【43】现代生活让我们更加容易疲惫？

关注VX公众号【HF小站】，回复 《6分钟》 获取全部音频及文本。

Is modern life making us tired?

现代生活让我们更加容易疲惫？

从人造光到深夜节目，包括现在智能手机的普及，人们认为现代生活占据了我们大量的睡眠时间。不过，我们真的需要很长的睡眠时间吗？今天的节目里，Neil和Alice将会说到一个美国学者的最新研究成果，证明我们的祖先也会和我们一样失眠。

本周问题：

梦游的另一个说法是什么？是:

a) 嗜眠发作

b) 多动腿综合症

c) 梦游病

我们可以从节目的最后找到正确答案。

听力内容：

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript

Alice: Hello andwelcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Alice…

Neil: … and I'm Neil.

Alice: So Neil,did you sleep well last night?

Neil: Um, yes, thanks. Why doyou ask?

Alice: Todaywe're talking about how much sleep we need.

Neil: I like a good eight hoursmyself – ten at the weekend. How about you?

Alice: Six isenough for me. But did you know this? Humans sleep around three hours less thanother primates like chimps, who sleep for about ten hours. So you're a chimp,Neil – at the weekends, at least! Are you ready forthe quiz question?

Neil: [makes some chimp noises]

Alice: OK, I'llassume that means yes. Right. What's another word for sleepwalking? Is it…

a) narcolepsy?

b) restless legs syndrome?

or c) somnambulism?

Neil: I will go for b) restlesslegs syndrome, since there's a connection there with the legs.

Alice: Wellwe'll find out whether you're right or wrong later on in the show. So whatkeeps you awake at night, Neil?

Neil: Not much, to be honest. Iusually sleep like a log – and that means very heavily indeed! Butsometimes my own snoring wakes me up, and then I can find it hard to get backto sleep. Snoring, for those of you who don't know, means breathing in a noisyway through your mouth or nose while you're asleep. [snores] … like that… How about you, Alice?

Alice: Verygood, yes. Well, that's quite ridiculous! Anyway, for me, it's drinking toomuch coffee during the day. It's the caffeine in coffee – a chemical that makes you feel more awake – which can stop you from sleeping at night. But there are so many things thatcan keep us awake these days.

Neil: Oh yes. Radio, TV… techy stuff like 24-hour internet, computers, smart phones. I lovemy phone and it's never far from me!

Alice: Well,let's hear what Professor Jerome Siegel, from the University of California,found when he studied the sleep habits of three different hunter-gatherercommunities who have very little contact with modern society. They don't haveartificial light, electricity, batteries, or any of the gadgets that we rely ontoday.

INSERT

Professor Jerome Siegel, from the University of California,US

Their sleep was not that different from ours. The range of sleepperiod was about 6.9 to 8.5 hours. If you actually measure sleep in currentpopulations in the United States or in Europe they're definitely at the low endof what's been reported. They certainly don't sleep a lot less than we do butthey clearly don't sleep more.

Alice: ProfessorJerome Siegel found that people in these communities don't go to bed untilseveral hours after sundown – just like us! But one bigdifference is that very few of them suffer from insomnia – which means having difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep.

Neil: Now, I don't have aproblem with insomnia. And hunter-gatherers – people wholive by hunting animals and gathering plants to eat – don't either – probably because they take a lot ofphysical exercise during the day.

Alice: Yes,that's right. Taking exercise is an important factor in sleeping soundly – or well – at night. But these days ourminds can be so active that it becomes very difficult to fall asleep. Let'slisten to Professor Kevin Morgan, from Loughborough University here in England,talking about how cognitive behavioural therapy can be used to help people withinsomnia.

INSERT

Professor Kevin Morgan, Loughborough University, England

If you have a train of thoughts which would otherwise keep youawake one way of dealing with this is to block those thoughts. What I'd likeyou to do is repeat the word 'the' in your mind at irregular intervals – the the the the the the the the the – whatyou'll find (is) that the mind space required to do this blocks out almosteverything else.

Neil: So Professor Kevin Morgansuggests saying one word over and over again at irregular intervals – irregular in this context means not spaced out evenly. Doing it canhelp to block out the thoughts that are stopping you from getting to sleep. Itsounds like a very simple solution. I wonder if it works?

Alice: There'sone way to find out, Neil. Try it yourself!

Neil: I will.

Alice: OK. Andcognitive behavioural therapy by the way is a treatment for mental healthproblems that tries to change the way you think.

Neil: Well, I usually countsheep if I can't get to sleep. Do you do that, Alice?

Alice: No, notusually. No. OK, I think it's time for the answer to our quiz question. Iasked: What's another word for sleepwalking? Is it… a) narcolepsy? b) restless legs syndrome? or c) somnambulism?

Neil: And I said b) restlesslegs syndrome.

Alice: Sorry,Neil, it's actually c) somnambulism – the roots ofthis word come from Latin. Somnus means 'sleep' and and ambulare means 'walk'.Narcolepsy is a condition where you can't stop yourself falling asleep,especially during the day.

Neil: Narcolepsy… (says in a sleepy way)

Alice: Andrestless legs syndrome is a condition that makes you desperate to move yourlegs around, especially when you're sitting quietly or trying to get to sleep.

Neil: … get to sleep… (murmuring)

Alice: Neil! Wake up!

Neil: Oh, hello Alice! Sorry.

Alice: Hello! Can we hear today'swords again, please?

Neil: OK, yeah:

sleep like a log

snoring

caffeine

insomnia

hunter-gatherers

soundly

irregular

cognitive behavioural therapy

Alice: Well,that just about brings us to the end of this edition of 6 Minute English. Wehope you've enjoyed this programme. Please do join us again soon.

Both: Bye.