Contribution of Coeducation

       Imagining being asked to spend twelve or so years of your life in a society which consisted only of members of own sex. How would you react? Unless there was something definitely wrong with you, you wouldn’t be too happy about it, to say the least. It is all the more surprising therefore that so many parents in the world choose to impose such abnormal conditions on their children – conditions which they themselves wouldn’t put up with for one minute!

       Any discussion of this topic is bound to question the aims of education. Stuffing children’s heads full of knowledge is far from being foremost among them. One of the chief aims of educations is to equip future citizens with all they require to take their place in adult society. Now adult society is made up of men and women, so how can a segregated school possibly offer the right sort of preparation for it? Anyone entering adult society after years of segregation can only be in for a shock.

       A co-educational school offers children nothing less than a true version of society in miniature. Boys and girls are given the opportunity to get to know each other, to learn to live together from their earliest years. They are put in a position where they can compare themselves with each other in terms of academic ability, athletic achievement and many of the extra-curricular activities which are part of school life. What a practical advantage it is ( to give just a small example ) to be able to put on a school play in which the male parts will be taken by boys and the female parts by girls! What nonsense co-education makes of the argument that boys are cleverer than girl or vice-versa. When segregated, boys and girls are made to feel that they are a race apart. Rivalry between the sexes is fostered. In a coeducational school, everything falls into its proper place.

       But perhaps the greatest contribution of co-education is the healthy attitude to life it encourages. Boys don’t grow up believing that women are mysterious creatures – airy goddesses, more like book-illustrations to a fairy-tale, than human beings. Girls don’t grow up imagining that men are romantic heroes. Years of living together at school dispel illusions of this kind. There are no goddesses with freckles, pigtails, piercing voices and inky fingers. There are no romantic heroes with knobby knees, dirty fingernails and unkempt hair. The awkward stage of adolescence brings into sharp focus some of the physical and emotional problems involved in growing up. These can better be overcome in a co-educational environment. Segregated schools sometimes provide the right conditions for sexual deviation. This is hardly possible under a co-educational system. When the time comes for the pupils to leave school, they are fully prepared to enter society as well-adjusted adults. They have already had years of experience in coping with many of the problems that face men and women.

What is the best title for this passage?

A only co-education can be in harmony with society.

B people are in great need of co-education.

C any form of education other than co-education is simply unthinkable.

D co-education has many features.

what does co-education offer to children?

A A society.           B A true small model of society.

C A real life.          D True version of social condition.

According to the passage, what is one of the chief aims of education?

A It is for students to acquire knowledge.

B It is to equip future citizens with scientific technology.

C It is to equip future citizens with what is required in getting a position in society.

D It is for students to get academic achievements.

Why do boys and girls in co-education have no illusion about each other?

A They live together and know each other too well.

B Years of living together at school dismiss such illusion.

C co-education encourage them to have an healthy attitude toward life.

D They are familiar with each other’s problems.

 He made a great __________ to the success of the project.

A．contribution                           B．progress

C．distinction                             D．conclusion

A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.
The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.
Survey respondents (受访者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.
The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.
“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.
“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (预防措施),” the authors wrote.
Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.
The authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.
However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded

1. 1.

   According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?

   1. A.
      Optimistic adults
   2. B.
      Middle-aged adults
   3. C.
      Adults in poor health
   4. D.
      Adults of lower income
2. 2.

   Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people ______

   1. A.
      to fully enjoy their present life
   2. B.
      to estimate their contribution accurately
   3. C.
      to take measures against potential risks
   4. D.
      to value health more highly than wealth
3. 3.

   How do people of higher income see their future?

   1. A.
      They will earn less money
   2. B.
      They will become pessimistic
   3. C.
      They will suffer mental illness
   4. D.
      They will have less time to enjoy life
4. 4.

   What is the clear conclusion of the study?

   1. A.
      Pessimism guarantees chances of survival
   2. B.
      Good financial condition leads to good health
   3. C.
      Medical treatment determines health outcomes
   4. D.
      Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age

Contribution of Coeducation
Imagining being asked to spend twelve or so years of your life in a society which consisted only of members of own sex. How would you react? Unless there was something definitely wrong with you, you wouldn’t be too happy about it, to say the least. It is all the more surprising therefore that so many parents in the world choose to impose such abnormal conditions on their children – conditions which they themselves wouldn’t put up with for one minute!
Any discussion of this topic is bound to question the aims of education. Stuffing children’s heads full of knowledge is far from being foremost among them. One of the chief aims of educations is to equip future citizens with all they require to take their place in adult society. Now adult society is made up of men and women, so how can a segregated school possibly offer the right sort of preparation for it? Anyone entering adult society after years of segregation can only be in for a shock.
A co-educational school offers children nothing less than a true version of society in miniature. Boys and girls are given the opportunity to get to know each other, to learn to live together from their earliest years. They are put in a position where they can compare themselves with each other in terms of academic ability, athletic achievement and many of the extra-curricular activities which are part of school life. What a practical advantage it is ( to give just a small example ) to be able to put on a school play in which the male parts will be taken by boys and the female parts by girls! What nonsense co-education makes of the argument that boys are cleverer than girl or vice-versa. When segregated, boys and girls are made to feel that they are a race apart. Rivalry between the sexes is fostered. In a coeducational school, everything falls into its proper place.
But perhaps the greatest contribution of co-education is the healthy attitude to life it encourages. Boys don’t grow up believing that women are mysterious creatures – airy goddesses, more like book-illustrations to a fairy-tale, than human beings. Girls don’t grow up imagining that men are romantic heroes. Years of living together at school dispel illusions of this kind. There are no goddesses with freckles, pigtails, piercing voices and inky fingers. There are no romantic heroes with knobby knees, dirty fingernails and unkempt hair. The awkward stage of adolescence brings into sharp focus some of the physical and emotional problems involved in growing up. These can better be overcome in a co-educational environment. Segregated schools sometimes provide the right conditions for sexual deviation. This is hardly possible under a co-educational system. When the time comes for the pupils to leave school, they are fully prepared to enter society as well-adjusted adults. They have already had years of experience in coping with many of the problems that face men and women

1. 1.

   What is the best title for this passage?

   1. A.
      only co-education can be in harmony with society
   2. B.
      people are in great need of co-education
   3. C.
      any form of education other than co-education is simply unthinkable
   4. D.
      co-education has many features
2. 2.

   what does co-education offer to children?

   1. A.
      A society
   2. B.
      A true small model of society
   3. C.
      A real life
   4. D.
      True version of social condition
3. 3.

   According to the passage, what is one of the chief aims of education?

   1. A.
      It is for students to acquire knowledge
   2. B.
      It is to equip future citizens with scientific technology
   3. C.
      It is to equip future citizens with what is required in getting a position in society
   4. D.
      It is for students to get academic achievements
4. 4.

   Why do boys and girls in co-education have no illusion about each other?

   1. A.
      They live together and know each other too well
   2. B.
      Years of living together at school dismiss such illusion
   3. C.
      co-education encourage them to have an healthy attitude toward life
   4. D.
      They are familiar with each other’s problems