首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The nature of sleep and the role it plays in our lives has long fascinated science and been the focus of many studies and a grea
The nature of sleep and the role it plays in our lives has long fascinated science and been the focus of many studies and a grea
admin
2011-02-08
50
问题
The nature of sleep and the role it plays in our lives has long fascinated science and been the focus of many studies and a great deal of research.
A. The benefit of receiving enough sleep is essential to our inner well-being. Not enough sleep, however, means that we lack the opportunity to restore ourselves physiologically, emotionally and cognitively. It affects our mood and can result in behaviour and performance problems. When we sleep, our bodies rest but our brains are active. Sleep lays the groundwork for a productive day ahead. Although most people benefit the most from eight hours of sleep each night, this is not always what they manage to achieve. Men get slightly less sleep than women during the week (6.7 hours/night vs. 7.0 hours /night), but have fewer sleep problems, according to recent Sleep in America polls conducted annually by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF).
B. According to current scientific thought, the human body is pre-programmed for sleep. At nightfall, cells in the retina (a light sensitive membrane connected to the eye by the optic nerve) send a sleep signal to a cluster of nerve cells in the brain. These nerve cells are concentrated together in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and are located in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus which helps regulate body temperature. The SCN is also known as the circadian clock. This biological "clock" relays the message to other parts of the brain which then signals the body that it is time to sleep. For instance, the pineal gland, also located in the hypothalamus, produces a substance called melatonin, which lowers body temperature, and causes drowsiness.
C. A great deal of the information we now know about sleep and the physiological changes it causes in the brain can be traced back to the invention of the electroencephalogram in the 1950s. This machine allowed scientists to record the feeble electric currents generated on the brain without opening the skull and to depict them graphically onto a strip of paper. Brain-wave function could be examined and scientists could thereby observe sleep from moment to moment. In the 1970s it became possible for scientists to make assumptions about the role that correct breathing plays during sleep with the development of the technology to measure respiration. It was here that science really began to understand the nature of sleep and the role it plays in people’s lives.
D. As well as uncovering the physiological changes occurring during sleep, The New England Journal of Medicine reported that sleep concerns were a public health threat as serious as smoking and in the years since, medical researchers have linked sleep disorders with many life-threatening diseases. Even though more than 70 million Americans have a sleeping problem, most cases go undiagnosed and untreated, so the true economic and sociological damage caused by these disorders is unknown although, the economic cost is conservatively estimated to be billions of dollars a year in healthcare costs and lost productivity. Breathing problems during sleep represent by far the greatest proportion of sleep disorders and cause the most concern, with studies showing that between 50% and 80% of stroke and heart failure patients have breathing problems during sleep.
E. Scientific studies have found that children who are identified as snorers or those who have poor sleeping patterns at around the age of four or five, scored lower than average in Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests, not only during the sleep deprivation period but subsequent to that. There are also suggestions that ongoing sleep deprivation in adults can cause permanent damage.
F. Teenagers can have peculiar sleep requirements. It has always been known that adolescents spend more time sleeping than adults, but science has only recently isolated the reasons for this. Research now shows that growth hormones are secreted during slow-wave sleep and teenagers do indeed, need more of this kind of sleep than at any other stage in their lives. Chronic lack of sleep among teenagers means that as a group they are more likely to use stimulants and experience negative mood swings. Statistics also indicate that young drivers are responsible for more than one-half of fall- asleep crashes.
G. However, it is not just young people who pay the price for lack of proper sleep. Workers are robbing themselves of sleep in order to increase productivity in both their social and working lives. In recent years, however, the identification of driver fatigue as the possible cause of 1/3 of all accidents provides some indication of the price we are paying for such a trade-off. Extensive scientific research indicates that chronic tiredness has been the cause of environmental disasters, nuclear mishaps and several well-documented near misses in the air. Scientists are beginning to argue that the lengthening of the working day is harming workers, their families and society. In the long run, productivity will suffer.
H. As a reaction against this disturbing trend, there has been increased support for regulation of the number of hours worked by employees in demanding jobs, such as doctors, nurses, pilots, bus drivers and truck drivers. Legislation is being drafted to limit work hours, thus forcing companies to become instrumental in changing work cultures to ensure employees are getting enough rest and leisure time in order to avoid chronic tiredness and its devastating consequences.
Look at the following statements (Questions 17-19). Indicate:
TRUE if the statement agrees with information in the passage
FALSE if the statement contradicts information in the passage
NOT if the information is not given in the passage.
Write your answers in boxes 17-19 on your Answer Sheet.
Sleep deprivation can affect intellectual performance in adults. ______
选项
答案
NOT GIVEN
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/WOVO777K
本试题收录于:
雅思阅读题库雅思(IELTS)分类
0
雅思阅读
雅思(IELTS)
相关试题推荐
Therectangularboxshownabovehasbeenwrappedwithtwotapes,eachgoingoncearoundtheboxwithoutoverlapandrunningpara
Ifx=7,thenis3x+7greaterthanorlessthan5x-6?
In1988,Mr.Smith’sannualincomewasgreaterthanMrs.smith’sannualincome.In1989,Mr.Smith’sannualincomedecreasedby
When5consecutiveoddintegers,eachgreaterthan34areadded,whatisthesmallestpossiblesum?
McClary’sposition,concerningtheprocessbywhichmusicisgenderedasmasculineorfeminine,isthatsocially-groundedc
Fromthebeginning,theideaofafiniteuniverseranintoitsownobstacle,theapparentneedforanedge,aproblemthat
Ifthecontagiousnatureofyawningisameansofcommunicationwithingroupsofanimals,possiblyasameansto______behavior,
Perfectcertaintybelongsonlytothegods;therestofushavetomakedowithscienceandits______.
随机试题
Recentyearshavewitnessedanincreaseinthenumberofpeoplewhofeelguiltyorashamedaboutwhattheyperceivetobenegati
在多式联运合同中,各实际承运人在运送中造成迟延或者旅客或货物的损害时,承担赔偿责任的主体是()
痉挛对患者的不利影响不包括
给予研究对象某种干预措施的研究是一般而言,流行病学研究的起点是
地籍图属于大比例尺图,()不适应其比例尺。
某商品单价为“每件CIF净价伦敦30英镑”指的是()。
甲股份有限公司(本题下称“甲公司”)为上市公司,20×7年至20×9年与企业合并、长期股权投资有关的资料如下:(1)20×7年1月20日,甲公司与无关联关系的丙公司(非上市公司)签订购买其20%股权的合同,支付购买价款2000万元。(2)
城市是人类文明精华的汇聚之地,数千年来政治、经济、文化和科技的光芒在此交相辉映,然而演进至今,城市却遭遇各种挑战,诸如人口膨胀、饮水卫生、安全隐患、环境污染和交通拥挤等问题日益凸显。如果不加以有效解决,这些问题终将严重制约城市的发展。这段文字的主旨是(
某ARM汇编语言程序要调用子程序,子程序名为MySubrutine,则调用该子程序的指令为__________【55】,子程序返回调用程序的指令为__________【56】。
Whatdoweknowabouttheoriginoflanguage?
最新回复
(
0
)