雅思Test 4 Passage 1 閱讀譯文

2023年12月4日發(fā)(作者：解怎么組詞)

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'Sleep comes more easily than it returns.'

— Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

入睡容易，醒過來難 —— 維克多.雨果《悲慘世界》

A It is estimated that one in three adults in westernid countries

regularly wakes up in the middle of the night and has difficulty getting

back to sleep. Physicians often diagno 'insomnia' and prescribe sleeping

pills, but the often have side effects such as negative interactions with

food, drink or other drugs, and most are habit-forming. Cessation of the

medication frequently caus unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, too,

including panic attacks, mood-swings, and even heightened sleep

disturbance. Is there a way to treat insomnia without such debilitating

conquences?

據(jù)估計(jì)，在西方國家中，有1/3的成年人經(jīng)常會在半夜醒來，之后再難繼續(xù)入睡。醫(yī)生經(jīng)常會作出失眠癥的診斷，然后開安眠藥。但是這些藥通常是有副作用的，比如說和食物、飲料或其他藥物發(fā)生不良反應(yīng)，而且這些藥大多數(shù)還容易上癮。如果停止用藥，又會導(dǎo)致一些不良癥狀的反彈，比如產(chǎn)生恐慌、情緒波動，甚至是更嚴(yán)重的失眠。那么，有沒有一種方法可以治療失眠，同時(shí)又不會產(chǎn)生這些不良影響呢？

B The historian A. Roger Ekirch takes a different approach to

nocturnal awakening. He maintains it is biologically instinctive and

innate and that it is the ideal of the modern-era condend eight-hour

sleep regime that is exceptional. Tho people who have so-called

insomnia may just be sleeping in the biphasic mode that was the norm for

their ancestors: eight hours of sleep split into two chunks by a period of

wakefulness which lasted an hour or longer. According to Ekirch, during

this sleepless pha, some people might have stayed in bed and prayed,

recalled their dreams, or chatted to their partners, while others may have

got up to do chores or drop in on the people next door.

歷史學(xué)家A.羅杰.埃克奇針對半夜醒來有一套不同的理論。他堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為，那是一種生物本能和天性，是一種在現(xiàn)代時(shí)期壓縮的八小時(shí)特殊睡眠機(jī)制。這些有所謂的失眠癥的人只是在以一種兩階段模式睡覺，而這正是他們祖先的睡眠標(biāo)準(zhǔn)——八小時(shí)的睡眠由一個(gè)時(shí)長一小時(shí)或更久的覺醒分成兩塊。根據(jù)埃克奇的觀點(diǎn)，在這段醒著的時(shí)間里，有的人可能會待在床上進(jìn)行祈禱、回想夢境，或者和父母聊天，另外一些人則可能會起床做一些家務(wù)雜事，或者去拜訪隔壁的人。

C Archives from the pre-industrial era mention gmented sleep as

'first sleep' or 'deep sleep' and 'cond sleep' or 'morning sleep'. The change in sleep routines, which started during the Industrial Revolution,

mainly came about through the invention of the incandescent bulb. This

invention, cheap and available to even the poorest residences, lengthened

our daytime activities, such as reading and playing games, and reduced

the period of time for sleep. As a result, the modern worker or student

tries to squeeze sleep into a continuous period of ven or eight hours,

even though this does not conform to natural circadian rhythms.

Anthropologists confirm Ekirch's hypothesis by reporting that inhabitants

of undeveloped regions of the world that are without the benefit of

electric lighting still follow the natural rhythm of a divided sleep pattern.

據(jù)工業(yè)時(shí)代之前的檔案記載，這種分段的睡眠被稱作“初次睡眠”、“深度睡眠”、和“二次睡眠（晨睡）”。睡眠習(xí)慣自工業(yè)革命期間就發(fā)生改變，主要?jiǎng)t是因?yàn)榘谉霟襞莸陌l(fā)明。這種燈泡非常便宜，即使是最窮的人家也能買得起。這就大大增加了人們的白天活動時(shí)間，比如說閱讀和玩游戲，同時(shí)也就相應(yīng)地減少了睡眠的時(shí)間。于是，現(xiàn)代工人和學(xué)生就把睡眠壓縮成在一段連續(xù)的七八小時(shí)時(shí)間內(nèi)，盡管這并不符合自然生物節(jié)律。據(jù)人類學(xué)家報(bào)道，世界上一些欠發(fā)達(dá)地區(qū)的居民沒有電燈，他們現(xiàn)在仍然采用這種遵循自然節(jié)律的分段式睡眠模式。這無疑是對埃克奇假說的支撐和鞏固。

D Ekirch's hypothesis was corroborated by sleep expert Thomas

Wehr in the 1990s. His study kept volunteers in the dark for 14 hours

each night (a simulation of wintertime exposure to light and darkness in

bygone days). The subjects moved progressively towards a biphasic sleep

pattern, taking a couple of hours to doze off and then sleeping in two

distinct gments of four hours each with an interval of wakefulness in

the middle. He construed from this that bifurcated sleep is not only

completely natural but also beneficial, becau this kind of sleeping

facilitates the recall of dreams, which 'afford people a pathway to their

subconscious'. Our predecessors actually considered their dream life to be

a crucial component of their lives.

