they share a common ancestor. It's like their fourth cousins.
The friends were most alike when it came to their sense of smell, but the study suggests that we could be attracted to people with similar traits because it helps us to survive.
If you are the first person that has a mutation and you don't have any friends, you need surround yourself with other people who also have that trait. This is not just the case that people with the best trait, it's the people who have similar genes.
When it comes to our immunities though, the friends, genes were more different than that of the strangers. The scientists say this trend could also give us an evolutionary edge though because if your friends can fight different diseases than you, you are less likely to spread those diseases. It gives a new meaning perhaps to being their bio-friends.
Question 20. What does our choice of friends probably depend on according to the lecture?
Question 21. What do the researchers from the University of California find?
Question 22. Why are we attracted to people with similar traits according to the study?
在结交朋友时，我们的选择似乎取决于基因。我们与朋友的基因比陌生人更相似。
《老友记》是20世纪90年代美国一部关于一群好朋友的幽默剧。其中两名角色是亲戚关系，但是如果他们在现实生活中也是朋友，那么其他几名角色在生理上就有可能像堂亲一样亲近。加利福尼亚大学的研究人员分析了约2000人的基因差异，将没有血缘关系的朋友和没有血缘关系的陌生人相比较。他们发现朋友之间比陌生人之间平均多0.1%的共同DNA。这一个小小的数据却造成了大大的不同。
这有点像家庭成员。其实他们所享有的共同基因数量非常庞大。那几乎意味着他们有共同的祖先。就像他们的第四代堂亲。
朋友之间的嗅觉是最相似的，但是研究表明我们被具有相似特性的人吸引，是因为这有助于我们的生存。
如果你是第一个出现突变的人，而你没有朋友，那么你身边就需要跟你有着相同特性的人。事实并不是人们要有最好的特性，而是要有相似的基因。
不过谈到特殊情况时，也就是朋友之间的基因差异比陌生人还大。科学家称这个趋势可能会给我们带来进化优势，因为如果你的朋友比你更能抵抗不同的疾病，那么你就更不可能会传播这些疾病。这或许会让他们的生物朋友有一个新含义。
问题20 根据这篇演讲，我们对朋友的选择可能取决于什么？
问题21 加利福尼亚大学的研究人员发现了什么？
问题22 根据研究，为什么我们会被具有相似特性的人吸引？
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