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 and involve them in activities such as art, dance and music.
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, 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 received wisdom that boys do better when taught alongside 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 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.
25. 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
26. It is commonly believed that in a mixed school boys __________.
A. behave more responsibly. B. grow up pore healthily.
C. perform relatively better. D. receive a better education.
27. 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
28. What does the underlined word “acute” in paragraph 8” mean?
A. lovely B. sharp C. serious D. dull