<SYSTEM_TASK:>
Solve the following problem using Python, implementing the functions described below, one line at a time
<END_TASK>
<USER_TASK:>
Description:
 def read_dependencies(filename):
 """Read in the dependencies from the virtualenv requirements file. """

    dependencies = []
    filepath = os.path.join('requirements', filename)
    with open(filepath, 'r') as stream:
        for line in stream:
            package = line.strip().split('#')[0].strip()
            if package and package.split(' ')[0] != '-r':
                dependencies.append(package)
    return dependencies