【英语语言学习】我们的睡眠质量

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Millions of Americans recharge their phones and screens and laptops before they go to bed at night, but do they recharge themselves? Arianna Huffington says we're in the midst of a sleep deprivation¹ crisis that creates anxiety as well as exhaustion², depression as well as droopy eyelids³ and dangerous accidents, poor judgment⁴ and prolonged sleep-deprived stupidity.

Don't go back to sleep until you hear this. Her new book, "The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night At A Time." And Arianna Huffington, the co-founder and editor in chief of The Huffington Post joins us from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON: Thank you so much, Scott. Great to be with you.

SIMON: You had a kind of wake-up call on this subject, didn't you?

HUFFINGTON: Yes, actually nine years ago, April 2007, I collapsed⁵ from sleep deprivation and hit my desk on the way down and broke my cheekbone. And that was my wake-up call in terms of changing my own life, understanding the science behind the need for sleep and also looking around and seeing how many millions of us are in similar states of perpetual exhaustion to the point where it becomes the new normal and we don't even notice it.

SIMON: Isn't there a kind of macho, if you please, attached to lack of sleep or people who feel they only need a little sleep to function?

HUFFINGTON: Oh, absolutely. You know, there is a tremendous braggadocio⁶ going on. I mean, I had dinner with a guy recently who bragged⁷ that he had only gotten four hours sleep the night before. And I didn't say it, but I thought, did you know this dinner would've been a lot more interesting if you had gotten five?

SIMON: (Laughter).

HUFFINGTON: So we hear that a lot. We hear employees being congratulated for working 24/7, which now we know is the cognitive⁸ equivalent of coming to work drunk. But it's changing. We are now in this amazing transition period where more and more companies are beginning to realize that living like that and working like that has actually terrible consequences, not just on the health and productivity of their employees but also on their bottom line.

SIMON: You talk about sleep as a basic human right that we have not ranked alongside, you know, the right not to go hungry, the right to freedom of expression, that sort of thing.

HUFFINGTON: Yes, and what is interesting is that it's a right that has been violated both in workplaces where employees have been expected to be perpetually on, especially since the advent⁹ of the smartphone, but also which is constantly violated by us because we have so minimized the importance of sleep. So that basic human right that you mention is often violated by us.

SIMON: We can't do an interview with Arianna Huffington at this point and not ask about the 2016 presidential campaign. And I will point out Donald Trump¹⁰ says he just gets by on about four hours of sleep a night. Any reaction to that?

HUFFINGTON: Yes. In fact, he displays every symptom of chronic¹¹ sleep deprivation as described by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine - difficulty processing information, paranoid tendencies, mood swings. The way he made statements that he actually had to retract¹², like banishing¹³ women who have abortion¹⁴, shows that sleep deprivation is a slippery slope.

SIMON: You tried to uphold an editorial policy early in the campaign about not covering Donald Trump as a political story but as an entertainment story. Then after, what, a couple - a few weeks or months, you found you couldn't do that.

HUFFINGTON: Well, what happened is that we changed our policy the day that he proposed to ban 1.6 billion Muslims from this country. The day he made this completely un-American pronouncement, we believe that covering him as a clear and present danger was legitimate¹⁵.

SIMON: How many times have you been doing interviews for this book and somebody has pretended to fall asleep on you?

HUFFINGTON: Oh, it hasn't happened. Are you about to do it (laughter)?

SIMON: (Laughter) I couldn't bring myself to do it, all right?

HUFFINGTON: I would consider it a compliment.

SIMON: Arianna Huffington - her book, "The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night At A Time." Pleasant dreams to you, Arianna. Thanks so much.

HUFFINGTON: Thank you so much, Scott. Pleasant dreams to you too.

1 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

2 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

3 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 braggadocio   

n.吹牛大王

参考例句：

• He was disliked because his manner was always full of braggadocio.人们讨厌他，因为他老是吹牛。
• Underneath his goofball braggadocio lies a kind of purity.在他笨拙的自夸里蕴含着一丝纯洁。

7 bragged   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He bragged to his friends about the crime. 他向朋友炫耀他的罪行。
• Mary bragged that she could run faster than Jack. 玛丽夸口说她比杰克跑得快。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

9 advent   

n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临

参考例句：

• Swallows come by groups at the advent of spring. 春天来临时燕子成群飞来。
• The advent of the Euro will redefine Europe.欧元的出现将重新定义欧洲。

10 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

11 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

12 retract   

vt.缩回，撤回收回，取消

参考例句：

• The criminals should stop on the precipice, retract from the wrong path and not go any further.犯罪分子应当迷途知返，悬崖勒马，不要在错误的道路上继续走下去。
• I don't want to speak rashly now and later have to retract my statements.我不想现在说些轻率的话，然后又要收回自己说过的话。

13 banishing   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• And he breathes out fast, like a king banishing a servant. 他呼气则非常迅速，像一个国王驱逐自己的奴仆。 来自互联网
• Banishing genetic disability must therefore be our primary concern. 消除基因缺陷是我们的首要之急。 来自互联网

14 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

15 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。