24 Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the characteristic of lonely people? 
(A)They think they are not popular. 
(B)They have unrealistic expectations. 
(C)They tend to be young. 
(D)They are skillful at making friends.

Loneliness is not the same as being alone. A person can be just as lonely in a group of people as when home alone. Loneliness is a feeling of being unconnected with other people, or wanting to be with someone who isn’t there, or having no one to turn to求助于 who can affirm證實；確認 one’s essential human qualities.      

From time to time不時地, loneliness afflicts痛苦、折磨 nearly everyone. It is usually provoked by a lost connection with significant重要、顯著 people in one’s life. This loneliness is usually temporary and eases off停止、緩和 with time as one discovers that one can still enjoy life despite不管、僅管 the loss. But chronic loneliness comes more from within individuals than it does from circumstances條件，情況 imposed強制實行, 強加、期望、麻煩 from outside. This kind of lonely people tend to blame責備；責怪 their loneliness on themselves, on their personality and appearance. Besides, lonely people tend not to like the people they meet and assume假定，假設 those people don’t like them. They also lack the skills needed to establish meaningful意義深長, caring contact with others.    

Other surveys調查 showed that lonely people know and interact with相互作用 other people as the non-lonely do, but the lonely tend to have unrealistic不切實際 standards or expectations about the relationships that get in the way 妨礙 of forming close friendship. Surveys調查 have shown the loneliest people tend to be adolescents and young adults. Contrary相反的，對立 to popular belief, the elderly（帶有敬意）年老 are less lonely than people in other age groups, perhaps because the elderly have more realistic expectations.