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

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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.
What’s the trend of recent years according to the passage?

选项 A、More rich parents choose single-sex education for their kids.
B、Male teachers enjoy increasing popularity among parents.
C、Boys from working class start to catch up with girls in study.
D、Many people send their children to mixed-sex prep schools.

答案D

解析 根据题干中的the trend of recent years将本题出处定位于首段首句。该句提到,越来越多条件优越的家长选择将孩子送到单一性别学校,与近些年来的趋势正好相反。由此可推断出,近些年来的趋势是将孩子送到混合性别的学龄前学校,故答案为D),同时排除A)。文中仅提到男性教师少,并未说男性教师越来越受家长欢迎,故排除B)。根据第2段末句可排除C)。
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