睡眠專家托馬斯韋爾在上世紀(jì)90年代對埃克奇的假說進(jìn)行了確證。在他的研究中，志愿者們每天晚上有14小時(shí)都處于黑暗之中（模仿以前人們冬季暴露在白晝和黑夜的時(shí)間長度），最后他們逐漸養(yǎng)成了一個(gè)雙階段睡眠模式。起初是有幾個(gè)小時(shí)的失眠，之后逐漸變成兩段分明的四小時(shí)睡眠，每段睡眠中間都有一段醒著的時(shí)間。他由此分析認(rèn)為，分段式睡眠不僅僅是完全合乎自然節(jié)律，還對人們非常有益。因?yàn)檫@種睡眠模式能夠幫助人們回想起夢境，而這些夢境其實(shí)是一種有意識的指引。事實(shí)上，我們的祖先把他們的夢境生活當(dāng)成生活中非常重要的一部分。

E Sleep is esntial and it is by no means a passive state. Sleep

scientists have revealed that there are two fundamental cycles of activity, classified as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-rapid eye

movement (NREM) sleep. The latter consists of four phas. The first

pha, which lasts five to ten minutes, is the 'falling asleep' stage and

sometimes there is actually a n of falling, which often caus a

sudden muscle contraction or jerk. One is easily awoken during this stage.

Then comes an interlude of light sleep where the heart rate slows and

body temperature drops - the body is getting ready for the deep sleep,

which occurs in the third and fourth stages of NREM slumber. This is

slow-wave or 'delta' sleep and a person woken at this stage may feel quite

disorientated. This period of deep sleep is vital for the body to restore

itlf. During this time, not only does the body carry out repair and

regeneration of nerves, bones and muscles, but it also fortifies and repairs

the immune system.

睡眠是非常必要的，但絕不是被動的。睡眠科學(xué)家表示，睡眠過程中有兩種基本的循環(huán)活動，即淺睡期（此時(shí)會做夢）和深睡期（眼球活動減慢）。后一種包含四個(gè)階段。第一階段叫“入睡階段”，通常持續(xù)5-10分鐘。在這一階段有時(shí)會有一種跌落感，并通常導(dǎo)致肌肉的突然收縮或痙攣。在這個(gè)階段是很容易驚醒的。第二階段就是輕度睡眠。在該階段，心跳減慢，體溫降低。這是身體在為第三、四階段的深度睡眠做準(zhǔn)備。這是一個(gè)緩慢的入睡過程，在這個(gè)階段醒來的人往往會感到非常迷惘，不知所措。這個(gè)階段的睡眠對于身體的恢復(fù)至關(guān)重要。在此期間，身體會修復(fù)我們的神經(jīng)、骨頭和肌肉，同時(shí)還會加強(qiáng)我們的免疫系統(tǒng)。

F The eyes can be en to move rapidly beneath the eyelids during

REM sleep, which ensues after approximately an hour and a half of

NREM sleep cycles. A faster and more erratic heart rate and shallow

breathing are typical of this state, and brain activity intensifies, giving

ri to vivid dreaming; paradoxically, the major voluntary muscle groups

are immobilid, albeit for good reason - thrashing about while asleep

could result in rious injury. Although the purpo of dreaming is not yet

fully comprehended, the hypothesis is that it is vital for learning and

memory (as the regions of the brain are stimulated); indeed, studies

have shown that when candidates are denied REM sleep, their memory of

recent learning is impaired. Deprivation of REM sleep also leads to

anxiety and migraine headaches.

在淺睡期，眼珠在眼皮底下迅速轉(zhuǎn)動，這在進(jìn)入深睡期大約一個(gè)半小時(shí)后還會接著發(fā)生。在此階段，心律變得更快、更不穩(wěn)定，呼吸變得更淺，頭腦活動加強(qiáng)，由此導(dǎo)致生動的夢境出現(xiàn)。奇怪的是，主要的隨意肌群卻停止了活動。或許對此最好的解釋當(dāng)是，睡著時(shí)若隨意擺動容易導(dǎo)致嚴(yán)重的受傷。盡管人們對夢境的作用還未完全理解，但假說認(rèn)為夢境對學(xué)習(xí)和記憶是非常重要的（因?yàn)樗碳ち祟^腦的那些區(qū)域）。事實(shí)上，研究已經(jīng)表明，當(dāng)剝奪測試者淺睡期睡眠的時(shí)候，他們對近期學(xué)習(xí)的記憶就會減退。同時(shí)，淺睡期睡眠不足還會導(dǎo)致焦慮和偏頭痛。

G Sleep specialists agree that without adequate REM and NREM

sleep, people's thought process are likely to be compromid, and they

may suffer from impaired memory, fatigue, depression, a weakened

immune respon, and heightened susceptibility to pain, amongst other

negative conquences. Yet modern-day humans remain chronically sleep

deprived, notwithstanding the results of this rearch and its acceptance

by many psychiatrists and sleep consultants. Why is the general populace

so loath to relinquish its monophasic sleep schedule and enjoy the

benefits of a biphasic schedule? It is certain that attitudes to employment

responsibilities and social commitments would have to be altered before

such a huge behavioural paradigm shift could occur and individuals could

allot more time to restful, restorative sleep.

睡眠專家也表示，如果沒有充足的淺睡期和熟睡期睡眠，人們的思維過程將受到影響。同時(shí)，他們還可能會出現(xiàn)記憶減退、易感疲勞、抑郁癥、免疫下降、痛感增加，以及其他不良癥狀。盡管這一研究有著重這樣的結(jié)果，并得到了許多精神病學(xué)家和睡眠顧問的認(rèn)可，但現(xiàn)代社會的人們還是習(xí)慣性地睡眠不足。誠然，要想如此巨大的一個(gè)行為模式得到轉(zhuǎn)變，并使得個(gè)人能有更多的時(shí)間投入到安靜有益的睡眠，必須先改變?nèi)藗儗Υぷ骱蜕鐣?zé)任的態(tài)度。

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