Section C

Passage 1

Single-sex education can have enormous benefits for female students. Numerous studies have shown that women who attend single-sex schools tend to have stronger self-confidence, better study habits and more ambitious career goals than women who attend coeducational schools. Girls who graduate from single-sex schools are three times more likely to become engineers than those who attend coeducational schools. The reason is that all-girls schools encourage women to enter fields traditionally dominated?by men such as science, technology and engineering.?In?coeducational schools, girls are often?expected?to succeed only in humanities or the art. Research has also shown that in coeducational settings, teachers are more likely to praise and give in-depth responses to boys’ comments in class. In contrast, they might only respond to a girl’s comments with a nod. They are also more likely to encourage boys to work through problems on their own, while they tend to step in and help girls who struggle with a problem. ?

In an all girls setting, girls are more likely to speak up frequently and make significant contributions to class than in a coeducational setting. Girls studying in a single-sex setting also earn higher scores on their College Board and advanced placement exams than girls who study in coeducational settings. All girls schools tend to be smaller than coeducational schools, which means teachers would be able to tailor the materials to girl students’ personal?learning styles and interest.

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Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.

Q16: What advantage does the speaker say girls from single-sex schools have over those from coeducational schools?

Q17: What do teachers tend to do in coeducational settings?

Q18: What are teachers more likely to do in an all-girls’ school?

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16. B

17. C

18. D

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