Relationships: problems

1. Friendship
_ I think we should all be more careful in the use of the word 'friend'. It does not and should not, be applied to casual acquaintance (người quen tình cờ).
_ There are colleeagus, allies (bạn đồng minh) and partners - all of them pretending (v- giả vờ) to be friends because it suits their purpose.
_ True friends want nothing from you and don't expect any special favours.
_ We should ask nothing from them except loyalty, despite (prep- bất chấp) our faults. They sould speak well behind our backs. Such friends are hard to find ...

Here are some qualities of friendship and their opposites:

Other key word:
_ Russia and America were allies (countries which fight on the same side) in the Second World War.
_ We were business partners (people who own the same business) but now we're bitter rivals (đối thủ ác liệt) (people in competition with each other in an aggressive (adj- công kích, gây hấn) and negative way)

Example of problematic friendships: Note the prepositions
_ Terry has been disloyal to me on a number of occasions.
_ Jo's always very critical (adj- chỉ trích, phê phán)  of her friends. I don't like that.
_ OK, I was dishonest with you. I'm sorry, but I didn't want to hurt you.

Note these collocation of some of words in the table:
_ Jim has always been scrupulously honest (tuyệt đối trung thực) in his dealings with us.
_ I would never expect complete and unswerving (adj- kiên định) loyalty from a friend.
_ Monica has always been my staunchest ally at work. I can always rely on her to support me.
_ I was amazed that someone who called herself a friend could be so deeply critical.

2. Breakdowns: expressions and collocations
_ Relationships can break down because of genuine misunderstandings.
_ A rift (n- rạn nứt, bất hòa) (serious disagreement that divide people) can develop/emerge between two people or groups.
_ There's been a lot of discord (mối bất hòa) (disagreement and discontent) in the office lately.
_ My father and I don't see eye to eye (have different opinions) on most things.
_ His love affair (n- chuyện) with Anna has turned sour (become bad). I think they'll split up (separate).
_ Our marriage has had its ups and downs (had good and bad moments (n- khoảng thời gian)), but basically we're OK.

a bumpy relationship (up and down like car on a road with bumps)
a broken home (family split up by divorce)
a family feud (n- mối hận thù) (causing bad feeling for many years)

_ You need stauch allies at work who won't let you down.
_ His scrupulous honesty is a quality I greatly admire.
_ I don't know why she was so deeply critical of him; it seemed very unfair.
_ Her complete and unswerving loyalty to him was a mistake, He betrayed (v- phản bội; tiết lộ) her in the end.
_ Ray and Hilary were bitter rivals at work, but seemed to get on well outside of the office.
_ When all my other so-called friends drifted away, Jack always remained a true (loyal) friend to me.

Give the opposite meaning:
_ Rick and his sister shared the same opinion on a lot of things. / Rick and his sister didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things.
_ Her affection for Andrew has grown stronger lately. I expect they'll get engaged./ Her affection for Andrew has truned sour (adj- chua, vị chua) lately, I expect they'll slipt up.
_ Our relationship stayed firm because we always understood eache other. / Our relationship broke down because we always misunerstood each other.

Sadness resulting from a love affair which the other person ended
To dislike someone intensely
To take advantage of every opportunity  to speak badly of someone.
To have a bad relationship with someone.