Well-to-do parents are increasingly opting to send their children to single-sex prep schools, reversing the trend of recent year

admin2014-03-22  31

问题     Well-to-do parents are increasingly opting to send their children to single-sex prep schools, reversing the trend of recent years. Last week, Michael Gove told us that we needed to promote a Dangerous Book for Boys culture so that boys could be boys again. At the beginning of this month, it(re-)emerged that there were far fewer male teachers in primary schools to act as role models.
    Underlying this is anxiety about achievement: recent Department for Education figures show that nearly double the number of boys failed to reach expected standards at seven. The gender gap is more than 10 points in English at 11. Behaviour is a worry too. Boys are three and a half times more likely to be excluded, and the figure is worse still if you are a working-class or black boy.
    Today’s answer to the problem seems to be single-sex schools. Yet debates about their value are both age-old and decidedly unresolved. Proponents(倡导者)argue that keeping boys together allows them to expel their "boyish" energy more freely — ensuring they are in line and on task. Girls are said to benefit too, with more support to build self-confidence.
    But there is also evidence in the other direction. A report commissioned by the Headmasters and Headmistresses conference, which represents top private schools, shows that single-sex schools make little difference to outcomes. What’s more, arguing that Eton is a good school because it only admits boys is like saying Wayne Rooney is a good footballer because he wears a nice kit — one does not necessarily lead to the other.
    In practice, the single-sex question is a distraction from what really matters. It sounds obvious, but boys(and girls)will do better if they are taught better by teachers who understand their individual needs. That means skilled practitioners(从业者)using the curriculum creatively to engage and excite every single child in front of them — regardless of their gender. And, incidentally, male and female teachers have equal capacity to get this right.
    Of course this is hard, and I can say I fell short many times. But just by introducing a gender control on the group isn’t going to make it any easier. What about the girl who likes active learning or the boy who is shy? I am not sure they would get a fair deal if our teaching is framed by gender behaviours. In any case, we want kids to be able to excel in response to all learning environments — not just the ones they are comfortable in. So let girls be boisterous(活跃的), and boys self-reflect. And let them learn together, taught by the best teachers we can find.
According to the author, what really matters in children’s education?

选项 A、The gender of teachers.
B、Teachers’ character.
C、Individualised teaching.
D、The curriculum set by schools.

答案C

解析 根据题干中的what really matters将本题出处定位于第5段前两句。该段首句提到,单性问题分散了人们的注意,使人们看不到什么才是关键。第2句说明关键问题是:如果男孩(以及女孩)由明白他们个性需求的老师来教的话,他们表现会更好。由此可知,作者认为关键在于让明白孩子个性需求的老师来教孩子,即个性化教育,故答案为C)。根据该段末句可排除A)。B)在文中未提及。D)是针对curriculum设的干扰项。
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