早起鸟 vs 夜猫子：英语精读讲义

You may have heard the saying, "The early bird gets the worm." 習語

你可能听过这样一句话：“早起的鸟儿有虫吃。”

But when it comes to humans, 短語搭配

但说到人类，

do morning people really have an advantage over night owls? 用詞

早起型的人真的比夜猫子更有优势吗？

Does one come out on top as more intelligent or successful than the other 習語

两者中是否有一方比另一方更聪明或更成功，

in this battle over bedtime?

从而在这场就寝时间之争中胜出呢？

The somewhat surprising truth is that we have little say in sleep preference 短語搭配

一个有些出人意料的事实是，我们几乎无法选择自己偏好的睡眠时段，

as it's almost entirely genetically predetermined.

因为这几乎完全由遗传决定。

Chances are if you're a night owl, 語法

如果你是个夜猫子，

it was likely passed down from an ancestor who was also a night owl. 短語動詞

那很可能是从同样爱熬夜的祖先那里遗传来的。

And from an evolutionary perspective, 表達脈絡

而从进化的角度来看，

it makes sense.

这很合理。

Having individuals with varying sleeping patterns

群体中不同个体有不同的睡眠模式，

would allow for better protection of a group throughout the day and night. 短語動詞

就能让整个群体在白天和夜晚都得到更好的保护。

Instead of everybody sleeping at one time, 語法

大家不必在同一时间全部入睡，

some people naturally stay up later and some wake up earlier

有些人天生会熬到更晚，有些人则醒得更早，

aware of threats or predators while others sleep.

在其他人睡觉时保持警觉，防范威胁或捕食者。

But considering most modern societal activities happen between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.,

但考虑到现代社会的大多数活动都发生在上午9点到下午5点之间，

it may seem clear that night owls are put at a disadvantage. 短語搭配

夜猫子似乎明显处于劣势。

And researchers have actually coined the term social jet lag 講解

研究人员甚至创造了“社交时差”这个术语，

to describe the sleep deprivation many experience to accommodate social norms.

用来描述许多人为了适应社会规范而经历的睡眠不足。

For night owls,

对夜猫子来说，

this social jet lag feels like living in a different time zone every single day. 習語

这种社交时差就像每天都生活在不同的时区。

Considering chronic sleep deprivation has a direct effect on brain functioning, 短語搭配

鉴于长期睡眠不足会直接影响大脑功能，

it's no surprise that studies report night owl university students have lower overall grades. 短語搭配

难怪研究显示，夜猫子型大学生的总体成绩较低。

Not to mention early birds tend to display more positive social traits 表達脈絡

更不用说，早起型的人往往会表现出更多积极的社交特质，

such as being proactive and optimistic

比如积极主动、乐观向上，

and are less prone to depression or addictions to nicotine, alcohol, and food. 短語搭配

而且不太容易抑郁，也不太容易对尼古丁、酒精和食物成瘾。

And we can see these traits represented physically in the brain,

我们还能在大脑中看到这些特质的生理体现，

particularly the white matter which helps neurons communicate. 文化背景

尤其是在帮助神经元沟通的白质中。

Night owls exhibit significantly less white matter and as a result,

夜猫子的大脑白质明显更少，因而

there are fewer pathways for feel-good hormones such as serotonin or dopamine to travel through. 用詞

血清素或多巴胺等让人感觉愉悦的激素可通过的通路也更少。

But it's not all bad for the late nighters. 表達脈絡

但对晚睡族来说，也不全是坏消息。

In fact, they tend to be much more creative, have been found to have higher cognitive abilities, 語法

事实上，他们往往更有创造力，研究还发现他们的认知能力更强，

and are known to be risk takers.

而且他们以敢于冒险著称。

What they lack in white matter, they make up in cortisol levels. 語法

他们在白质上的不足，会由较高的皮质醇水平来弥补。

This stress hormone gets your body ready to face an immediate threat,

这种压力激素会让身体做好应对眼前威胁的准备，

contributing to their risk taking behavior, 語法

从而助长他们的冒险行为，

which studies show can translate into opportunities and potentially much more financial gain. 短語動詞

而研究显示，这种行为可能转化为机遇，甚至带来高得多的经济收益。

Furthermore, even though morning people can be very energetic right after waking, 語法

此外，尽管早起型的人刚醒来时可能精力充沛，

they tend to lose steam faster than night owls throughout the day. 習語

但在一天之中，他们往往比夜猫子更快没劲。

Both sides perform equally well in reaction time tests an hour after waking,

醒来一小时后，双方在反应时间测试中的表现不相上下，

but after 10 hours of being awake, night owls perform significantly better.

但清醒10小时后，夜猫子的表现明显更好。

Your inner clock is regulated by many proteins 習語

你的生物钟受多种蛋白质调控，

which are created from various genes in your DNA.

而这些蛋白质由你DNA中的不同基因产生。

Studies have even shown that a single change

研究甚至表明，单单一处变化——

of the genetic code near a gene called period one

名为period one的基因附近的一处遗传密码变化——

can result in an hour difference in your waking time. 短語動詞

就可能让你的起床时间相差一小时。

As crazy as it seems, 語法

尽管听起来不可思议，

scientists also found a correlation between these same genes and your time of death. 短語搭配

科学家还发现，这些相同的基因与你的死亡时间存在关联。

The early risers were more likely to die around 11:00 a.m., 語法

早起者更有可能在上午11点左右去世，

while the night owls were more likely to die before 6:00 p.m.

而夜猫子则更有可能在下午6点前去世。

What about teenagers you say? 表達脈絡

你可能会问，那青少年呢？

It's true, most tend to be night owls due to the hormonal changes during puberty,

的确，由于青春期的荷尔蒙变化，大多数青少年都倾向于成为夜猫子，

but this tends to wane out into your genetic default as you enter adulthood.

但随着步入成年，这种倾向通常会逐渐减弱，最终回归由基因决定的作息模式。

So while there may be some truth to early birds getting the worm, 語法

所以，“早起的鸟儿有虫吃”或许确有几分道理，

night owls aren't exactly lagging behind in life. 習語

但夜猫子在人生中并没有真的落后。

They're just lagging behind in time.

他们只是在时间上落后而已。

Don't forget to check out our latest AsapTHOUGHT video

别忘了观看我们最新的AsapTHOUGHT视频，

where you can participate in a scientific pop music experiment with us.

你可以在其中和我们一起参与一项关于流行音乐的科学实验。

We're finding out what makes songs so catchy in the first place 短語搭配

我们要弄清楚，歌曲究竟为什么会如此抓耳，

and if there's an exact science behind it all.

以及这一切背后是否存在一套精确的科学原理。

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点击屏幕或简介中的链接，

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并订阅频道，观看更多每周更新的科学视频。