英语听力精选进阶版 10440

Whether you prefer burning the midnight oil or going to bed early so you can get up at the crack of dawn depends on your genes¹, according to experts.

据专家说，你是喜欢开夜车还是喜欢早早上床睡觉黎明时分起床，取决于你的基因。

I leap out of bed each morning, keen to start an active day. But I can hear my neighbour's alarm clock ringing non-stop every morning and I doubt he gets to work on time.

我每天都很早从床上跳起来，迫切而积极地开始一天的生活。但是我每天都能听到我邻居的闹钟响个不停，我很怀疑他能否准时去上班。

A lot of noise comes from his flat in the evening. He's happy to stay up watching telly till the wee small hours, while I turn in early and try to sleep.

晚上，他的公寓里总是传来很多噪音。他每天都开心地看电视到深夜，而我却早早地上床睡觉。

Well, it might not be his fault after all. Neurogeneticist Dr Louis Ptacek of University of California would say I'm 'a lark²' and my neighbour is 'an owl³'. Families of 'extreme owls⁴', with Familial Delayed Sleep Phase syndrome⁵, were found to have a different mutation⁶ in the same genes.

不过，这或许不是他的错。来自加州大学的神经基因学家Louis Ptacek博士会说我是一只“百灵鸟”，我的邻居是“猫头鹰”。科学家发现，“极端猫头鹰”家族患有家族性睡眠相位后移症，家族成员出现同样的基因突变。

We all have internal 'clocks' located in the part of the brain which controls all kinds of bodily functions and it is reset⁷ every day by light. These internal clocks run to a different schedule in 'larks⁸' and 'owls'. If you have a fast clock, you like to do things early, and if you have a slow clock, you like to do things late.

我们的大脑中都有内在的生物钟，控制着所有的身体生理机能，每天都通过光线来重新设置。“百灵鸟”和“猫头鹰”的内在生物钟运作方式不同。如果你的内在钟表走得比较快，你就喜欢早点做事。如果你的内在钟表比较慢，你喜欢晚一点做事。

Because we live in a 24/7 world, scientists believe it's important to understand a person's 'chronotype' – the time of the day when they function the best. It could help us lead a healthier life.

因为我们生活在一个时时刻刻转动着的世界，科学家们相信，了解一个人的“时型”非常重要——也就是一个人一天当中生理机能运作最佳的时候。这样可以帮助我们过更加健康的生活。

Prof Till Roenneberg of Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich has studied sleeping patterns and thinks work times should be changed and made more individual to fit in with our chronotypes.

路德维希-马克西米利安-慕尼黑大学的Prof Till对睡眠模式进行了研究，认为工作时间应该进行调整，根据个人的“时型”进行个性化对待。

And he has advice for those who can't choose their work shifts: "If that's not possible, we should be more strategic about light exposure", says Prof Roenneberg. "You should try to go to work not in a covered vehicle but on a bike. The minute the sun sets we should use things that have no blue light, like computer screens and other electronic devices."

对于那些不能选择工作时段的人他也有一些建议：“如果调整工作时间不可能，我们应该在光线暴露方面更有战略性。最好不要乘坐密封的交通工具，而是骑自行车。日落的时候我们应该使用没有蓝光的工具，例如电脑屏幕和其他电子备。”

So what about you? Are you 'a lark' or 'an owl'?

那么你呢？你是“百灵鸟”还是“猫头鹰”？

1 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

2 lark   

n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏

参考例句：

• He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
• She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。

3 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

4 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

5 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

6 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

7 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

8 larks   

n.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的名词复数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的第三人称单数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了

参考例句：

• Maybe if she heard the larks sing she'd write. 玛丽听到云雀的歌声也许会写信的。 来自名作英译部分
• But sure there are no larks in big cities. 可大城市里哪有云雀呢。” 来自名作英译部分