中國學生睡眠不足

江蘇 溫從秀

一份新的報告指出，在過去的十年里，中國兒童和青少年睡眠不足的情況有所惡化，超過80%的學生在上學期間睡眠不足。

題材健康體裁報道文章詞數 難度 建議用時334 ★★★ 6 分鐘

A new report says that lack of sleep among children and teenagers in China has worsened in the past decade, with more than 80 percent getting insufficient sleep on school days.

Chinese youngsters snoozed （小睡） an average of 7.8 hours a night on school days last year, 20 minutes less than in 2009, according to the report from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Psychology. Researchers surveyed more than 15,800 students from Henan, Hebei and Guangdong provinces from April to July, asking them what time they went to bed and woke up on days when they went to school. Only 46.4 percent slept for at least 8 hours, compared with 47.4 percent in 2009, the report said.

According to an action plan laying out measures to be taken from 2019 to 2030 to promote the health of citizens, primary school students are recommended to get a minimum of 10 hours' sleep a night. Nine hours is recommended for junior high school students and 8 hours for senior high school students. By those standards, more than 95 percent of students in primary schools, nearly 91 percent of those in junior high schools and 84 percent of students in senior high schools do not get enough sleep on school days, which can give rise to mental and physical health problems.

Hou Jinqin, a researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences who co-authored the report, said local authorities should make measures suggested by the Ministry of Education come into effect. These measures include lessening academic burdens, postponing start times at school and encouraging children to enroll at institutions closer to home so they can have more sleep.

In terms of the COVID-19 epidemic's impact on sleep, she said research overseas had shown that school closures forced by the epidemic had given young students studying at home an extra two hours of sleep a night. However, in China some studies had revealed no marked differences in sleeping patterns of students before and after schools reopened, she added.

Reading Check

Choose the best answer for each question.

1. How many students in China have got adequate sleep in the last decade?

A. About 60 percent.

B. Over 80 percent.

C. About 70 percent.

D. Less than 20 percent.

2. How does the author make the problem of insufficient sleep clear in Para. 2?

A. By analysis.

B. By using figures.

C. By giving examples.

D. By self-investigation.

3. What can be inferred according to Para. 3?

A. The action plan is issued for students only.

B. Students should sleep at least 9 hours per night.

C. The quality of students' sleep seems to be worrying.

D. Insufficient sleep has caused many problems among students.

4. What does Para. 4 mainly deal with?

A. The cause of insufficient sleep.

B. An introduction to a national institute.

C. The background of the new report.

D. Solutions to students' insufficient sleep.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Discover useful structures in the text

伴隨狀語的多樣化表達

1. “with +賓語+非謂語動詞”結構作伴隨狀語

A new report says that lack of sleep among children and teenagers in China has worsened in the past decade, with more than 80 percent getting insufficient sleep on school days. 一份新的報告指出，在過去的十年里，中國兒童和青少年睡眠不足的情況有所惡化，超過80%的人在上學期間睡眠不足。

2. 使用表示主動關系的現在分詞作伴隨狀語

Researchers surveyed more than 15,800 students from Henan, Hebei and Guangdong provinces from April to July, asking them what time they went to bed and woke up on days when they went to school. 從4月至7月，研究人員調查了來自河南、河北和廣東的15，800多名學生的情況，詢問他們在上學期間什么時候睡覺，什么時候起床。

Ⅱ. Text-centered chunks

in the past decade 在過去的十年中

an average of 平均

compared with... 與……相比

lay out 規劃；布置；設計

give rise to 引起；導致

come into effect 生效；實施

lessen academic burdens 減輕學業負擔

in terms of 就……而言