外刊精读
社交时差
导读：
你是早起的鸟还是夜猫子？如果答案是夜猫子，那么你可能会遭受“社交时差”的折磨。如果你是每天早上为了上班不得不痛苦的从被窝里爬起来，而利用周末补觉的人，那么我们找到了可能帮助你调整睡眠的好方法。《外刊精读》说说现代人的“社交时差”。
一、语篇泛读
Vocabulary: synchronicity and rhythm 词汇: 同步性和节奏
From Monday to Friday, many of us have an early start and a long day. By the time we've gone to bed and managed to fall asleep, we've been woken up by the alarm to do it all again. Come the weekend, and we're totally exhausted. We sleep in way past our usual wake-up time just to stay in sync enough to start again on Monday.
Welcome to social jet lag. That's the term for the disparity between our working-week sleeping pattern, when our sleep times relate to our responsibilities, and the weekend, when we can wake when we choose. And depending on what type of person you are, the difference can be significant.
For night owls - those whose natural rhythm is to wake and go to bed later - there can be significant health-related issues, according to a recent study published by Taylor and Francis Group online. The study concludes the further the divergence between working-week and weekend sleep times, the greater the health issues – including a higher risk of heart disease and other metabolic problems. And because so many jobs and tasks start early, night owls are effectively forced into harmonizing with the early birds.
So what can night owls do: force themselves to integrate by sacrificing their lie in 'It's the worst thing you can do' says Professor Till Roenneberg, professor of chronobiology at the Institute of Medical Psychology at Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich. This is because people's sleep pattern is half determined by genetics. The other half correlates with their age and environment. Getting less sleep is unlikely to realign your genetic tendencies.
Our bodies evolved to coordinate with the rise and fall of the Sun. We should feel sleepy as the light dissipates. But modern life, with its artificial light and modern devices, such as computers and smartphones, means we have deviated. Now we are exposed to more light for longer periods of time, keeping our bodies awake longer. For night owls, who already tend to sleep later, this delays thing even further.
One solution, beyond changing society's early-start tendencies, is to reorient our body clock by manipulating our exposure to light By taking more sunlight in the morning and minimizing the amount of artificial light we are exposed to in the evening – particularly on electronic devices - we can rebalance our bodies to feel sleepy earlier. It's far from easy, but better that than losing your whole weekend to sleep.
二、词汇表
in sync 同步的
disparity 差异
pattern 模式，习惯
relate 联系，与…一致
rhythm 规律
divergence 差异
harmonise 和…保持一致
integrate 融入（某群体）
correlate 与…相关，相互关联
realign 重新排列，改组
coordinate 配合
deviate 违背规则，偏离
reorient 重新适应，再调整
rebalance 再平衡
三、测试与练习
阅读课文并回答问题。
1. What is a night owl
2. What kind of health issues can occur as a result of social jet lag
3. True or false: A person's sleep pattern is all to do with genetics.
4. How can a person reorient their body clock
5. Which word in the text means 'gradually become less and disappear'
请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。
1. It didn't take long for John to ______ into the team in his new role.
divergence coordinate
realign integrate
2. Do not ______ from the plan at all. People could get hurt.
divergence deviate
disparity harmonise
3. Minister, it is important you change your stance on this issue. You need to ______ with public opinion or lose the election.
rebalance correlate
realign in sync
4. It will be a team effort. Our two departments will ______ on the project until its completion.
attune correlate
reorient coordinate
5. My wife and I are very ______. We tend to wake up, eat and feel tired at the same times.
in sync on sync
with sync out of sync
【参考答案】
阅读课文并回答问题。
1. What is a night owl
A person whose natural rhythm is to wake and go to bed later.
2. What kind of health issues can occur as a result of social jet lag
Social jet lag can cause a higher risk of heart disease and other metabolic problems
3. True or false: A person's sleep pattern is all to do with genetics.
False. Peoples sleep patterns are half determined by genetics and half by their age and environment.
4. How can a person reorient their body clock
Manipulate their exposure to light. Take more sunlight in the morning and minimise artificial light in the evening.
5. Which word in the text means 'gradually become less and disappear'
Dissipate. (We should feel sleepy as the light dissipates.)
请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。
1. It didn't take long for John to integrate into the team in his new role.
2. Do not deviate from the plan at all. People could get hurt
3. Minister, it is important you change your stance on this issue. You need to realign with public opinion or lose the election.
