什么时候你感到有困意When do you feel sleepy?

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Alice…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语，我是爱丽丝。
And I’m Neil. And I feel terrible!
我是尼尔。我感觉很不好！
You look terrible, Neil – if you don’t mind me saying so!
你看起来很不好，如果你不介意我这么说的话。
It’s because I had to get up really early this morning.
那是因为今天早上我不得不早起。
Oh dear! What time did you have to get up?
天啊！你几点起的床？
Eight o’clock.
八点。
Oh, Neil! That isn’t early! I get up at six every day.It’s so peaceful early in the morning.
尼尔！这一点也不早！我每天六点起床。那真是祥和安静的早晨。
Hmm. Well, some people are morning people and others… aren’t!
一些人适合早起，一些人不适合！
Yes. Well, today we’re talking about the biological reason for this – it’s all about circadian rhythms. They are produced by a so-called body clock in our brains that regulates our body functions:our body temperature, sleepiness and alertness, hunger, and hormone levels.Plants, animals, and many microbes have circadian rhythms.
今天我们讨论早起的生理原因，和昼夜节律有关。昼夜节律由大脑中所谓的生物钟产生，控制着我们的躯体功能，如我们身体温度、睡眠、警觉、饥饿和荷尔蒙水平。植物、动物和许多微生物都有昼夜节律。
You know a lot about circadian rhythms.
昼夜节律方面你懂很多啊。
And I’ll ask you a question related to them. What does the word circadian mean?Is it…a) around a day?b) every day?or c) twice a day?
我要问你的问题就和昼夜节律有关。circadian一词是什么意思？a) 大概一天？b) 每天？还是 c) 一天两次？
Hmm. I’m going to say a) around a day.
我选a) 大概一天。
Well, we’ll find out whether you got the answer right or not later on in the show. Now let’s talk about circadian rhythms and our internal clock.
之后我们再看你回答得是否正确。现在我们聊聊昼夜节律和我们身体内部的生物钟。
Why do our bodies need an internal clock to tell us where we are in the day?Isn’t it obvious?
为什么我们的身体需要生物钟告诉我们处于一天中的什么时候？还不明显吗？
No, it isn’t – take jet lag, for example.We rely on the predictable cycle of light or dark in a 24-hour period to synchronise – or adjust – our body clocks to the environment – and if we mess about with the light and dark cycle by flying into a new time zone, it makes us feel really bad!
没错，不明显。以时差为例。我们依靠24小时里白天与黑夜的可见循环，使我们的生物钟与环境相同步相适应。如果你飞越一个新的时区，白天黑夜的循环就会紊乱，这会让我们感觉非常糟糕！
Good point – jet lag is the disruption of our circadian rhythms caused by high-speed travel across different time zones,which can cause tiredness and sleep problems.But Alice, if we rely on day turning to night to adjust our body clocks, what happens to blind people? – Because I assume their body clocks can’t do this.
没错，时差是由跨不同时区的高速飞行造成的昼夜节律紊乱，会导致疲惫和睡眠问题。但是爱丽丝，如果我们依靠白天慢慢变为夜晚来调整生物钟，盲人该怎么办呢？因为我想他们的生物钟不会这样。
Blind people who have some light perception are able to synchronise their circadian rhythms to the light-dark cycle. But those who have no light perception at all…well, let’s listen now to Debra Skene, Professor of Neuroendocrinology at the University of Surrey.She can explain what happens.
一些具有光感的盲人可以依据昼夜循环同步他们的昼夜节律。但有一些盲人一点光感也没有。我们听听萨里大学神经内分泌学教授黛布拉·斯科纳的看法。她会解释没有光感的盲人如何调整生物钟。
Totally blind people – they’ve lost that connection between the light-dark circle and the clockSo there isn’t anything wrong with the clockbut the clock ticks and oscillates at its own endogenous period just the same as if I were to put you in a dark cave.Your biological internal clock would oscillate at your endogenous circadian period.
全盲的人，他们丧失了昼夜循环与生物钟之间的联系，所以生物钟没什么问题，生物钟依旧以自己的周期在滴答滴答走，就和把你放在黑暗的山洞里一样。你的生物钟还会以内在的生理节奏运作。
So if you’re totally blind – or able to see but living in a dark cave – you have a ticking clock but with no connection to the outside world.The clock oscillates at its own endogenous, or internal, period.
