英闻天下——441 World Sleep Day

 　　Today is World Sleep Day. Sleep quality plays a key role in people's health. A recent nationwide survey shows that if 100 is a full score, Chinese people's sleep quality may just get a pass. Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

 

　　On March 18 a report by Chinese Medical Doctor Association and Horizon-China.com a consultant¹ company indicates that Chinese people sleep an average of eight hours and 50 minutes every day, but nearly half feel sluggish² when awake.

 

　　The report on Chinese people's sleep habits was based on a survey conducted in November and December through random³ household visits in 20 cities, 20 towns and 20 villages.

 

　　The results show that some 55 percent of respondents admitted that work pressures have affected⁴ their sleep patterns and they have resorted to various methods to improve sleep quality.

 

　　Also, according to the survey results men sleep better than women, and people in rural regions have better sleep quality than their urban counterparts.

 

　　Zhang Yuan with Horizon-China.com was one of the participants in the survey. She says there is much work to do to improve the quality of Chinese people's sleep.

 

　　"Among all the level A indicators⁵ in evaluating the quality of sleep, the general score of sleep management of surveyed people was only 58.4. This is a key factor which influences people's sleep quality. In our survey this time the score of the sleeping environment was 64.1, a bit higher level of sleep management."

 

　　Zhang detailed⁶ some elements that create low quality sleep.

 

　　"The first one is emotion. When people's emotion are affected by emergencies, sleep may be seriously affected. The sense of happiness is another important factor. More than 55 percent of the correspondents say that they face great pressure either from their work or their life.

 

　　Chronic⁷ disease may seriously affect people's sleep quality. We also found that new media, like the internet, chatting software and Weibo can seriously affect people's health. Many people spend too much time on them before they go to sleep."

 

　　The survey found that 67.1 percent of people chat on mobile phones or computers before sleeping, and 43.2 percent of those going to bed after midnight do so due to online gaming and messaging.

 

　　According to Qin Xiaoming, deputy head of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, which sponsored the report, the survey revealed a trend that showed people in south and west China tend to sleep better than those in the north and east, and bachelors sleep better than married men.

 

　　Hong Shaoguang a cardiovascular disease doctor also a health care expert says that there are three factors in realizing quality sleep: adjusting your biological clock, proper labor⁸ work, plus listening to sleep supportive music.

 

　　"People should have a proper understanding of their life, because pressure from society is always there. You can't change society. What you can do is to change yourself. Generally speaking, a person's psychological status, like positive self esteem⁹, is a key element of anyone's health. As long as we respect the rules of our life, can we adapt to it and have a proper pace of the biological clock."

 

　　Stressing moderate sleep durations, the report urged people to avoid overusing networking devices, while turning to relaxing music, massage¹⁰ and naps to improve sleep quality.

 

　　For CRI, I am Li Dong.

1 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

2 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

3 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

6 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

7 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 esteem   

n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。

10 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。