B)。根据第2段第4句可知，这两种流派大相径庭，每种理论的支持者各执一词，再根据第3、4段分别对这两种理论的阐述，可以推断two distinct schools of thought…have developed指的是“两种有关人类性格和行为形成的不同的理论已经形成”，即B)。这里的school意为“学派”，而非“学校”。
53.Behaviourists believe that __________. A) humans should behave mechanically
B) human behavior patterns are based on biological and genetic factors
C) human behavior is mainly determined by their surroundings
D) factors of the environment have little influence on people's personalities
正确答案为 C 你选对了！
解析：
C)。第4段第1句指出，行为学家宣称，在决定人的言行方面，环境因素比基于本能的生物因素所起的作用更为重要，也就是说人的行为主要由他们周围的环境决定，由此可知C)项正确，同时排除D)。mechanistic一词出现在第4段最后一句，这句话意思是“行为主义者的观点非常机械”，而不是说“行为主义者认为人类应该机械行事”，排除A) ；B)是“天性论”的支持者所持的观点，故排除。
54.How does the author probably explain the different scores between blacks and whites in standardised intelligence tests? A) Blacks are genetically inferior to whites.
B) Blacks don't have the same opportunity for education as whites.
C) Blacks and whites develop different responses. D) Both nature and nurture play a role in this matter. 正确答案为 D 你错选为 C！
解析：
D)。第5段举例说明对标准智力测验中黑人分数低于白人这一现象的解释天性论者和环境论者各执己见。接着最后一段第2句说，解释人类行为的答案可能在环境论和天性论之间。由此可以推断，作者对分数差异现象的解释很可能是D)。
55.The reason why the controversy will continue between nature supporters and nurture supporters for a long time is that __________. A) there are two schools working on it
B) the key to human behaviour is difficult to find
C) both theories make sense
D) either of the theories has gone to an extreme
正确答案为 B 你选对了！
解析：
B)。最后一段末句说，这两种学派之间的争论肯定会持续很长一段时间，其中的the controversy即指天性论者和环境论者之间关于人的行为的争论。联想到首段提到，要想解释清楚人类的性格和行为并非易事，可以推断“争论将会持续很长一段时间”的原因就是“理解人类行为的答案很难找到”，故B)符合文意。其他选项都是“争论将会持续很长一段时间”的体现方式，而不是根本原因。
Single-sex education is the practice of conducting education where male and female students attend separate classes in separate schools. The practice was predominant (突出的) before the mid-twentieth century, particularly in secondary education and higher education. Single-sex education is often advocated on the basis of tradition, as well as religious or cultural values. It is practiced in many parts of the world.
A number of studies starting in the 1990s are showing statistical data that children from single-sex schools are outperforming students from coeducational (男女同校的) schools, although some studies also say that these are non-conclusive. In 2002, because of these studies and bipartisan (两党的) support, the US law of 1972 that made coeducation in public schools mandatory was revoked and funding was given in support of the single-sex option. There are now associations of parents who are advocating for single-sex education.
In some cases, parents are now making the decision to send their child to a single-sex schools for the following reasons. The first one is the teacher-student ratios are typically much higher in the single-sex schools because in most single-sex schools there are smaller class sizes. Secondly, parents and students are often choosing a single-sex learning environment because they think with good reason that their child or themselves will receive a better education. International research has shown that boys and girls perform best when they are taught separately in their teen years.
Critics of the single-sex education argue that segregated learning facilities are inherently unequal. System bias will reinforce gender stereotypes and perpetuate societal inequalities in opportunities afforded to males and females. Single-sex schools in fact accentuate (使??突出) gender-based educational limitations and discrimination. Boy's schools may not offer home economics classes, while girl's schools may not offer metalwork, woodwork or as wide a variety of sports. Some children like larger classrooms. These larger classrooms give them more competition and can even make some students more motivated to work harder. When there are more children in a class people may think children can get lost, but some students think of it as something that pushes them to work harder. Although this statement is the opposite of a single-sex school advantage that was listed
above, this is just further proof that it all depends on each child and that each child requires a learning environment best for her/him.
56.According to the first paragraph, what do we know about single-sex education?
A) It segregates males and females in the same school. B) It began from the mid-twentieth century.
C) It was once overwhelming in secondary education and higher education.
D) It separates itself from tradition, religious and cultural values.
正确答案为 C 你选对了！
解析：
C)。第1段第2句说，这种单一性别教育模式曾一度占主导地位，尤其在中等和高等教育阶段。故C)项符合文意，为正确答案。根据第1段第1句可知，单一性别教育是根据性别把男女生分开，并分别放在不同的学校接受教育，所以A)项不正确，不是把一个学校的学生隔离开接受教育；文中提到这种教育模式在二十世纪中期以前占主导地位，所以B)“开始于二十世纪中期”不正确；文中第3句提到，这种教育模式是基于传统、信仰和文化价值提倡起来的，D)项正好与此相反， 故不正确。
57.The word \ A) supported
B) abolished
C) provoked D) passed
正确答案为 B 你选对了！
解析：
B)。根据第2段第2句中“revoked”一词后面说到的政府开始拨款支持单一性别教育可知，1972年美国法律规定公立学校男女同校教育这一法律被撤销或废除了。所以B)符合题意。A) support（支持）；C) provoke（激起）和D) pass（通过）均不符合题意。