高级综合英语教程1

Unit 4I. Background to Text 1Sleep is a state of reduced awareness and activity that occurs at regular intervals in most mammals and birds, though there is considerable variation in the amount of time spent sleeping. Sleep differs from hibernation in that it occurs daily rather than seasonally, and involves less drastic reductions in metabolism. The function of sleep is unclear. People deprived of sleep become irritable, uncoordinated, forgetful, hallucinatory, and even psychotic.In humans, sleep is linked with hormone levels and specific brain electrical activity, including delta waves, quite different from the brain’s waking activity.REM (rapid eye movement) phases, associated with dreams, occur at regular intervals during sleep, when the eyes move rapidly below closed lids. In some species sleep may make animals inconspicuous at times when they might be vulnerable to predators.Research on sleep has been going on for years to find the following questions: Why humans of different ages need different length of time sleeping? How long does a human really need to sleep without negative effect? Why can some people cope with fairly little sleep whereas others seem never to have enough sleep? Is it necessary to have a little sleep during the day? Can one change his/her patterns of sleep? What is the relationship between sleep and dream? To find answers to such questions, scientists have conducted a great variety of experiments. The texts chosen for this unit describe some of the findings.II. Detailed study of the text1. optimum (L.2) adj.: the best and most favourable, e.g. optimum environment forthat rare species of animal2. compensate for (L.11): make up for (the disadvantage, loss, etc.)3. highlight (L.13) vt.: draw attention to; emphasise4. …as this is the time that the body’s natural rhythms dip. (L.22)…as in the afternoon, the body’s physiological movement drops below the normal level.dip vi.: drop below the surface or level; slope downwards5. anticipate (L.25) vt.: expect; look forward to6. If we have seven hours’ sleep and still feel dreadful, it is probably because ofthe quality of our sleep rather than the quantity. (L.28)If we have slept for seven hours but still feel very sleepy or tired, it may not be that the time for sleep is not long enough but that the sleep is not sound and peaceful.7. “There is a natural distribution of good and poor sleepers, in the same waythat there is a variation in height,”… (L.30)Just as there are tall persons and short ones, so there are naturally good sleepersand poor sleepers.n atural distribution: the state of being naturally arranged or spread out8. …it is possible for teenagers to reduce their nightly sleep to six hours beforethere are any signs of fatigue. (L.33)…it is possible to reduce teenagers’ sleep to six hours a night before they show any signs of feeling tired.9. Sleep quality is severely affected by alcohol. (L.35)Drinking too much alcohol causes a person to sleep badly.10. refreshing (L.37) adj.: (appreciative) producing a feeling of comfort; giving newstrength, energy and enthusiasm11. disturbed (L.40) adj.: (used here to mean) interrupted or restless; often used todescribe a person who is emotionally upset or confused12. There is little that can be done to ensure a night’s sleep that is trulyrefreshing, except to suit yourself. (L.41)People can do hardly anything to make sure that the sleep at night is refreshing.What they can do is to sleep as they feel comfortable.13. …and if you end up overtired, adjust the goalposts. (L.42)…if in the end you find yourself feeling too tired, adjust your amount of sleeping time.end up:find oneself …eventually; become…in the endgoalpost n.: each of the two upright posts forming the goal in some sports; move the goalposts (idiom) change t he accepted rules or aims in its course to suit one’s conditions14. There are no golden rules. (L.43)There are no rules which are entirely good and applicable to all.15. …the body is happiest sleeping in a conditioned way—in other words, in theway you were brought up to sleep. (L.44)…you feel best if you sleep in the habit you formed as you grew up.16. Mediterranean people s tick with a fiesta, while Inuit respond to daylight, …(L.45)Mediterranean people’s sleep pattern is affected by a fiesta whereas Inuit’s amount of time for sleep varies according to the length of daylight.1) stick with: remain in touch with or faithful to2) fiesta: (especially in Spain or Latin America) a religious festival withdancing and singing, etc.16. T he amount of sle ep we need decreases with age, in proportion to the body’senergy needs. (L.48)As we get old, our body needs less energy and so we need less amount of sleep.in proportion to: in relation to; in correspondence with; at the same rate, e.g. The unemployment decreases in proportion to the growth of the country’s economy. 