Read the text and answer the question.

What is a friend?

Márcio Paulo Barbosa Pena Mascarenhas

Laurie: To me, a friend is someone who stands by you when you need them, someone who cares. Not like your parents, ________. Parents are either picking on you or telling you off, so sometimes it’s a pain. To a friend you can always open up.

Angela: I agree with Laurie but personally, I don’t think a friend has to be physically around all the time. I have friends that I haven’t seen in years, but I know if we get together, we’ll pick up right where we left off.

Fran: I think a friend is that old pal you’ve always gotten on with. I often look back on my schooldays and I think of the funny things my friends and I did together. As I see it, the friends you make in youth are friends to keep for a lifetime.

Gary: If you ask me, a friend is a person you have fun and relax with. My friends and I talk about movies, sports or politics. I don’t go round telling them my troubles and I don’t particularly want to hear theirs. I believe that if you don’t expect too much from people, you won’t be let down.

Grade 1, Student’s book, Belo Horizonte, 14th edition.