4. It will be a team effort. Our two departments will coordinate on the project until its completion
5. My wife and I are very in sync. We tend to wake up, eat and feel tired at the same times.
太空女性
导读：
虽然女性已经探索太空多年，但登上太空的男性人数仍高于女性。美国航天局希望能组建一支性别平衡的队伍。顶级航天工程师们认为第一个踏上火星的人应该是一名女性。本集《外刊精读》探讨太空事业中缺少女性工作者的原因。
一、语篇泛读
Vocabulary: space 词汇: 太空
There's no doubt that one of the greatest achievements by humankind is the exploration of space. Ever since cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to journey into space in 1961, scientists have been exploring it and pushing the boundaries to try and go further and discover things that are yet to be discovered. But probably the only thing that's certain about this exploration into the unknown so far, is it's been dominated by men.
Of course, in the past, women haven't been excluded from space projects. Women have been involved on the ground at mission control – and behind the scenes women have worked as seamstresses, stitching vital spaceflight components. In fact, many of NASA's key missions would never have left the ground without them. And it was a group of black female mathematicians, recently depicted in a Hollywood movie called Hidden Figures, who helped NASA launch an American into space.
But this hasn't been women's only contribution. Back in 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to blast off into space. However, after that, space flight programmes were slow to employ women. In the USA, NASA didn't accept applications from women to become astronauts until 1978, and as missions to the Moon had ended by then, it meant Neil Armstrong's arrival on the Moon in 1969 was 'a giant step for mankind' – and also an important step for a man.
But attitudes have moved on and leading engineers at NASA have said that the first person to set foot on Mars should be a woman. The space agency aims to have a gender-balanced workforce but can only achieve that if equal numbers of men and women train for science and technology careers. As Allison McIntryre, Chief of the NASA Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility, told the BBC: "My director is a women, my former division chief is a woman. We have female astronauts. We haven't put a woman on the Moon yet. And I think that perhaps the first person to step on Mars should be a woman."
A woman landing on Mars would be an incredible achievement for being a first for womankind and would, for some, be out of this world! It would certainly inspire a younger female generation by showing what is possible. For them, the thought of other planets being a men-only destination, would be an alien concept.
二、词汇表
humankind 人类
exploration 探索
cosmonaut（前苏联的）宇航员
push the boundaries 挑战极限，突破极限
mission control 航天地面指挥中心
spaceflight components 航天组件
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) 美国国家航空航天局
mission（航天）任务
mathematician 数学家
blast off（太空飞船等）发射
astronaut 宇航员
the Moon 月球
set foot 踏上（某地）
Mars 火星
gender-balanced 性别平衡的
NASA Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility 美国航天局飞行器模拟中心
out of this world 极好的
an alien concept 一个陌生的概念
三、测试与练习
阅读课文并回答问题。
1. What does 'stitching vital spaceflight components' mean in the article
2. What did Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova do in 1963
3. True or false: Female astronauts were not allowed on the Moon until 1978.
4. How can NASA achieve a 'gender-balanced workforce'
5. Who was the first man to set foot on Mars
请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。
1. The explorer was the first person ______ on the undiscovered Pacific island.
to set feet
to set foot
to set feets
to foot set
2. My trip to the Himalayas was ______. The scenery was awesome!
pushing the boundaries
an alien concept
out of this world
gender balanced
3. I can’t believe how many ______ there are in a smartphone.
components missions
cosmonauts component
4. We need a ______ audience to complete our market research questionnaire.
balance-gender
gendered-balance
gender-balanced
gender-balance
5. Stephen Hawking once said the he feared the development of full artificial intelligence, could spell the end of ______.
astronauts humankind
missions womankind
【参考答案】
阅读课文并回答问题。
1. What does 'stitching vital spaceflight components' mean in the article
It means sewing together important pieces of materials to be used on missions into space.
2. What did Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova do in 1963
She became the first woman to travel into space.
3. True or false: Female astronauts were not allowed on the Moon until 1978.
False. NASA didn't accept applications from women to become astronauts until 1978 and missions to the Moon had ended by then.
4. How can NASA achieve a 'gender-balanced workforce'
It says it can only be achieved by getting equal numbers of men and women to train for science and technology careers.
5. Who was the first man to set foot on Mars
Nobody – man or woman – has landed on Mars yet!
请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。
1. The explorer was the first person to set foot on the undiscovered Pacific island.
2. My trip to the Himalayas was out of this world. The scenery was awesome!
3. I can’t believe how many components here are in a smartphone.
4. We need a gender-balanced audience to complete our market research questionnaire.
5. Stephen Hawking once said the he feared the development of full artificial intelligence, could spell the end of humankind.

郑重声明：本文版权归原作者所有，转载文章仅为传播更多信息之目的，如作者信息标记有误，请第一时间联系我们修改或删除，多谢。