17. This need declines in old age, until in your eighties when 5 hours a night isthe norm… (L.51)A person’s need for sleep decreases with age. People in their eighties normallyneed only 5 hours’ sleep.18. …Thatcher’s enviable 4 hours a night, put in the context of a 70-year-old,seems less remarkable. (L.53)Thatcher sleeps 4 hours a night, which is envied by people. But compared with the amount of sleep that a 70-year-old person needs, 4 hours does not seem to be that amazing.context n.: circumstances, conditions, setting19. mortality (L.65) n.: death20.follow-up (L.68) adj.: of anything that follows up; subsequent21.Contributory factors were not discounted,… (L.68)Although no action was t aken to exclude the positive effect of other factors,…1) contribtory adj.: helping to bring about a result; having partial responsibility2) discount vt.: reduce the effect of by previous action; disregard entirely; setaside as inaccurate or irrelevant22. “Shift working abuses the system, and severe shift workers are at a greaterrisk of cracking up physically and mentally in middle age.” (L.71)Working by shift disturbs/has a bad effect on a person’s physical system. Workers of severe shifts face greater danger of collapsing physically and breaking down mentally in middle age.1) abuse vt.: use (one’s position, power, etc,) in the wrong way; treat wrongly,maltreat2) crack up: collapse under strain; suffer an emotional breakdown23. jaded (L.75) adj.: tire and worn-out24. As sleep deprivation continues, then the symptoms worsen and functioningdeteriorates. (L.81)If one continues to be prevented from sleep, then the symptoms get worse and the body’s function changes from bad to worse.1) deprivation n.:the state of being deprived from sth.; the state of beingprevented from using or enjoying2) deteriorate vi.: grow worse25. hallucination (L.83) n.: (the experience of seeing or feeling) something that isnot actual present or real (often caused by mental disorder, drug, etc.)26. …the effect of oversleep is to leave you sluggish. (L.85)…sleeping too much make one feel lazy and inactive.sluggish adj.: unenergetic; lazy; inactive27. …the effect can last several hours and be self-perpetuating on a longer termbasis. (L.87)this kind of feeling (feeling miserable) can last for several hours and can continue longer by itself if one keeps on oversleeping over a longer period of time.1) self-perpetuating adj.: of a kind that causes sth. or sb. to continueindefinitely without external force2) on a longer term basis: over a longer period of time; on a …basis =on thebasis of;28. Research is still in its infancy. (L.89)Research on this has just started.29. Sleep is one of the last frontiers… (L.89)Sleep is one of the last areas which are fully investigated and known…frontier n.: the limits of attainment or knowledge in a subject30. make sense of (L.90): understand; get to know31. synthesise (L.94) vt.: create by the chemical process (of putting parts together toform a complex)III. Answers for Text 1Skills DevelopmentPre-reading3.1) F 2) T 3) F4) T 5) T 6) T7) F 8) F 9) TReading24. 1) Most surveys (British).2) People represented by the author3) American scientists4) Not clear. Probably British surveys.5) Not clear. Represented by the author.6)British experts represented by Dr. Chris Alford.7)Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.Reporting is based on facts and information gathered by the author. Direct quotation indicates a definite source whereas indirect quotation is deliberately made vague, as often the author’s opinion is mixed with what is quoted, and sometimes the author thinks that there is no need to make the source accurate or it is too difficult to do so.Post-reading1. C.2. It is open. Because opinions may vary depending on stude nts’ own experiences.3. The Chinese saying based on time-tested observations justifies the scientificfindings that humans need more sleep when they are young. But this need decreases with age. Adults after the age of thirty need much less sleep than adolescents. Elderly people need so little sleep that they often find it difficult to fall asleep.4. Refer the students to Activity 2, which specifies a number of factors which affectsleep.Language Development1. average = normal compensate for = catch upshow = indicate interrupted = disturbeddecrease = decline miserable = dreadfulimportant = crucial worsen = deteriorateneed = require2. this = seven and half hours’ sleepyou = readerthe benefit = gained extra hour or twoit = formal, refer ring to “to have a 10 minutes catnap in the afternoon.The dispute = American vs. Britishwe = British teamwe = reader/peoplethis = the time—afternoonthat = relative pronoun to introduce the object clauseThis need = need for sleepit = the finding of the study that people who slept fewer than 6 hours a night or more than 10 had a significantly increased risk of death in a five-year follow-up periodit = cis 910-octadececenoamide3.pick up—diprefreshing—jaded/sluggishsleepiness—insomnia4.1) The re exist naturally good sleepers and poor sleepers among people…2)…if in the end you find yourself feeling too tired, adjust your amount ofsleeping time.3)As we get old, our body needs less energy and so we need less amount ofsleep.4)Lady Thatcher sleeps 4 hours a night, which is envied by people. Butcompared with the amount of sleep that a 70-year-old person needs, 4 hours’ sleep a night does not seem to be that amazing.5)Research has just started.5.1) The optimum situation for language learning is when the learners are using thelanguage without conscious attention to its form.2)The time needed for the tasks is in proportion to their difficulty.3)The world situation is changing so fast that no one is able to anticipate what’llhappen in the years to come.4)The grand conservation project has been designed on a twenty-year basis.5)After the new Governor took office the economic situation deteriorated.6)He realized that he had only two options: either fighting his way out or stayingand being tortured to death.7)T he actor’s demonstration of emotion induced similar emotion in the audience. 6.1）随着年龄的增长，人体需要的能量逐步减少，因此我们需要的睡眠相对减少。