And I'm Neil.

我是 Neil。

So Neil, did you sleep well last night?

Neil，你昨晚有睡好嗎？

Um, yes, thanks. Why do you ask?

呃，有啊，謝謝你。為什麼這麼問？

Today we're talking about how much sleep we need.

今天我們要討論的是：我們需要睡多久才夠。

Ah, I like a good eight hours myself – ten at the weekend. How about you?

啊，我喜歡睡滿八小時，然後在周末睡個十小時。你呢？

Six is enough for me. But did you know this? Humans sleep around three hours less than other primates like chimps, who sleep for about ten hours.

睡六個小時就夠了。但你知道嗎？人類大概比其他的靈長類動物少睡了三個小時，例如黑猩猩每天要睡上十個小時。

So you're a chimp, Neil... at the weekends, at least! Are you ready for the quiz question?

所以你是黑猩猩啊 Neil，至少在週末的時候是！你準備好要回答測驗問題了嗎？

OK, I'll assume that means yes. Right. What's another word for sleepwalking?

好的，我就當作你的意思是準備好了。好，代表夢遊症的另一個單字是什麼？

Is it... a) narcolepsy? b) restless legs syndrome? or c) somnambulism?

是 a) 嗜睡症？ b) 不寧腿症候群？還是 c) 夢遊症？

I will go for b) restless legs syndrome, since there's a connection with the legs.

我選 b) 不寧腿症候群，因為它們兩者都和腿有相關。

Well, we'll find out whether you're right or wrong later on in the show.

我們將會在稍後的節目中知道你的答案正不正確的。

So what keeps you awake at night, Neil?

Neil，什麼東西會使你在晚上睡不著？

Not much, to be honest. I usually sleep like a log and that means very heavily indeed!

其實沒有什麼事情能吵醒我耶。我時常都熟睡得跟塊木頭似 (sleep like a log) 的，意思是我真的睡得很沉！

But sometimes my own snoring wakes me up, and then I can find it hard to get back to sleep.

但有時我會被自己的打鼾聲吵醒，之後就很難再入眠了。

Snoring, for those of you who don't know, means breathing in a noisy way through your mouth or nose while you're asleep. [snores] ... like that... How about you, Alice?

打鼾 (snoring) 這個詞，對可能比較不了解的人說明一下，意味著在你睡覺的時候，透過嘴巴或鼻子發出吵雜的聲音來進行呼吸。(鼾聲大作) 像這樣...Alice 你呢？

Very good, yes. Well, that's quite ridiculous!

非常好，好的。剛才那個真的蠻誇張的！

Anyway, for me, it's drinking too much coffee during the day.

無論如何，對我而言的話，是在白天的時候喝了太多的咖啡。

It's the caffeine in coffee – a chemical that makes you feel more awake which can stop you from sleeping at night.

咖啡裡的咖啡因 (caffeine) ─也就是一種會使你更有精神的化學物質，會讓你在夜裡睡不著覺。

But there are so many things that can keep us awake these days.

但現在有太多東西會使我們在夜裡睡不著了。

Oh yes. Radio, TV... techy stuff like 24-hour internet, computers, smart phones. I love my phone and it's never far from me!

對呀。收音機、電視.... 整天 24 小時的網路、電腦和智慧型手機之類的科技產品。我愛死了我的手機，一直都把它放在我的身邊！

Well, let's hear what Professor Jerome Siegel, from the University of California, found when he studied the sleep habits of three different hunter-gatherer communities who have very little contact with modern society.

讓我們來聽聽加州大學的教授 Jerome Siegel 在他研究三種來自不同的狩獵採集社群，但都與現代社會接觸極少的人們的睡眠習慣時，發現了什麼現象。

They don't have artificial light, electricity, batteries, or any of the gadgets that we rely on today.

他們沒有人造的電燈、電力、電池或是任何我們在現今生活所仰賴的電器用品。

Their sleep was not that different from ours.

他們的睡眠並沒有和我們那麼的不同。

The range of sleep period was about 6.9 to 8.5 hours.

睡眠的時間大概是 6.9 到 8.5 個小時。

If you actually measure sleep in current populations in the United States or in Europe, they're definitely at the low end of what's been reported.

實際上與目前美國或是歐洲的人口相比較的話，他們實際上會在報告上的低數值區。

They certainly don't sleep a lot less than we do, but they clearly don't sleep more.

他們並沒有睡得少我們很多，但很明顯的也沒有睡得比較多。

Professor Jerome Siegel found that people in these communities don't go to bed until several hours after sundown – just like us!

Jerome Siegel 教授發現，在這些社群中的人們就如同我們一樣，在日落後的幾個小時過後才會上床。

But one big difference is that very few of them suffer from insomnia, which means having difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep.

但一個巨大的不同點是，他們很少有人有失眠的困擾。失眠 (insomnia) 的意思是一直維持清醒的狀態，難以入睡。

Now, I don't have a problem with insomnia. And hunter-gatherers – people who live by hunting animals and gathering plants to eat – don't either probably because they take a lot of physical exercise during the day.

