6 Minute English / Fighting loneliness with soup

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I m Neil.

And I m Beth.

What s up, Beth? You look a little sad.

Well, recently I ve been spending lots of time with my cat and house plants, if you know what I mean. I m feeling a bit lonely.

It might help to know that you re not the only one feeling lonely. Loneliness has been called the modern epidemic . Although millions of us live together in towns and cities, more and more people report feeling lonely and unconnected to those they live close to.

Loneliness can affect anyone. And while everyone s experience of loneliness is different, its effects can be serious. Research has shown that loneliness puts people at greater risk of many health issues, including dementia and heart disease.

So, how can loneliness be fixed? In this programme, we ll be hearing about one project in the Netherlands aiming to do just that. And, as usual, we ll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well. But first, I have a question for you, Beth. Here in the UK, an organisation called the Campaign to End Loneliness has been offering advice and support since 2011. So according to the Campaign, what proportion of British adults report feeling lonely at least some of the time? Is it:

a) 29%?b) 39%? orc) 49%?

I ll guess it s 39%.