WORD BANK
| A | alarm clock n. asleep adv. | N | nightmare n. night owl n. |
| B | bedtime n. | O | oversleep v. |
| F | fall asleep v. | S | sleep-in v. |
| G | get up v. go to bed v. | T | take a nap v. |
| I | insomnia n. | W | wake up v. |
| M | morning person n. | Y | yawn n., v. |
- I love to stay up very late and watch TV or surf the Net. All my friends call me a ________________.
- When I worry too much about my school grades, I have ________________. I cant sleep very well.
- My ________________ is really very loud. It wakes me up, and it also wakes my neighbors up!
- I often sleep late, or ________________, on weekends.
- Watching scary movies gives me ________________s.
- Yes, he is ________________. I can hear him snoring.
- My classmate is a ________________. He loves to get up at 6:00 every morning and exercise before class.
- In many countries, its common to sleep for a short time in the afternoon. Do you ever ________________?
- When I feel sleepy, I open my mouth very wide and I ________________.
- I always go to bed at 10:30 pm, but our son is only four years old, so his ________________ is at 8:30.
- I have to get up at 7:00 tomorrow morning. I hope I dont ________________ and get up at 7:30.
- Getting enough sleep is very important. I usually go to bed at 10 pm and I __________ at 6 am.
- I wake up at 6 am, but I dont ________________ right away. I like to stay in bed for five or ten minutes.
- Its 11 pm. Its time to _______________. Its bedtime.
- After I go to bed, I like to read a book for a while before I ________________.
Answer the questions using essential vocabulary of the topic. Get prepared for the interview on the topic.
1) What do many doctors say about sleep?
2) Why do we need sleep?
3) How many people in the U.S.A. suffer from sleep problems?
4) Whom must people consult in case of sleeping problems?
5) Will you give the things that affect sleep?
6) Do women or man notice noise more?
7) What is the best position for falling asleep?
8) What is comfortable temperature of sleep?
9) How can altitude change our sleep?
10) What is the main advice for sleeping well?
5. Read the article and find the answers to the following questions:
1. What helps the man follow the regular rhythm of sleep and wakefulness?
2. Why do people suffer from insomnia?
3. What experiment is described in the article?
4. Do all creatures sleep?
5. What is the purpose of the biological clock?
6. What are the factors damaging the operation of the biological clock?
7. What are the factors that keep us awake?
The Mystery of Sleep
by Graham Workman
We may not give it a moment's thought, but most of us will probably spend one third of our lives asleep. But how much sleep do we really need? In Florida, a volunteer was shut up in a special room for two weeks. He was allowed to sleep as much as he wanted, but there were no clocks in the room and the lights were always on. In other words, the only way he could tell if it was lunch-time, tea-time or bed-time was from what his body told him.
|
|
|
The man settled down to a regular rhythm of sleep and wakefulness. How much did he sleep? The same as about normal. The fact that he did this shows that his body must have an inbuilt mechanism, telling him to fall asleep and wake up.
What then is the purpose of this biological clock? Originally, it was probably a mechanism for survival. Sleep was a rhythmic process developed millions of years ago as a way of coping with life on a planet which had regular days and nights. Sleep protected people from the predators of the night and the inefficiencies of darkness.
All creatures sleep, but the amount they sleep varies greatly. This is because each species has an appropriate pattern of sleep that is suited to the world it inhabits. An elephant has to spend most of the day finding food and eating it, so it sleeps only 2 hours a day. Of all living creatures only human beings get insomnia, because only they distort the natural rhythmof sleep with everything from anxiety to jet travel, from television to working round-the-clock.
But if we do not get to sleep at night, will it necessarily matter? Does it matter that night-shift workers do not get a normal ration of sleep? How safely can we make major decisions - perhaps life-or-death ones if we are prime ministers or doctors - when we have missed a lot of sleep?
One exception to all this is Lesley Gamble. He claims that following an accident 11 years ago, he never sleeps at all. Researchers tested him by putting him into a darkened room with electrodes to see to what extent he was drowsy or slept. It is almost impossible for a sleepy person to lie down in a darkened room all night and not fall asleep. The recording showed him relaxed but awake all night. He says he thinks most of the night, reflecting on happy events in his life which helps him to relax mentally.
How can a case like Lesley's be explained? It seems likely that his accident damaged in some way the operation of his biological clock and his body is no longer getting the order to sleep. One way to find out if sleep is necessary is to take it away for three days and nights and see what happens, testing all the time which functions are affected most: our muscle co-ordination, our posture, our physical energy and strength, and most important, our mental vigilance.
Four students agreed to take part in such an experiment. After 36 hours without sleep they were still doing remarkably well at some things. Interesting games, like chess, presented few problems for the sleep deprived. The tired brain can overcome fatigue if it wants to. Motivation, excitement and danger all keep us awake. The tired brain, however, is not good at boring, repetitive tasks. When the volunteers had to recognize short musical notes from a series of long and short notes, they made more and more mistakes as time passed.
After 72 hours without sleep everybody looked tired, their balance and muscle co-ordination had deteriorated and their mental vigilance had dropped. But basically there was nothing wrong. Heart, lungs and muscle strength were all fine.
In fact the body can do very well without sleep. Provided it is given adequate relaxation and food, there are no adverse effects on the body and its functioning. So if you miss a lot of sleep you are still able to operate, although the risk of making mistakes is increased. But if the body does not need sleep, why do people feel so awful when they are deprived of it? What are insomniacs actually complaining about?
|
|
|
The answer probably lies in our brains the homes of our biological clocks. The body may not need sleep but millions of years of evolution have programmed our brains to sleep every night of our lives, and there is nothing we can do about it.
