【英语时差8,16】起床时间到啦

Yael: It's time once again for the mailbag. Let's see what we have today. Dear A Moment of Science: I went to sleep one time and slept for twenty years. What in the world happened to me? Signed Rip. Don: Well, Rip, you came to the right place. What happened is that your circadian rhythms got screwed up. Y: Circadian rhythm. That's named after those insects that come out of the ground every seven years isn't it? D: No, no. Those are cicadas. This is circadian. It's from the Latin for "about a day." Y: I knew that. D: Anyway, the brain has an internal clock that affects a lot of bodily functions, such as temperature, when we get hungry, hormone¹ levels, and so forth². Scientists believe this clock also governs when we go to sleep and when we wake up. Y: I think I see how this clock works. We usually go to sleep at about the same time every night, and for most of us about eight hours later we wake up. D: Right. It's believed that we fall asleep at about the same time each night because chemical activity in the brain induces sleep. Then for most of us about eight hours later our brain clock switches on chemical activity that wakes us up--assuming the neighbor's barking dog doesn't awaken³ us first. Y: That's cool. With all this talk about sleep, I think I'm ready for a nap. D: Me too.

1 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。