Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. equipment (n.) – set of tools or devices used for a special purpose
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. equipment (n.) – set of tools or devices used for a special purpose
Example: The clinic is complete with all the
necessary medical equipment.
2. complaint (n.) – expression of one’s dissatisfaction, pain,
anger and other such emotion
Example: Customers can make a complaint if they do
not like the restaurant’s service.
3. adjust (v.) – to
change something for a better fit or match
Example: The employee adjusted his schedule so that he could work in another part-time
job.
4. drawback (n.) – disadvantage;
something that may cause problems
Example: Cutting trees has environmental drawbacks.
5. myth (n.) – something
many believe to be true but is usually false
Example: It is only a myth that dreams come true.
Article
Read the text below.
According to a US study, the belief
that older people have worse sleeping patterns may only be a myth.
Researchers from the Center for Sleep
and Circadian Neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania surveyed 150,000
adults via telephone. The subjects were asked about the quality of their
sleep, as well as their race, income, education, mood and general health.
The data were then adjusted to make up for poor health
and depression, both of which affect sleep, and a clear relation between age
and sleep quality was seen.
The results showed that apart from
people in their 40s, older adults actually feel better about their sleep.
Researchers learned that complaints about
poor sleep decreased as age increased, with the least number of complaints
coming from adults 70 years old and above.
Meanwhile, adults over 80 years old
reported the best sleep. However,
middle-aged people said their sleep quality was generally poor.
Usually, sleep studies use equipment to measure how long and how
well a person is able to sleep. But equipment data do not always match study
volunteers’ opinions about the quality of their sleep. This is why the new study tried to ask only about
sleep quality.
Dr. Michael Grandner said it is also
possible that even if the older adults really did get poor sleep, they did
not feel too bad about it.
Other sleep experts find the study
interesting; although the drawback
of the results is that the subjects’ moods during the survey may have
affected their answers.
|
Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
·
How
do you feel about aging? Do you worry about it?
·
Should
people be afraid of aging? Why or why not?
Discussion B
·
What
do you feel when you lack sleep?
·
What
do you do when you did not get enough sleep?
