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．

Far from the traditional image of a culture of aggressive masculinity （阳刚）, the absence of girls gives boys the chance to develop without pressure to obey a stereotype （陈规旧俗）, a US study says.

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 obey 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, headmaster 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 their female peers 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, an 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 modem type in which violence and sexism are major themes, "James wrote．

Single-sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel they had to obey a stereotype that men should 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．encourage boys to express their emotions more freely

C．help to cultivate masculine aggressiveness in boys

D．naturally reinforce in boys the traditional image of a man

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

A．perform relatively better

B．grow up more healthily

C．behave more responsibly

D．receive a better education

3.What docs Tony Little say about the British education system?

A．It fails more boys than girls academically．

B．It focuses more on mixed school education．

C．it fails to give boys the attention they need．

D．It places more pressure on boys than on girls．

4.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

5.Which of the following is characteristic of boys according to Abigail James' report?

A．They enjoy being in charge．

B．They obey stereotypes．

C．They are violent and sexist．

D．They have sharper vision．

If you want to deal with the association (交往) between boys and girls properly, here are some advice for you to follow.
1) Keep a normal and healthy state of mind. Our schools and classes are made up of boys and girls. It is very natural for the boys and girls to contact each other and build up the friendship with the students of the other sex. Generally speaking, we should broaden the circle of the association. We should make as many friends as possible. We should have more friends of the opposite sex instead of one or two. We should contact the students in public instead of in secret. 
2) Contact students of opposite sex warmly, generously and sincerely. Don’t be too nervous or too shy in contact with a person of the opposite sex. In that case it is very difficult for you to make a lot of friends, as no one likes a person who is too shy to say a word. If you are too shy a person, you can also find a way out. First of all, you can contact the students with the same interest and hobby with you. As both of you have much in common, you may have much to talk about. If you keep doing like that, little by little, you will gladly find you are also as free to express yourself as others.
3) Don't fall into the ditch (泥潭) of early love. The boys and girls at adolescence(青春期)are rich in feelings and full of imagination. They are easy to regard the friendship as a sign of love, and fall in love with other at an early age. In my opinion, boys and girls at middle school are too young and too tender to shoulder the heavy duty of love. Early love is a green apple that can't be eaten. An apple won't taste sweet until it is fully ripe. Do keep out of early love.
1  The underlined word “broaden” in the passage means ________.
A. close down         B. make small        C. make broad         D. make known
2. We should contact (交往)the student of the opposite sex in the following ways EXCEPT ________.
A. with a good state of mind            B. in public
C. in secret                          D. warmly and generously
4. A person at adolescence is NOT ________.
A. rich in feelings                    B. full of imagination   
C. old enough to fall in love            D. easy to regard the friendship as a sign of love
4. The best title of the passage is ________.
A. The early love
B. Some advice on how to associate between boys and girls
C. The contact does good not only to the boys but also to the girls
D. How to talk with a girl

Davey wanted to play baseball. But fifty years ago, in his small town, he couldn’t find enough players for two full teams or an empty lot big enough for a field. And when he played ball in his back yard, he just broke windows and got into trouble. So Davey began playing with a plastic golf ball and a broom handle for a bat.
When his dad, David Mullaney, a former semi-pro baseball pitcher(投手), realized his son was hurting his arm trying to throw curves with the little plastic ball, he decided to find a better solution. Mullaney got a bunch of hollow plastic spheres from a local factory, sat down at his kitchen table and began cutting different size holes in the balls with a razor knife. He thought maybe the holes would alter the ball’s flight and help his son throw curves and sliders without hurting his arm.
All the balls failed—except the one with the eight oblong(长椭圆形的) holes cut into one of the hemispheres. This ball curved naturally and sharply without a violent snap of the wrist. In fact, Davey was now striking out so many batters; he called his new ball a “wiffle ball”. A year later, Mullaney borrowed $20,000 from family and friends and started producing Wiffle Balls in his little suburban town of Shelton, Connecticut.
“I didn’t want investors.” He said, “I wanted to control my own company.” This was the beginning of one of the hottest fads(时尚) of the fifties and a perennial(长久的) best seller well known all around the world. Since then millions of boys and girls have enjoyed countless hours of safe, wholesome fun playing with a Wiffle ball and bat. Esquire Magazine has even called the Wiffle Ball “a national treasure”. By producing a high quality product at an affordable price, three generations of Mullany’s have enjoyed the satisfaction and benefits of running a successful and profitable family business.
Over the years, they’ve had plenty of offers to buy them out, but they’re still working out of a small factory in Shelton, making a new Wiffle Ball every couple of seconds. Creativity and persistence are two of the important sources for wealth. If he gave up his attempts at trying new things, Mullany would not have invented the wiffle ball, nor would he have made such a big fortune.
1.From the passage we can know that           .          

