1月26日午间英语新闻：人类需要冬眠吗？

Do humans need to hibernate?
人类需要冬眠吗？

“If you feel like sleeping more in the winter, you’re not alone,” said Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California, citing research that found at least a third of American adults reported they sleep more in the winter.
美国加州帕萨迪纳亨廷顿纪念医院临床医学副教授拉吉·达斯古普塔博士说：“如果你觉得冬天睡得更多，那你并不是一个人。”他援引的研究发现，至少有三分之一的美国成年人表示他们在冬天睡得更多。

The 188 patients who underwent sleep studies at St. Hedwig Hospital in Berlin slept about an hour longer in winter than they did in summer, which the authors said wasn’t statistically significant. But participants did get 30 more minutes of rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep during winter.
在柏林圣赫德维格医院接受睡眠研究的188名实验对象在冬季比夏季多睡了约一个小时，研究作者认为这并不具有统计学意义。但参与者在冬季的快速眼动睡眠时间确实多了30分钟。

The REM phase of sleep is the sweet spot of sleep cycles, characterized by more dreaming and faster heart rate and breathing more than in other stages. It’s “an essential stage of sleep that helps with memory, concentration, mood regulation and immune function,” Dasgupta said.
快速眼动睡眠阶段是睡眠周期中的高质量睡眠阶段，其特点是比其他阶段做梦更多，心率和呼吸更快。达斯古普塔说：“这是重要的睡眠阶段，有助于提高记忆、集中注意力、情绪调节和改善免疫功能。”

The desire for, or occurrence of, more sleep during winter may have to do with how light fluctuates throughout the year. “Our bodies receive cues from the sun when it comes to our circadian rhythm, meaning that when it is bright outside we tend to be active, but when the sun goes down, you may tend to feel tired,” Dasgupta said. “The decrease in sunlight causes an increase in melatonin, a hormone made in the body that regulates sleep-wake cycles.”
在冬季渴望或出现更多睡眠，可能与全年的光照波动有关。达斯古普塔说：“在昼夜节律方面，我们的身体会接受来自太阳的提示，也就是说，当室外阳光明媚时，我们往往会很兴奋，但当太阳下山时，你可能会感到疲惫。”阳光的减少会导致褪黑素的增加，褪黑素是人体内产生的一种调节睡眠—清醒周期的激素。

And light influences not only sleep quantity but also sleep quality. “REM sleep is highly affected by light and darkness, so when during the winter months we have less light, the body is going to basically overcompensate by giving more REM sleep,” said Dr. Joshua Tal, a New York City-based clinical psychologist specializing in sleep issues.
光照不仅影响睡眠时间，而且影响睡眠质量。纽约市睡眠问题临床心理学家约书亚·塔尔博士说：“快速眼动睡眠受光照和黑暗的影响很大，因此当冬季光照减少时，身体基本上会通过提供更多的快速眼动睡眠来过度补偿。”

Humans still don’t need to hibernate, Weiss said, nor can we afford to due to our social and occupational obligations. “But we can make adjustments to perform in a better way, to rest in a better way during winter,” she said.
韦斯说，人类不需要冬眠，由于我们的社会和职业义务，我们也无法冬眠。“但我们可以做出调整，在冬季以更好的方式活动，以更好的方式休息，”她说。

US home sales see worst year since 1995
美国二手房销量创下1995年以来最差表现

Home sales in the US sank to the lowest in nearly 30 years, as a sharp rise in interest rates increased costs for buyers and persuaded many potential sellers with lower rates to stay put.
由于美国房贷利率大幅上涨增加了潜在购房者的成本，也劝退了很多以低息贷款购房的潜在卖房者，美国二手房销量降到了近30年来的最低点。

Just 4.09 million homes were purchased, the fewest since 1995, as tight supply pushed prices to a new record, the National Association of Realtors said.
美国全国地产经纪商协会称，2023年仅卖出了409万套房屋，这是自1995年以来的最低水平。与此同时，供应紧张进一步推高房价，导致房价纪录被刷新。

The organisation said it expected the market to improve in 2024. But it warned that affordability would remain an issue. The median sale price in 2023 climbed 1% over the year, to $389,800, according to the NAR.
该协会表示，2024年市场有望改善，但也警告说，房价过高仍将是个棘手问题。协会称，2023年美国二手房中位价格上涨了1%，达到了38.98万美元。

The housing market in the US has slowed abruptly since 2022, when the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates in a bid to curb inflation. Last year, US mortgage rates, which are typically fixed for a 30-year period, shot above 7% for the first time in decades.
自2022年美联储开始加息以抑制通胀以来，美国房地产市场突然降温。去年，美国（30年）房贷利率几十年来首次突破7%。

It has also created a stark divide between would-be buyers and existing homeowners, many of whom have loans with rates below 4% and would face sharply higher costs to move.
房贷利率飙升还在潜在购房者和现有房主之间形成了一道分水岭，很多以不到4%的贷款利率购得房屋的人如果要搬走将面临高得多的置换成本。

But Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist for Oxford Economics, said while that may help demand, rates are likely to remain above 6% - not enough to bring a substantial number of sellers into the market.
但是牛津经济研究院首席美国经济学家南希·范登·霍滕表示，房贷利率下调也许有助于提升购房需求，但是贷款利率很可能将保持在6%以上，不足以让大量卖房者入市。