赖床吧，少年！

近期一个科学研究支持的观点是：青少年在早晨不应该被打扰，上课时间？太早了！

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

circadian 生理节奏的

deprivation 剥夺

allocated 分配

predisposition 倾向

vulnerable 脆弱的

schizophrenia 精神分裂症

阅读即将开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用时间，并对照我们在文章最后给出的参考值来估算您的阅读速度。

Scientists give teenage lie-ins the nod（514words）

By Clive Cookson in Bradford

* * *

Go away: scientific research supports the teenage view that they should not be bothered and should be left to sleep

Teenagers begin school and university classes far too early in the morning, according to an international team of sleep researchers. A hundred UK secondary schools will take part in a study to test the theory that a timetable starting at 10am rather than 8.30 or 9am would fit students’ body clocks better and improve exam scores.

Professor Paul Kelley of Oxford university’s Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute told the British Science Festival in Bradford: “Start times should be after 10am at age 16 and after 11am at 18. Implementing those start times should protect students from short sleep duration and chronic sleep deprivation, which are linked to poor learning and health problems.”

The £696,000 Teensleep study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, is looking for 100 schools to take part from next year. Pupils aged 14 to 16 will be allocated at random to receive delayed start times, education about good sleep habits, both or neither. The primary outcome to be measured is attainment at Key Stage 4.

Studies at Oxford and at Harvard Medical School and the University of Nevada in the US show that adolescent circadian rhythms, set by the body clock that manages the cycle of sleep and wakefulness, are delayed by two to three hours compared to older adults, said Prof Kelley. The reason for this shift, which is related to the onset of puberty, is not well understood — nor is the gradual shift forward in the rhythm during later adulthood.

Current timetables often force teenagers to wake up and learn while their body is still prepared for sleep. This biological predisposition for delayed sleep is exacerbated by a more relaxed societal attitude to bedtimes, access round the clock to social media, and abnormal light exposure from a range of electrical and electronic devices.

Although individual schools and education authorities in the UK and overseas have experimented with later starting times, Teensleep is the first large randomised controlled trial to test the idea, said Prof Kelley, who is president of the British Science Association education section. Although the British school day typically begins at 8.30 or 9am, 8am starts are common in many other countries including China and the US.

“This is a hugely important issue for society,” he said. “Early starts leading to sleep deprivation are very damaging to young people when they are very vulnerable for other reasons.”

Lack of sleep might contribute to the onset of mental illnesses associated with the late teens and early 20s, such as schizophrenia, he added. According to Prof Kelley, British schools are in a better position than those in many other countries to push back their working day.

“Every governing body in Britain can change the timing of the school day after consultation,” he said. “On the whole students and parents support a later start more strongly than teachers and educational administrators. They can see other advantages too, including safer journeys and reduced travel time to school [after rush hour].”

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1. When should a 18-year-old boy start to study by Professor Paul’s advice?

a. 10am

b. 11am

c. 9am

d. 8:30am

2. What age of students will be involved in the experiment by Teensleep study?

a. 14-16

b. 12-14

c. 16-18

d. 12-16

3. What time does the school day begin for most countries?

a. 8:30am

b. 9am

c. 9:30am

d. 8am

4. Who are more supportive of the later start?

a. teachers

b. parents

c. educational administrators

d. police

[1] 答案b. 11am

解释：Paul Kelley建议，为了保证效率和减少健康、学习问题，18岁的青少年应该在早晨11点后开始学习工作。

[2] 答案a. 14-16

解释：将选取100所学校14到16岁的学生随机分配参与这项试验。

[3] 答案d. 8am

解释：英国的学校一般八点半或九点开始上课，但世界上包括中国和美国的大部分国家还是八点开始。

[4] 答案b. parents

解释：最后一段，家长认为将时间调晚不仅可以是路上安全性提高也能够错峰出行节约时间。