A．Mullaney made the invention of Wiffle ball with the help of his son

B．fifty years ago people didn’t like playing baseball very much

C．Mullaney’s attempts to help Davey better enjoy ball-playing led to the invention of Wiffle ball

D．playing balls would hurt one’s arm before the Wiffle ball’s appearance

2.All the following are true EXCEPT         .

A．Davey was a good ballplayer after the Wiffle ball came into existence

B．David Mullaney wanted to run the family business on his own

C．Mullaney’s family made a big fortune through the production of Wiffle balls

D．Mullaney’s business was nearly bought out but they worked hard to keep it

3.The underlined word “spheres” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to         .

A．balls? B．bottles? C．bags? D．boxes

4.The two important factors for Mullaney’s successful family business are         .

A．time and fortune　? B．persistence and creativity

C．quality and fame 　 D．cooperation and efforts

5.The passage mainly tells us something about         .

A．Davey, a famous baseball player????????????? B．a popular ball game in the 1950’s

C．the birth of Wiffle ball 　　　　　????????????? D．the success of a family business

 I used to watch her from my kitchen window. She seemed so small as she muscled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground. The school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids as they played during break. I remember the first day I saw her playing basketball. I watched in wonder as she ran circles around the other kids. She managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net. The boys always tried to stop her but no one could. I began to notice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone.

One day I asked her why she practiced so much. Without a moment of hesitation she said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is to get a scholarship. I am going to play college basketball. I want to be the best. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” Well, I had to give it to her—she was determined. I watched her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her school team to victory.

One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head in her arms. I walked across the street and sat down in the cool grass beside her. Quietly I asked what was wrong. “Oh, nothing,” came a soft reply, “I am just too short.” The coach told her that at 5’5” she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team—much less offered a scholarship—so she should stop dreaming about college. She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They just did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she truly wanted a scholarship and that nothing could stop her except one thing — her own attitude.

The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was offered a scholarship and on the college team. She was going to get the college education that she had dreamed of.

1.The author was probably the girl’s        .

A. brother or sister            B. friend       C. mother          D. teacher

2.Why was the girl heartbroken ?

A. She was considered too short to be a top player.

B. Her coach stopped her training because of her height.

C. She couldn’t be on a college basketball team.

D. She wouldn’t be admitted by an ideal college.

3. We can learn from the passage that        .

A. her family wouldn’t like to pay her college fee

B. her father forced her to play basketball in collage

C. being a top basketball player can win you a scholarship for college

D. she wouldn’t like to turn to his father for help when in difficulty

4.Which word can best describe her father ?

A. Encouraging.     B. Optimistic.      C. Stubborn.            D. Cruel.

5.Which proverb best matches the story ?

A. Practice makes perfect.              B. Rome was not built in a day.

C. Where there is a will, there is a way.    D. Pride comes before a fall.

If we want to deal with the association（交往） between boys and girls properly, here are some “dos and don’ts” for you to follow.

Keep a normal and healthy state of mind. Our schools and classes are made up of boys and girls. It is very natural for the boys and girls to make friends with each other. We should make as many friends as possible. We should keep in touch with the other sex（性别） in public instead of in secret.

Don’t be too nervous or too shy. If you are a shy person, you can also find a way out. First of all, you can make friends with the students who have the same interest and hobby as you. As both of you have much in common, you may have much to talk about. If you keep doing like that, little by little, you will gladly find you are also as free to express yourself as others.

Don’t fall into the ditch of early love. The boys and girls at adolescence（青春期） are rich in feeling. They are easy to regard the friendship as a sign of love and fall in love with each other at an early age. In my opinion, early love is a green apple that can’t be eaten. An apple won’t taste sweet until it is fully ripe. Boys and girls at middle school are too young to carry the heavy duty of love. Do keep out of early love.

1.The main idea of the passage is to ______.

2.We should keep in touch with the other sex in the following EXCEPT ______.

3. If you are a shy person, you can _______.

4.What does the underlined word “ditch” mean?