Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 44 to 50.

Being bullied in school is not “part of growing up” or just a “rite of passage.” Some children who endure bullying never get over the fear and the humiliation, according to Mr. Barone. By working together, schools and parents can make going to school an experience that students will enjoy, not dread. Students who are the victims of bullies and school officials who hold the power to stop them have very different perceptions of the problem. This difference has hindered effective prevention efforts. Bullying is a situation when a student or group of students is mean to you over a long period of time (weeks or even months). Bullying can either be physical (hitting, kicking, and so on) or it can be verbal (threats, name calling, gossiping, or ignoring). Using this definition, the school staff member were asked to estimate the percentage of the students in their schools who had been victimized by bullying. On average, the staff member believed that 16% of the students had been victims of bullies. The students in the same schools were asked whether they had ever been bothered by a bully or bullies while you were in middle school. And 58.8 % of the students surveyed said that they had. The size of the difference in perceptions between students and school staff members suggests that the staff members do not recognize the extent of the bullying that students face. Bullying just does not seem to be “that big a problem” to the staff. The same survey uncovered some interesting facts. Contrary to what many of us believe, bullying in school does not primarily involve boys. Popular portrayals, such as The Lord of the Flies and the Lords of Discipline, which depict only boys as both the bullies and the victims, do not reflect reality. As shown in this study, only 47% of the victims of bullying in middle school are boys. Thus, according to the students’ own perceptions, the majority (53%) of the victims of bullies are girls. Not surprisingly, the bullying that takes place among boys tends to be more physical (punching, kicking, pushing, and so on) than that which takes place among girls (which is usually more verbal in nature). Among the students who said that the bullying they had experienced was mostly physical, 89.3% were boys. Among those students who said that the bullying they experienced was mostly verbal, 67.1% were girls). Among all students surveyed, 10% indicated that they had been physically injured by a bullying in school. Furthermore, the nature of the injuries ranged from minor bumps and bruises to some injuries that required hospitalization. Of those students who said they had been injured by a bully, 76.5% were boys. (Adapted from Reading Academic English)

The economy has declined sharply in recent years because of the pandemic. A. decreased B. increased C. improved D. accelerated