008 friends
Beginner
A: I had a big argument with david yesterday. I hope he’s not still mad at me.
B: what did you argue about?
A: he borrowed some money from me and I needed it back. He said he didn’t have the money yet.
B: well, he should pay out back. It’s only fair.
A: yes, but is got angry with him too quickly. He probably thought that I mistrusted him. I shouldn’t have got angry.
B; did you lend him a lot of money?
A; not much. I had to pay an unexpected bill, so I needed the money back.
B; well, talk to him about it next time you see him. He probably feels as bad about it as you do. Close friends sometimes have disagreements. It’s nothing unusual. Neither of you said anything really nasty, did you?
A: no , we didn’t. I guess you’re right. We should patch things up.
B: of course you should. You wouldn’t want a silly argument to ruin a long friendship, would you?

Intermediate
A: what kind of qualities do you look for in your friends?
B: I like people who are open and friendly. Those people are usually more active and fun to be with. I like spending time with my friends. We go to bars together or play sports together.
A: I don’t like to make friends with people who aren’t honest. Honesty is very important to me.
B: I think it’s important to most people. The problem is that you can usually only find out if someone is honest by getting to know them.
A; you can find out from their friends.
B: if you know any of their friends. You can’t rely on your friends to introduce people to you all the time. You have to go out and make the first move sometimes. I also like funny people.
A: oh, I don’t. they don’t seem to take anything seriously. You never know when they are joking and when they are being serious.
B: sometimes it can be hard to tell, but if you know the person fairly well, you can usually see from their expression what they are really thinking.
A: it seems that we generally like different kinds of people. How is it that we are such good friends?
B; maybe people don’t like to have friends that are all same. Most people like a little variety in their lives-including a variety of characteristics in their friends.

Words
Old friends close friends boy/girl friends best friend mate pal buddy schoolmate classmate acquaintance lifelong friend pen-friend

Phrases
Make friends with
Get together
Be friendly with
Get to know
Introduce(to)
Get on well with
Drift apart
Fall out