More Than 8 Hours Sleep Too Much of a Good Thing

　　1　Although the dangers of too little sleep are widely known, new research suggests that people who sleep too much may also suffer the consequences.

　　2　Investigators at the University of California in San Diego found that people who clock up1 9 or 10 hours each weeknight appear to have more trouble falling and staying asleep, as well as a number of other sleep problems, than people who sleep 8 hours a night　People who slept only 7 hours each night also said they had more trouble falling asleep and feeling refreshed after a night’s sleep than 8-hour sleepers.2

　　3　These findings, which Dr　Daniel Kripke reported in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine3, demonstrate that people who want to get a good night’s rest may not need to set aside4 more than 8 hours a night　He added that “it might be a good idea” for people who sleep more than 8 hours each night to consider reducing the amount of time they spend in bed, but cautioned that more research is needed to confirm this.

　　4　Previous studies have shown the potential dangers of chronic shortages of sleep — for instance, one report demonstrated that people who habitually sleep less than 7 hours each night have a higher risk of dying within a fixed period than people who sleep more.

　　5　For the current report, Kripke reviewed the responses of 1,004 adults to sleep questionnaires, in which participants indicated how much they slept during the week and whether they experienced any sleep problems　Sleep problems included waking in the middle of the night, arising early in the morning and being unable to fall back to sleep, and having fatigue interfere with day-to- day functioning5.

　　6　Kripke found that people who slept between 9 and 10 hours each night were more likely to report experiencing each sleep problem than people who slept 8 hours　In an interview, Kripke noted that long sleepers may struggle to get rest at night simply because they spend too much time in bed　As evidence, he added that one way to help insomnia is to spend less time in bed　“It stands to reason6 that if a person spends too long a time in bed, then they’ll spend a higher percentage of time awake,” he said.

　　词汇：

　　refresh v.(使)精力恢复　　questionnaire n.问卷

　　psychosomatic adj.(指疾病)由精神压力引起的

　　fatigue n.疲劳　　caution v.警告

　　insomnia n.失眠　　habitually adv.习惯地

　　注释：

　　1.clock up：时间达到

　　2.they had more trouble falling asleep and feeling refreshed after a night’s sleep than 8-hour sleepers：falling和feeling都是说明trouble的。全句可译为：与8小时睡眠者相比，他们在入睡和经过一夜睡眠恢复精力方面有更多的麻烦。

　　3.Psychosomatic Medicine：《心身医学》(医学杂志名)

　　4.set aside：留出

　　5.having fatigue interfere with day-to-day functioning：感到疲乏影响日常工作。

　　6.stand to reason：是当然的，是合情合理的

　　练习：

　　1.Paragraph 2 ________

　　2.Paragraph 4 ________

　　3.Paragraph 5 ________

　　4.Paragraph 6 ________

　　A　Kripke’s Research Tool

　　B　Dangers of Habitual Shortages of Sleep

　　C　Criticism on Kripke’s Report

　　D　A Way of Overcoming Insomnia

　　E　Sleep Problem of Long and Short Sleepers

　　F　Classification of Sleep Problems

　　5.To get a good night’s rest, people may not need to ________.

　　6.Long sleepers are reported to be more likely to ________.

　　7.One of the sleep problems is waking in the middle of the night, unable to ________.

　　8.One survey showed that people who habitually ________ each night have a higher risk of dying.

　　A　fall asleep again

　　B　become more energetic the following day

　　C　sleep less than 7 hours

　　D　confirm those serious consequences

　　E　suffer sleep problems

　　F　sleep more than 8 hours

　　答案与题解：

　　1.E　第二段列举了睡眠时间多于或少于8小时而带来的多种sleep problems。

　　2.B　第四段阐述了长期睡眠不足所带来的严重后果。

　　3.A　第五段介绍了Kripke的调查工具(tool)。他用的是有关睡眠的问卷。问卷包括两大内容：睡眠时间及睡眠困扰问题。

　　4.D　第六段最后两句是：“... one way to help insomnia is to spend less time in bed.”和“It stands to reason that if a person spends too long a time in bed, then they’ll spend a higher percentage of time awake.”这是选择D的依据。

　　5.F　选择F的依据是第三段第一句。原文是：“... people who want to get a good night’s rest may not need to set aside more than 8 hours a night.”

　　6.E　选择E的依据是第六段第一句。原文是：“... people who slept between 9 and 10 hours each night were more likely to report experiencing each sleep problem than people who slept 8 hours. ”

　　7.A　本题答案的依据是第五段第二句：“Sleep problems included waking in the middle of the night, arising early in the morning and being unable to fall back to sleep ...”

　　8.C　本题答案的依据是第四段：“... one report demonstrated that people who habitually sleep less than 7 hours each night have a higher risk of dying within a fixed period than people who sleep more.”

　　译文：每晚只需8小时，睡眠过多非益事

　　睡眠不足带来的危害已经广为人知，而一项新的研究表明睡眠过多同样会使人们产生不良后果。

　　圣地亚哥加利福尼亚大学的研究人员发现在入睡、保持睡眠等方面，每晚睡眠9或10小时的人比睡8小时的人存在更多问题。而每晚仅睡7小时的人则表示，他们在入睡及休息后精力恢复程度上不及8小时睡眠者。

　　Daniel Kripke博士在《心身医学》杂志上报告的这些新发现表明，人们如果想晚上休息好，每天留给睡眠的时间只需8小时。他补充说，对于那些每晚睡8小时以上的人们来说，考虑减少在床上度过的时间“也许是个好主意”。不过他又提醒说这还需要进一步的研究证实。

　　以往的研究证明了长期睡眠缺乏的潜在危机。有报告显示，睡眠经常少于7小时的人比睡眠充足者，在特定时期内死亡的机率更高。

　　而在目前这份报告中，Kripke考评了一份1004名成年人参与反馈的睡眠调查问卷。问卷内容涉及每周睡眠时间和各种可能的睡眠问题，包括半夜惊觉，清晨早醒，无法重新入睡，以及白天疲劳，影响日常工作等。

　　Kripke发现每晚9至10小时睡眠者比睡8小时的人更容易出现各类睡眠问题。在次访谈中，Kripke注意到睡眠时间长的人夜间可能难以入眠，正是因为他们睡得太多了。因此他补充说，治疗失眠最好的一种方法就是少睡点儿。“在床上花得时间过长，醒着的时间就会更多，这是理所当然的。”

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（责任编辑：何莹莹）