如果你全盲，或者可以看到，但身处黑暗的山洞，你内在的生物钟依旧在运作，但和外面的世界没有了联系。生物钟以自己内在的周期运作，
Oscillate means to move back and forth in a regular rhythm – like the pendulum on a clock.
Oscillate是指以有规律的节奏来回运动，就像钟表上的钟摆。
Do you think my endogenous clock ticks faster than yours, Alice?
你觉得我的生物钟比你走得快吗？
It isn’t a competition, Neil.And actually, mine probably ticks faster than yours since I’m a morning person. Anyway, the normal range in humans is between 23.8 to 24.8 hours.And this is also true for totally blind people.
这不是在比赛，尼尔。事实上，我的生物钟比你快，因为我是早起的人。总之，人类生物钟正常的范围是23.8小时到24.8小时。对全盲的人来说也是如此。
But their clocks are free-running – they don’t get cues from the outside environment telling them when to wake up, when to eat, when to feel sleepy.So that means they might feel sleepy at the wrong time of day – for example, when they’re at work.Or alert in the middle of the night when they should be asleep.
但是他们的生物钟是自由运转的，他们无法从外界得到提示，得知何时起床、何时吃饭、何时困乏。所以这意味着他们有可能在一天不适当的时候感到困乏，例如在工作的时候。或者在午夜应该睡觉的时候特别机警。
It’s worth talking about people who do shift work– which means work that takes place outside the traditional 9 to 5 day.
我们应该谈一谈那些轮班的人，也就是工作时间并非传统的朝九晚五的人。
Shift workers may suffer similar problems to blind people because they are trying to sleep against the clock.They might sleep in the day and work at night for example – which goes against the light-dark pattern.
倒班的工人必须要忍受和盲人类似的问题，因为他们的睡眠和生物钟冲突。他们也许要在白天睡觉，晚上工作，和昼夜循环相冲突。
There are some long-term health problems associated with shift work – certain cancers, heart disease, and obesity.
有一些长期的健康问题就和倒班相关，如某些癌症、心脏病及肥胖症。
So what can people do to help adapt their circadian rhythms to a night shift schedule?
所以人们应该怎么做使昼夜节律适应夜班的节奏？
Well, let’s hear what Professor Debra Skene has to say about it.
我们听听黛布拉·斯科纳教授的看法。
We do think that exercise and food, caffeine, may be able to modulate in some way,so has some influence on circadian timing, but not as strongly as the light-dark cycle.
我们认为锻炼、食物、咖啡因可以帮助调节，对生理节奏会造成一定的影响，但不会像昼夜循环那样对我们造成强烈的影响，
So the strongest influence over our circadian rhythm is the light-dark cycle. We can’t alter night and day, after all!
所以对我们昼夜节律影响最大的是昼夜循环。毕竟我们不能改变昼夜。
Debra Skene says that other cues such as food and exercise will modulate – or adjust – the body clock.So eating three well-balanced meals at regular times each day can help your body clock adapt to an unusual schedule.
黛布拉说像食物、锻炼等其他事物可以帮助我们调整生物钟。所以每天有规律的吃营养均衡的三餐，可以帮助你的生物钟适应不寻常的作息规律。
Taking naps – or short sleeps – just before you start a night shift can help you feel more alert.And keeping to the same sleep schedule every day will also help.
在上夜班前短暂的睡一觉也可以让你更精神。每天保持相同的睡眠规律也可以帮助适应。
And don’t forget caffeine – my old friend! A cup of coffee works wonders for me in the morning. Now remember I asked: What does circadian mean?Is it… a) around a day, b) every day or c) twice a day?
不要忘了咖啡因，我的老朋友了！早上一杯咖啡让我感觉非常好。现在还记得我的问题吗？Circadian是什么意思？ a) 大概一天， b) 每天，还是 c)一天两次？
And I said around a day.
我选的是大概一天。
And you were… right! Well done, Neil. The term circadian comes from the Latin circa, meaning around (or approximately), and diem, meaning day.Now, let’s hear the words we learned today.
你回答对啦！做得好！circadian一次来源于拉丁文circa和diem，前者的意思是大概，后者是指一天。现在我们听听今天学到的单词。
They are:
分别有：
circadian rhythms
昼夜节律
synchronise
使同步
jet lag
时差
oscillate
摆动
endogenous
内生的
shift work
倒班
modulate
调整
naps
小憩
That’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English.Don’t forget to join us again soon!
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。别忘了下次再会！
Bye!
再见！