Loneliness- Open Cloze Test

Posted by: a2cristina | January 8, 2019

Loneliness- Open Cloze Test

CLOZE TEST

Fill in the blanks with a suitable word, either a preposition / adverb, a conjunction, an adjective, or a comparative.

Loneliness is 0) _________ the rise in the U.S., and no one is immune. Research published earlier this year found that people 18 to 22 years old were more 1) __________ than any other U.S. population to be lonely. But new data suggests that older adults are also lonely in high numbers.

More than a third of adults 2) __________ 45 are lonely, according to a new report from the AARP Foundation[1]. While that percentage (35%) remains unchanged 3) __________ a 2010 version of the survey, the 45-something population has increased substantially during those eight years — meaning about 5 million more adults, 4) __________ 48 million in total, can now be considered lonely.

In the new research, more than 3,000 adults answered questions on the UCLA [2]Loneliness Scale, a 20-item survey designed to measure social connection and loneliness. They also answered questions 5) __________ their health, lifestyles, socioeconomic profiles, social networks and more.

The report found that people who were physically isolated and who had small social networks are probably more lonely, 6) __________ those who reported large and diverse social groups; frequent contact with friends, neighbors and family members; involvement in community and religious groups; marriage; and regular sexual activity were expected to feel less lonely.

Good mental and physical health were also associated with 7) __________ levels of loneliness — which isn’t surprising, since loneliness and social isolation are linked to a range of health issues, 8) __________ substance use and heart problems. Adults with higher levels of education and income, two factors consistently linked to better health, were also expected be less lonely, the report found.

Consistent with past research, the report also found that loneliness levels decreased with age. Forty-six percent of adults 9) __________ 45 to 49 were classified as lonely, compared to just 24% of those older than 70. This trend could reflect the well-established “dip in happiness” that tends to occur around middle-age, followed by better quality of life in the later years, the report says. It’s also possible that, because loneliness is associated with a number of health problems, people who report high levels of loneliness are 10) __________ likely to live into older age.

The survey points to the importance of maintaining meaningful relationships— and suggests that when it comes to social contacts, more is better. Those who qualified as lonely tended to have fewer people with whom they said they could “discuss matters of personal importance” or turn to for support. And there seems to be something special about seeing people in person: 11) __________ the fact that older adults’ use of social media increased substantially between 2010 and 2018, the habit didn’t seem to make a dent in loneliness rates, the report says. In fact, frequently interacting with acquaintances 12) __________ social media seemed to modestly increase a person’s likelihood of being lonely.

Of course, contacting loved ones is easier for people who already have robust social networks in place. But the finding still suggests that reaching out to others is a healthy habit worth emulating

Adapted from @time magazine

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the AARP Foundation: (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) is a United States-based interest groupwhose stated mission is “to empower people to choose how they live as they age.”

[2] UCLA: University of California at Los Angeles. UCLA

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