Question

Traditionally, across the world, boys and girls attend a mixed school, where they study together. But boys' schools are the perfect place to teach young men to express their emotions (情感) and encourage them to take part in activities such as art, dance and music.

Boys at single-sex schools were said to be more likely to take part in cultural and artistic activities that helped develop their emotional expressiveness, rather than feeling they had to correspond to(和…相符) the "boy code" of hiding their emotions to be a "real man".

The findings of the study go against accepted wisdom that boys do better when taught together with girls.

Tony Little, head master of Eton, warned that boys were being failed by the British education system because it had become too focused on girls. He criticized teachers for failing to recognize that boys are actually more emotional than girls.

The research argued that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they become discouraged when girls do better earlier in speaking and reading skills.

But in single-sex schools teachers can tailor (量身定做) lessons to boys' learning style, letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom, wrote the study's author, Abigail James, of the University of Virginia.

Teachers could encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with "boy-focused" approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them. Because boys generally have more acute vision, learn best through touch, and are physically more active, they need to be given "hands-on" lessons where they are allowed to walk around. "Boys in mixed schools view classical music as feminine（女性的） and prefer the modern genre （类型） in which violence and sexism are major themes," James wrote.

Single-sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel that they had to be "masterful and in charge" in relationships. "In mixed schools, boys feel forced to act like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means," the study reported.

1.The author believes that a single-sex school would __________.

A. force boys to hide their emotions to be "real men"

B. help boys to be more competitive in schools.

C. encourage boys to express their emotions more freely

D. naturally strengthen boys’ traditional image of a man

2.It is commonly believed that in a mixed school boys __________.

A. behave more responsibly.  

B. grow up more healthily.

C. perform relatively better.  

D. receive a better education.

3.According to Abigail James, one of the advantages of single-sex schools is __________.

A. teaching can be tailored to suit the characteristics of boys

B. boys can focus on their lessons without being distracted

C. boys can choose to learn whatever they are interested in

D. teaching can be designed to promote boys' team spirit

4.What does the underlined word “acute” in paragraph 8 mean?

A. lovely   B. sharp   C. serious  D. dull

Answer

1.C

2.C

3.A

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：区别于男女混合的学校，有人认为男孩在单一性别学校里更容易涉足文化艺术活动，有助于培养他们的情感表达能力。文中作者介绍了对此进行的一项调查结果，对男女混校和单一性别学校里男孩子的表现进行了分析。

1.C细节理解题。根据文章首段But boys' schools are the perfect place to teach young men to express their emotions 和第二段Boys at single-sex schools were said to be more likely to get involved in cultural and artistic activities that helped develop their emotional expressiveness,可知有人认为单一性别学校有助于培养男孩在情感方面的表达，故选C.

2.C细节理解题。根据文章第三段The findings of the study go against received wisdom that boys do better when taught alongside girls.可知人们普遍的看法是在男女混合的学校里男生做的更好，选C

3.A细节理解题。根据第五段Abigail James书里写的内容 But in single-sex schools teachers can tailor lessons to boys' learning style, letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom, 可知他认为在单一性别学校，老师可以根据男孩的性格特点来制定和调整相应的教学方式，选A

4.vision, learn best through touch, and are physically more active, they need to be given "hands-on" lessons where they are allowed to walk around.可知男孩子反应灵敏，适合他们的学习方法是通过触觉和动手操作，由此推断此处是指男孩子视觉敏锐，acute“敏锐的”与B项同义，故选B.

考点：考查社会教育类短文阅读

【名师点睛】

关于词义猜测题

做这种类型的题，要根据词、词组、句子所在的语境上下文来判断其意义。因此熟练掌握一些猜词技巧是做好这类题的关键。命题者在出这类题时惯用常规词义来麻痹考生，我们要特别注意熟词生义，切不可脱离语境主观臆断。

下面结合文本及近几年高考试题，对词义猜测的技巧加以解读。

1.根据定义或上下文解释进行猜测

有时短文中出现一个需要猜测其意义的词或短语，下面接着出现其定义或解释，这就是判断该词或短语意义的主要依据。例如：It will be very hard but also very brittle—that is, it will break easily.从后面that is(也就是说)的解释中我们可以了解到brittle 是“脆”的意思。

2.根据同位关系进行猜测

阅读中出现的难词有时后面紧跟一个同位语，对前面的词进行解释，这时可利用同位关系对前面或后面的词义或句意进行猜测。例如：The “Chunnel”, a tunnel(隧道) connecting England and France, is now complete.此句中a tunnel connecting England and France是Chunnel的同位语。因此，The “Chunnel”就是英法之间的海底隧道。

3.根据构词法(前缀、后缀、复合、派生等)进行猜测

在英语中，有很多词可以在前面加前缀，在后面加后缀，从而构成一个词，乍看起来，这个词可能是新词，但掌握了一定的构词知识，就不难猜出它的词义。例如：“Our parties are aimed for children 2 to 10,” Anaclerio said, “and they’re very interactive and creative in that they built a sense of drama based on a subject.”文中interactive是由前缀inter-(相互的)和active(活动的，活跃的)而构成的，同时根据上下文的意思可以判断，该词的含义应是“互动的”。

4.根据转折或对比关系进行猜测

根据上下句的连接词，如but, however, otherwise等就可以看到前后句在意义上的差别，从而依据某一句的含义，来确定另一句的含义。另外，分号也可以表示转折、对比或不相干的意义。例如：A child’s birthday party doesn’t have to be a hassle; it can be a basket of fun.从前后两句的意思可以看出，hassle和a basket of fun肯定是近乎相反的意义。所以不难判断hassle的意思是“困难，麻烦”。