我沒有失眠的困擾。而狩獵採集的人們 (hunter-gatherers)，也就是靠著狩獵動物和採集植物為生的人，之所以也沒有失眠的困擾或許是因為他們在白天時花費了許多的體力。

Yes, that's right. Taking exercise is an important factor in sleeping soundly – or well – at night.

是的，沒錯。做運動是夜晚睡覺時能否安穩入眠 (sleeping soundly)，或睡得好 (sleeping well) 的重要因素。

But these days our minds can be so active that it becomes very difficult to fall asleep.

但是在現今的生活中，我們的腦袋變得更加的活躍，讓我們很難入睡。

Let's listen to Professor Kevin Morgan, from Loughborough University here in England, talking about how cognitive behavioural therapy can be used to help people with insomnia.

讓我們來聽聽來自英國羅浮堡大學的 Kevin Morgan 教授說明認知行為療法如何被運用來改善失眠。

If you have a train of thoughts which would otherwise keep you awake one way of dealing with this is to block those thoughts.

如果有一連串停不下來的思緒，讓你保持清醒無法入睡，其中一個解決的辦法便是阻絕這些思緒。

What I'd like you to do is repeat the word 'the' in your mind at irregular intervals

我想要你試試看在心中以不規則的時間間隔重複的念著「the」這個字。

the the the the the the the the the

the the the the the the the the the

And what you'll find (is) that the mind space required to do this, blocks out almost everything else.

你會發現的當你專心在做這件事的時候，會將其他的事物都阻隔在外。

So Professor Kevin Morgan suggests saying one word over and over again at irregular intervals.

所以 Kevin Morgan 教授建議的是，一次又一次地以不規則的時間間隔重複說著一個單字。

Irregular in this context means not spaced out evenly.

不規則 (irregular) 在這個段落裡代表不平均地分配。

Doing it can help to block out the thoughts that are stopping you from getting to sleep.

這麼做可以幫助你阻隔會讓你失眠的思緒。

It sounds like a very simple solution. I wonder if it works?

聽起來是個很簡單的解決方法。真好奇這是不是真的行得通嗎？

Um, there's one way to find out, Neil. Try it yourself!

嗯，有個方法可以驗證看看。Neil，你可以親身實驗看看！

Um, I will.

我會的。

OK. And cognitive behavioural therapy by the way is a treatment for mental health problems that tries to change the way you think.

好喔。順帶一提，認知行為療法 (cognitive behavioural therapy) 是一種試著改變思維方式，來改善心理健康問題的治療方式。

Well, I usually count sheep if I can't get to sleep. Do you do that, Alice?

我在我睡不著的時候都會數羊。 Alice，你會這麼做嗎？

No, not usually. No. OK, I think it's time for the answer to our quiz question.

其實我不會耶。好的，我覺得是時候回答我們的測驗問題了。

I asked: What's another word for sleepwalking? Is it... a) narcolepsy? b) restless legs syndrome? or c) somnambulism?

我問的是：代表夢遊症的另一個單字是？是... a)嗜睡症？ b) 不寧腿症候群？還是 c) 夢遊症？

And I said b) restless legs syndrome.

Neil：然後我的答案是 b) 不寧腿症候群。

Sorry, Neil, it's actually c) somnambulism – the roots of this word come from Latin.

Neil 很抱歉，事實上是 c) 夢遊症。它的字根來自拉丁文。

Somnus means 'sleep' and and ambulare means 'walk'.

Somnus 代表「睡眠」，而 ambulare 代表「行走」。

Narcolepsy is a condition where you can't stop yourself falling asleep, especially during the day.

嗜睡症的症狀是：你會不由自主地睡著，尤其是在白天的時候。

Narcolepsy...

嗜睡症...

And restless legs syndrome is a condition that makes you desperate to move your legs around, especially when you're sitting quietly or trying to get to sleep.

而不寧腿症候群的症狀是：你會非常的想要讓腿動來動去，特別是當你靜靜地坐著或是試著入睡的時候。

... get to sleep...

...去睡覺...

Neil! Wake up!

Neil！起床了！

Oh, hello Alice! Sorry.

喔，哈囉 Alice！抱歉。

Hello! Can we hear today's words again, please?

哈囉！我們可以再來聽一次今天的單字嗎？

Oh, OK, yeah:

噢，好的：

Sleep like a log.

熟睡。

Snoring.

打鼾。

Caffeine.

咖啡因。

Insomnia.

失眠。

Hunter-gatherers.

狩獵採集的人們。

Soundly.

安穩入眠。

Irregular.

不規則的。

Cognitive behavioural therapy.

認知行為療法。

Well, that just about brings us to the end of this edition of 6 Minute English.

我們來到了 6 分鐘學英語節目的尾聲。

We hope you've enjoyed this programme.

我們希望你有喜歡這集的節目。

Please do join us again soon. Bye.

敬請再次收看。再見。

Good bye.

再見。