文档介绍：英语早读材料英语早读材料 Are Same-Sex Colleges Still Relevant? Last week, the board of Sweet Briar College, an all-women ’s school in Virginia, announced that it would be permanently shuttered in August due to“ insurmountable financial challenges. ” The school ’s president, James Jones, Jr., attributed the close, in part, to the declining number of“ young women willing to consider a single-sex education. ” Is there still a place for same-sex colleges? Do they play an important role in education, or are they outdated? Sweet Briar Is Fighting an Up-Hill Battle Diane Halpern, the dean of social sciences at Minerva Schools at KGI and former president of the American Psychological Association, is the author of Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities. UPDATED MARCH 10, 2015, 3:31 AM The popular idea that single-sex education benefits es from anecdotes about female leaders who were educated in an era when elite colleges did not admit them. Despite a beautiful campus, dedicated faculty, loyal alumnae and a significant endowment, Sweet Briar College is closing after 114 years. Too few students were choosing Sweet Briar, so the college discounted its tuition rate, a move that exacerbated its financial problems but did not eed in attracting enough students. Asa small, rural, liberal arts women's college, Sweet Briar was fighting an up-hill battle against many trends in higher education. Although all of these variables probably contributed to the lack of student interest, President James Jones, Jr. acknowledged that declining interest in single-sex education was decisive in its demise. Data supports this conclusion: According to the Women's College Coalition, the number of women ’s colleges declined from 230 to little more than 40 in the last half-century. By many measures, today's women are flourishing in higher education and do not need a protected environment to develop their intellectual potential. Women are eolled in higher education at higher rates than men and achieve bet