IELTS Reading 練習 6 睡眠科學（含題目+詳解）
The Science of Sleep
閱讀前先看 Before you read
重要單字
- passive — not active; accepting without doing anything / 被動的
- consolidate — to make memory stronger and more permanent / 鞏固
- hippocampus — a brain region central to short-term memory / 海馬迴
- glymphatic — relating to the brain's waste-clearing channel system / 腦脊液清除系統的
- metabolic waste — unwanted by-products of cell activity / 代謝廢物
- cognitive decline — a worsening of mental abilities like memory / 認知退化
30 秒快速理解 30-second summary
Sleep was once considered a passive shutdown of the brain, but research since the 1950s shows it is highly active. NREM sleep restores the body, while REM sleep produces vivid dreams. Sleep also consolidates memory and lets the glymphatic system flush out waste linked to Alzheimer's. Yet modern adults now sleep nearly two hours less than people did in 1900.
逐段練習 Read paragraph by paragraph
1 段落 1 — Sleep is not passive
本段重要單字 (3)
- passive — not active / 被動的
- overturned — completely changed or reversed / 推翻
- metabolically — in a way relating to the body's chemical processes / 代謝上
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
How has scientific understanding of sleep changed since the 1950s?
看答案 · Show answer
答案：B — B. Researchers came to see sleep as an active, structured process.
The paragraph says the old "passive" view has been "overturned" and that sleep is now seen as "highly structured, metabolically active". So B matches.
2 段落 2 — NREM and REM cycles
本段重要單字 (3)
- cycle — a repeating set of stages / 周期
- restoration — the process of returning to a healthy state / 修復
- paralysed — unable to move / 麻痺、無法動
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
Which phase of sleep is most strongly linked to vivid dreaming?
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答案：B — B. REM sleep, when skeletal muscles are paralysed.
The paragraph states that during REM sleep "skeletal muscles are temporarily paralysed" and "most vivid dreaming occurs during this phase".
3 段落 3 — Sleep and memory
本段重要單字 (3)
- consolidate — to make stronger and more permanent / 鞏固
- sleep-deprived — not having had enough sleep / 睡眠不足的
- outperformed — did better than someone else / 表現勝過
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
What does the 2013 study suggest about sleep and learning?
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答案：B — B. Students who slept after studying did better on later tests.
The paragraph says students who slept seven hours after learning "outperformed sleep-deprived peers" on tests a week later, despite identical study time.
4 段落 4 — The glymphatic system
本段重要單字 (3)
- flushes out — washes away / 沖走、清除
- accumulation — a gradual build-up over time / 累積
- plausible — reasonable and likely to be true / 合理可信的
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
Why might chronic sleep loss increase the risk of cognitive decline?
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答案：B — B. It reduces the brain's ability to clear waste proteins like beta-amyloid.
The paragraph links chronic sleep restriction to "the long-term accumulation" of beta-amyloid because the glymphatic system, which clears such waste, is most active during deep NREM sleep.
5 段落 5 — Modern sleep loss
本段重要單字 (3)
- industrialised — having developed industries on a large scale / 工業化的
- shift work — work done outside normal daytime hours / 輪班工作
- attributed to — said to be caused by / 歸因於
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
According to the writer, the decline in average sleep since 1900 is mainly caused by:
看答案 · Show answer
答案：B — B. technology and lifestyle factors such as lighting and screens.
The paragraph attributes the trend to "electric lighting, shift work and ... the widespread use of screens before bedtime" — all technology and lifestyle factors.
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