Unit03素材文档

College English Creative Reading 3 跨文化交际英语·阅读教程3 Unit 3 Seven Questions about Sleep

Note on the Topic

Learning Objectives

1. Gain a full comprehension of the importance of sleep and its benefits in the form of an online question-and-answer session in the text;

2. Think about how to get better sleep to improve your lives;

3. Develop your creative skills through discussing and inventing proverbs about sleep.

Before You Read

1. Watch the following video and discuss the following questions with

a partner.

2. Discuss the following questions with a partner.

2.1 How many questions about sleep are discussed in the video?

Five.

2.2According to the video, how much sleep should we get on average per night?

Sleep experts recommend that we get up to nine hours of sleep per night.

2.3 What are the tips suggested in the video to get better sleep?

Keep the room as dark as possible; go to bed earlier.

2.4 How much sleep do you usually get on average per night? Why? Answers will vary to this question. A sample answer could be:

I get four to five hours of sleep per night because it’s enough for me to refresh myself and I believe there are many things more important than sleep.

2.5Among the questions asked in the video, which one do you think is the most helpful to you? Give your reasons.

Answers will vary to this question. A sample answer could be:

I think the fourth question is most helpful because I haven’t slept well for

a long time and it provides me with some possible solutions.

Reading A

Live Online Chat with Doctors.

Tracy99 | posted 1 week ago

I know we all sleep but why? It seems like a waste of time to spend so long in bed when we could be studying or earning money. Can’t we just take a catnap whenever we feel tired?

DrSue > Tracy99 | 2 days ago

Hi there!

Let’s get one thing clear: you can’t simply exchange hours of sleep for hours of study or work because you need to sleep at the right time, and the right time for sleep is roughly 10.00 pm to 6.00 am. Why is this? Well, of course it’s dark then and darkness helps you to sleep, but more importantly the body is programmed to clean itself during this period. Research shows that the organs of the body are cleaned in a particular order, starting with the liver, then going on to the lungs, and finally the intestines. The brain also needs down time to allow chemicals to clean the plaque that builds up in the gaps between nerve cells (neurons). This kind of housekeeping allows the brain to fix memories and consolidate learning.

Background Information:

The Text: The Study of Sleep

The scientific study of sleep and dreams is still in its early stages and there is much that we do not know about sleep, so the information presented in the text is still being discussed and researched. There are many centres around the world devoted to studying the science of sleep. It is understood that sleep is vital to our well-being, and is closely linked with serious health and mood problems such as high blood pressure, obesity, and depression.

REM sleep has been most studied. It is now known that we dream not only during REM sleep but during other sleep too. However, REM sleep is