Social jet lag 社交時差

你是早起的鳥還是夜貓子？如果答案是夜貓子，那麼你可能會遭受“社交時差”的折磨。如果你是每天早上為瞭上班不得不痛苦的從被窩裡爬起來，而利用周末補覺的人，那麼我們找到瞭可能幫助你調整睡眠的好方法。《隨身英語》說說現代人的“社交時差”。

課文內容

Vocabulary: synchronicity and rhythm 詞匯: 同步性和節奏

From Monday to Friday, many of us have an early start and a long day. By the time we’ve gone to bed and managed to fall asleep, we’ve been woken up by the alarm to do it all again. Come the weekend, and we’re totally exhausted. We sleep in way past our usual wake-up time just to stay in sync enough to start again on Monday.

Welcome to social jet lag. That’s the term for the disparity between our working-week sleeping pattern, when our sleep times relate to our responsibilities, and the weekend, when we can wake when we choose. And depending on what type of person you are, the difference can be significant.

For night owls – those whose natural rhythm is to wake and go to bed later – there can be significant health-related issues, according to a recent study published by Taylor and Francis Group online. The study concludes the further the divergence between working-week and weekend sleep times, the greater the health issues – including a higher risk of heart disease and other metabolic problems. And because so many jobs and tasks start early, night owls are effectively forced into harmonising with the early birds.

So what can night owls do: force themselves to integrate by sacrificing their lie in? ‘It’s the worst thing you can do’ says Professor Till Roenneberg, professor of chronobiology at the Institute of Medical Psychology at Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich. This is because people’s sleep pattern is half determined by genetics. The other half correlates with their age and environment. Getting less sleep is unlikely to realign your genetic tendencies.

Our bodies evolved to coordinate with the rise and fall of the Sun. We should feel sleepy as the light dissipates. But modern life, with its artificial light and modern devices, such as computers and smartphones, means we have deviated. Now we are exposed to more light for longer periods of time, keeping our bodies awake longer. For night owls, who already tend to sleep later, this delays things even further.

One solution, beyond changing society’s early-start tendencies, is to reorient our body clock by manipulating our exposure to light By taking more sunlight in the morning and minimising the amount of artificial light we are exposed to in the evening – particularly on electronic devices – we can rebalance our bodies to feel sleepy earlier. It’s far from easy, but better that than losing your whole weekend to sleep.

詞匯表

in sync 同步的
disparity 差異
pattern 模式，習慣
relate 聯系，與…一致
rhythm 規律
divergence 差異
harmonise 和…保持一致
integrate 融入（某群體）
correlate 與…相關，相互關聯
realign 重新排列，改組
coordinate 配合
deviate 違背規則，偏離
reorient 重新適應，再調整
rebalance 再平衡

測驗與練習

1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。

1. What is a night owl?

2. What kind of health issues can occur as a result of social jet lag?

3. True or false: A person’s sleep pattern is all to do with genetics.

4. How can a person reorient their body clock?

5. Which word in the text means ‘gradually become less and disappear’?

2. 請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。

1. It didn’t take long for John to ______ into the team in his new role.

divergence coordinate realign integrate

2. Do not ______ from the plan at all. People could get hurt.

divergence deviate disparity harmonise

3. Minister, it is important you change your stance on this issue. You need to ______ with public opinion or lose the election.

rebalance correlate realign in sync

4. It will be a team effort. Our two departments will ______ on the project until its completion.

attune correlate reorient coordinate

5. My wife and I are very ______. We tend to wake up, eat and feel tired at the same times.

in sync on sync with sync out of sync

答案

1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。

1. What is a night owl?
A person whose natural rhythm is to wake and go to bed later.

2. What kind of health issues can occur as a result of social jet lag?
Social jet lag can cause a higher risk of heart disease and other metabolic problems

3. True or false: A person’s sleep pattern is all to do with genetics.
False. Peoples sleep patterns are half determined by genetics and half by their age and environment.

4. How can a person reorient their body clock?
Manipulate their exposure to light. Take more sunlight in the morning and minimise artificial light in the evening.

5. Which word in the text means ‘gradually become less and disappear’?
Dissipate. (We should feel sleepy as the light dissipates.)

2. 請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。

1. It didn’t take long for John to integrate into the team in his new role.

2. Do not deviate from the plan at all. People could get hurt

3. Minister, it is important you change your stance on this issue. You need to realign with public opinion or lose the election.

4. It will be a team effort. Our two departments will coordinate on the project until its completion

5. My wife and I are very in sync. We tend to wake up, eat and feel tired at the same times.