Too much light makes you heavy

Bob

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Sleeping in a room with too much lighthas been linked to an increased risk of pilingon the pounds，a study shows.

A team at the Institute of Cancer Researchin London found women had larger waistlinesif their bedrooms were“light enough to seeacross" at night.

However，they caution there is not enoughevidence to advise people to buy thickercurtains or turn off lights.

The study of 113，000 women was publishedin the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The women were asked to rate theamount of light in their bedrooms at night as：

Light enough to read; Light enough to seeacross the room，but not read; Light enough tosee your hand in front of you，but not acrossthe room; Too dark to see your hand or youwear a mask.

Their answers were compared to severalmeasures of obesity. Body Mass Index，waist-to-hip ratio and waist circumference were allhigher in women with lighter rooms.

Prof. Anthony Swerdlow，from the Instituteof Cancer Research，told the BBC：“In this verylarge group of people there is an associationbetween reported light exposure at night andoverweight and obesity. "

But there is not sufficient evidence 3 toknow if making your room darker would makeany difference to your weight.

"There might be other explanations forthe association，but the findings are interestingenough to warrant further scientific investigation. ”

Body Clock

One possible explanation is that the lightis disrupting the body clock，which stems fromour evolutionary past when we were activewhen it was light in the day and resting when itwas dark at night.

Light alters mood，physical strength andeven the way we process food in a 24-hourcycle.

Artificial light is known to disrupt the bodyclock by delaying the production of the sleephormone melatonin.

Prof. Derk-Jan Dijk，from the Surrey SleepCentre，said there would be no harm in tryingto make bedrooms darker.

He told the BBC：“People in generalare not aware of the light present in theirbedrooms. I think people should assess theirbedrooms and see how easy it would be tomake them darker. "

Street lights，some alarm clocks andstandby lights on electrical equipment such astelevisions could light a room，he said.

“Overall this study points to the importanceof darkness，" he concluded.

Cancer

The study was funded by BreakthroughBreast Cancer and the findings emergedfrom a long-term study to understand the riskfactors for breast cancer. Obesity is known toincrease the odds of the disease.

Dr Matthew Lam，from the charity，commented：“It's too early to suggest thatsleeping in the dark will help prevent obesity，a known risk factor for breast cancer，but theassociation is certainly interesting. ' ”

“Whilst we are learning more and moreeach day about the environmental，geneticand lifestyle factors that affect breast cancerrisk，it is not yet possible to predict who willget breast cancer，and for women who havebeen diagnosed with the disease，we can't yetsay what caused it. "

閱讀理解

1. Which statement is RIGHT according to a study？

A. Researchers have enough evidence to advise people to turn off lights at night.

B. A study proves that a room with too much light has led to obesity.

C. Researchers haven't enough evidence to prove too much light can enlarge waistlines.

D. “Light enough to see across" at night is the key element of obesity.

2. When rating the amount of light in bedrooms，the researchers considered thefollowing aspects EXCEPT

A. reading in the room

B. seeing your hand only in front of you

C. wearing masks

D. watching TV in the room

3. What's the meaning of the underlined word "warrant"？

A. Assure.

B. Stop.

C. Increase.

D. Change.

4. Which statement about Body Clock is RIGHT？

A. Body Clock results from our evolution when we were active during the day and restingat night.

B. Light changes every part of our bodies and even the ways we act.

C. Artificial light increases the production of the sleep hormone melatonin to affect BodyClock.

D. For Body Clock darkness is as important as daytime.

5. According to Dr. Matthew Lam，we can infer that.

A. the environmental，genetic and lifestyle factors lead to breast cancer

B. it is not certain that obesity is associated with darkness

C. sleeping in the dark will help prevent obesity

D. Obesity is known to increase the odds of the disease

答案與解析

1. C。細節理解題。根據文章的前三段可以看出However后面的內容是重點，而這一點正是與C項吻合的內容。

2. D。細節理解題。第五段中提到女性被要求按臥室亮度級別評定，其中三項和A、B、C三選項吻合，所以D項是除外的。

3. A。詞義推測題。根據表語的interesting enough可以推測A項的assure“保證”更符合“warrant”的詞義。

4. A。細節理解題。在“Body Clock”部分中提到：生物鐘源于人類進化的過程，當有光線時活躍，在黑暗的時候休息，這和A項符合。其他選項都有細節錯誤。

5. B。細節推斷題。根據Matthew Lam博土的說法“在黑暗中睡眠有助于防止肥胖的說法還為時尚早，但是這種關系很有意思?！笨梢灾?。A、C有誤，D項不是推斷出來的。

長難句分析

1. One possible explanation is that the light is disrupting the body clock，whichstems from our evolutionary past when we were active when it was light in the day andresting when it was dark at night. 一種可能的解釋是，光線干擾生物鐘。生物鐘源于人類進化的過程，讓我們在有光線時活躍，在黑暗的時候休息。

這是個復合句。主句是主系表結構，表語是that引導的從句，在這個表語從句中which引導定語從句修飾the body clock;第一個when引導定語從句修飾evolutionarypast，第二和第三個when都是引導時間狀語從句。英語中的關系副詞有三個：when，where和why。

when引導的定語從句時，其先行詞往往是表示時間的名詞，也可以轉換為“介詞+which”引導的定語從句。例如： I still remember the time when（during which）I livedin the countryside.

where引導的定語從句時，其先行詞往往是表示地點的名詞?？梢赞D換為“介詞+which”引導的定語從句。例如： The hotel where（at which）we stayed wasn't clean.

如果定語從句分別修飾point，situation，stage，condition和case等表示抽象意義的詞，常用where引導，意思是“到了某種地步，在某種境況中”。例如： I've come tothe point where I can't stand him.

why引導的定語從句時，其先行詞往往是表示原因的名詞，例如： excuse ;explanation; reason等，可以轉換為“for+which”引導的定語從句。如：①We can'taccept the excuse why you were absent. ②This is the reason why（= for which）Ididn't come here.

2. Whilst we are learning more and more each day about the environmental，geneticand lifestyle factors that affect breast cancer risk，it is not yet possible to predict who will getbreast cancer，and for women who have been diagnosed with the disease，we can't yet saywhat caused it. 雖然我們對誘發乳腺癌的環境、基因、生活習慣等因素了解地越來越多了，但我們還不能預測哪些人會患乳腺癌，對于那些已經被確診患乳腺癌的女性來說，我們也不能明確是什么因素引發的。

這是個并列復合句。whilst “有時，當……的時候”同英國英語中的while，可引導時間狀語從句也可引導讓步狀語從句。句中it is not yet possible…是主句部分，其中it是形式主語，后面的不定式是真正主語，and之后是另一一個并列的主句，其中who引導定語從句修飾介詞for后面的賓語women，主句中what引導的名詞性從句做動詞賓語。