睡眠的謎團有待破解

鐘翠頻 黃連英

Sleep is an ancient， universal experience. Animals do it. People do it， though often less than they would like to.

But because it is so commonplace， for a long time sleep was a subject that scientists had not realized. It is only about in the past half-century that it has attracted the attention of researchers. A new book from Kenneth Miller， a science journalist， sets out to chronicle the field’s short but fascinating history.

The book is organized around the life and hard work of four scientists. The patriarch of the field is Nathaniel Kleitman， who set up a pioneering sleep-research programme at the University of Chicago.

In this book， the author spent a good deal of time on biographical details and pen portraits of the world through which Kleitman moved. But the story soon picks up. It roams from the discovery of rapid-eye-movement （REM） sleep and circadian rhythms — the biological clocks that govern humanity’s days — to the effects of sleep deprivation. It also probes the purpose， if any， of dreams.

Underlying it all is a sense of psychology’s slow maturing as a science. New technologies such as electroencephalographs， which monitor electrical activity in the brain， have offered practitioners the ability to study brains directly， rather than trying to infer what they are doing from the behaviour of their owners.

Discoveries often lead to new questions in turn. That is why neat， tidy endings are hard to achieve in science books; this one is no different. Despite all the progress of the past 50 years， scientists are still unsure what sleep is for. The fact it is so widespread suggests it is vital. But why evolution would see fit to produce animals that must spend large amounts of their time insensate and unable to respond to threats is still a mystery researchers are trying to solve. For anyone curious about asking the right questions， however， Mr Miller’s book is a good place to start.

（材料來自The Economist雜志，有刪改）

1. What does the underlined word “chronicle” in Paragraph 2 probably mean？

A. Adapt. B. Change.

C. Record. ? D. Create.

2. What is mainly talked about in Paragraph 3 and Paragraph 4？

A. The main content of the book.

B. The influence of four scientists.

C. The places Kleitman has visited.

D. The effects of sleep deprivation.

3. Why are good endings hard to achieve in science books？

A. The scientists are still uncertain what sleep is for.

B. New questions often arise from discoveries.

C. New discoveries often need too much fund.

D. The scientists are not unsure of the methods.

4. What is the author’s attitude toward Mr Miller’s book？

A. Doubtful. B. Objective.

C. Negative. D. Positive.

1. C。解析：詞義猜測題。材料第二段的第一句和第二句提到“由于睡眠如此普遍，很長一段時間內，科學家們并未對睡眠這個課題產生興趣，直到最近半個多世紀，它才引起了研究者的注意”，由此可以推出畫線詞所在句子是說“科普記者Kenneth Miller的這本新書記錄了睡眠領域短暫但迷人的歷史”。因此，“chronicle”應有“記錄”之意。故選C。

2. A。解析：推理判斷題。材料第三段主要講述了這本書是圍繞4位科學家的生活和工作展開的；材料第四段先是講這本書描述了傳記細節和Kleitman所到達的地方，接著回歸主題——睡眠和做夢。綜合起來看，這兩段講述的是這本書的主要內容。故選A。

3. B。解析：細節理解題。根據材料最后一段的第一句和第二句（Discoveries often lead to new questions in turn. That is why neat， tidy endings are hard to achieve in science books...），我們可知科普書籍很難有完美的結尾是因為新發現往往又會引出新的問題。故選B。

4. D。解析：觀點態度題。材料最后一段的最后一句指出“對于任何想提出正確問題的人來說，Miller的書是一個很好的起點”，由此可見，作者對他的書持肯定態度。故選D。